Audi’s slinky new coupes are beautiful every way you slice ’em.
BY STEVE SILER, May 2007

By now, you’ve no doubt seen numerous pictures of Audi’s scrumptious new A5 and S5 coupes. Nice to look at, sure, but the question is whether Audi’s slinky sexpots are the kind of girls you want to have kids with, or the type that you’re better off just, um, you know.

Well, after sampling the pair for a day along the perilously twisty mountain roads of northern Italy, we’re making plans to expand the nursery, because these are the marrying types. They are not only splendid to behold, but bestowed with quite a dowry of luxury features and genuine talent on the road.

A Two-Door Coupe. What a Concept

Built upon the next-generation A4 platform, dubbed B8, the A5 and S5 are long and wide, with a coupelike roofline and—what’s this?—a coupelike door count! Thank you, Audi, for reminding us of something that Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and certain others seem to have forgotten: coupes are cars with only two doors, period. As such, duoportes such as the A5 appeal only to specific types of people whose lifestyles do not include carpooling and who do not slog such things as other peoples’ kids, slobbering St. Bernards or corn-fed colleagues. Coupes are for one person or one pair, and seldom more. They are personal and intimate; a reward, not an appliance.
A5: Stylish First

Emotional creatures that they are, coupes tend to be stylish first, and the A5 is no exception. It is breathtaking in pictures, but even more so on the road. Walter de’Silva’s talented team has tastefully advanced Audi’s passenger-car design beyond the current level that most already consider as tasteful and advanced as any in the automotive world. Gone is the semicircular roofline we’ve come to expect for the last decade, replaced by one with a more formal treatment for the rear-quarter glass (necessary to accommodate the heads of the rearmost pair of the A5’s quartet of passengers). The design departure on the roofline is somewhat of a surprise. That it is so gracefully applied is not.

The new nose—complete with soon-to-be-ubiquitous LED running lamps— is blunt and broad yet as sultry as Angelina Jolie 30 seconds after her wake-up call. On the A5, Audi’s single-frame grille finally seems natural, either because we’ve become acclimated to it, or because Audi’s other new coupes, the R8 and the 2008 TT, have made it look so good. The S5, of course, is a bit snootier in appearance with its egg-crate detailing and squared-off air intakes.

All that said, what is most distinctive on the new coupes is the character line that rises over the fenders to accentuate the big wheels, which measure 18 inches on the A5, 19 on the S5. The longer wheelbase and longitudinal engine mounting allow for proportions nearly as correct as, say, the new Jaguar XK, only with tidy, BMW 3-Series like dimensions. And its unexpected width—something also likely to characterize the next A4—is quite evident from behind, where horizontal lamps and wide-set tailpipes accentuate the car’s girth. From every angle, it works. Very, very, well.

cont...

The first to go on sale will be the S5, which arrives this fall with a six-speed manual transmission. The S5 follows with a six-speed automatic with paddle-shifters in the second quarter of 2008, at which point the A5 will join in with both transmissions. Audi’s latest iteration of Quattro all-wheel drive will come standard on all with a 40/60 front/rear torque split.

Even when pressed, Audi reps are still vague as to when the A4 cabriolet might defer to a convertible version of the A5, though it seems inevitable. There’s even talk of a five-door A5 “spaceback” model sometime thereafter. We also wouldn’t be surprised if an RS5 appeared sometime during the 2009 model year with the RS4’s direct-injected 4.2-liter V-8 with 420 horsepower.

The A5 will be priced around $45,000, plus options, when it lands next year. If you absolutely have to have one by the end of the year, prepare to shell out well over $50,000 for an S5, which, frankly, is a bargain for such a high-level combination of speed, style, luxury and sex appeal. Get your ass in line. Behind us.

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M

they seem to love the car in and out. and they praised the handling of the car, i guess this car really needs a test drive to call a verdict.

high-level combination of speed, style, luxury and sex appeal

This is been my point all along, this car offers the whole gamet to it's respective owners, not just one or they other! Great job Audi, their truely isn't any competition for the A/S5.

It's clear to me now that Audi made the A5/S5 closer to US market and customer standards than European ones , that's the reason why accross the Atlantic magazines like it more than UK based ones.