[ajgins]

Hey whats up all, I am new to the forum, and I have a question or two about the S5-

I myself never owned a stick, I've had an Audi A4 in 2001 and drive a G35 now, but always wanted a stickshift, and the Audis handling is second to none. I know how to drive stick pretty well, such as my ex-gf's car and some of my buddy's cars, but none of them have been the caliber of power of the S5. So would you guys not suggest starting off with one, as I'd prefer not to destroy the transmission. I've driven my one friends TT which was a 5 speed and it sucked, so I am curious if this is the same experience?

Is the stick tough to shift in gears and is the clutch heavy?

Anyone compared with the 335xi?

Any advice is appreciated- thanks

 

[sizzle]

I drive a modded 350Z now and I can tell you that the S5 shift action is much better than what we have now. The clutch engages easier and feels a tad lighter, but not by much. There is a little lurching at low speeds because of all of the torque, but maybe I just wasn't use to the gearbox.

I would suggest you simply go and drive it since there are demos all over the place now....

Good luck!

 

[BBT]

Hey whats up all, I am new to the forum, and I have a question or two about the S5-

I myself never owned a stick, I've had an Audi A4 in 2001 and drive a G35 now, but always wanted a stickshift, and the Audis handling is second to none. I know how to drive stick pretty well, such as my ex-gf's car and some of my buddy's cars, but none of them have been the caliber of power of the S5. So would you guys not suggest starting off with one, as I'd prefer not to destroy the transmission. I've driven my one friends TT which was a 5 speed and it sucked, so I am curious if this is the same experience?

Is the stick tough to shift in gears and is the clutch heavy?

Anyone compared with the 335xi?

Any advice is appreciated- thanks

A couple of comments. Clutch engagement/disengagement, travel, etc is different with all manufacturers and within product lines. Sometimes it can take a few days or a week to adjust to the differences -- but you will adjust and find it natural. Too many people take a 10 minute drive and declare "it sucks" when they haven't gone through the adjustment process.

Secondly, you should at least once in your life own a true manual transmission and learn to drive it well. And I'm not talking silly SMG or whenever car companies like to throw the word "manual" in the name when there is no clutch pedal. DSG is mechanically awesome and so are the latest Tiptronics, but they still zap a lot of the fun out of driving. They are extremely convenient for traffic jams but otherwise a waste of time. For the record, I have a tiptronic S4 and a manual mini cooper S. I'm ditching the tiptronic s4 for the manual S5. I will not get another automatic for at least 10-20 years unless they stop making manuals.

BMW does make a great manual transmission. Very easy to shift. But most of the audi's I've driven are pretty good and I adjust fairly easily.

Don't worry about ruining a transmission learning on it. You can "grind" the gears a few times without damaging it. Since you can already drive a manual it sounds like that would be very minimal if ever. Get a manual you will not regret it.

 

[ajgins]

Thanks for the insight guys-

I guess the natural thing to do would be to take a test drive and see for myself; I haven't actually seen any around yet in the US, have they been officially released?

Also, have you guys considered the new M3 at all or no?

 

[chasTT]

Just a tip here, I find my S5 has so much torque that I tend to pull away in 1st, then shift straight to 3rd or 4th and then onto to 6th, and if in a traffic jam I find it better in 2nd than 1st 'cos it does lurch around a bit in 1st gear.
If you find this way suits the traffic conditions around where you live, it will at least cut down the number of shifts you need to make.

 

[Arvin]

Just a tip here, I find my S5 has so much torque that I tend to pull away in 1st, then shift straight to 3rd or 4th and then onto to 6th, and if in a traffic jam I find it better in 2nd than 1st 'cos it does lurch around a bit in 1st gear.
If you find this way suits the traffic conditions around where you live, it will at least cut down the number of shifts you need to make.

Good advice. I'm sorta in the same situation. It's simply been many years since I've owned a manual.