I found myself with a couple of hours to kill today after getting my Sport CVT cleaned, clayed, and polished so I called in at the local Audi dealership to take a look at the much lauded S5.
My original plan was just to take a look inside one but the salesman insisted that we take it out for a spin - no problem, so off we went.
First impression of the cabin was that it's adequately spacious for a coupe, but nothing like the Accord - but then I didn't expect it to be. Now I do love coupes, but immediately on getting into the S5 I was reminded of the first big failing they have - the huge doors. Giving other parked vehicles door kisses is almost unavoidable as you swing that hangar door sized portal open, almost as big a pain is how far back you have to reach to grab the seatbelt. Ok, on to the cabin proper - the S5 follows the trend of all high end vehicles these days, because it seemed like the thing was equipped with every electronic detection and warning device known to man, it was positively distracting what with all the bings and bongs that were going off - I asked the salesman to shut them all down (or as many as he could) while I tried to figure out how to turn the radio off (I couldn't - he had to). One other thing, it was only 95 degrees in Phoenix today as we have some of those white fluffy things in the sky that we see about 3 times a year, so the Audi's AC wasn't put to any great test, but I had it cranked all the way up and it did not blow as cold as the Honda's unit did. Acceptable yes, but not as efficient.
Ok, Starship Enterprise mode disabled, now let's see if it drives like a starship. I chose my own route (this is in Phoenix) down I-10 and then double back past the casino on the new 2 mile straight road through Indian land that doesn't get policed. First the brakes, they were ok, adequate certainly but impressive no. I didn't stomp on them hard but I was confident they would stop me - compared to the Accord however they were definitely inferior. The pedal feel was slightly mushy and the "bite" that my Sport's pads have simply wasn't there. Maybe they are more durable under severe abuse, but for every day driving I will take the brakes on the Honda every time.
Then the handling - I really did like the cropped steering wheel, it had a great feel to it and is one (albeit minor) area where it scored over the Accord for me. Cornering was good, but it didn't seem quite as sharp as the Honda, that really surprised me because roadtest magazine writers go crazy about the S5's handling - I myself did not.
Finally the performance - according to mein host that 3.0 Turbo V6 puts out 333hp, so I gently coaxed it for the first 4 miles letting it warm through, but even driving gently I couldn't help but notice the lag when pulling away from a Stop sign, or when accelerating from a trailing throttle in any road condition, it was as if the first half inch of pedal travel was just "pad" - coming from the near instant on/off of the Sport's go pedal I was really surprised, I know all about turbo lag but this engine has 6 cylinders and 3 liters of capacity, so low down "instant" pull should be there without the turbo - it wasn't really bad, but it was inferior to the Honda's pick up - yes that's right, the Accord's 189hp engine feels notably more responsive than the S5's 333hp engine, there I said it. The one thing I really did like was the transmission and the engine note, both really good, clear wins over the Honda. Back to the engine - I floored the gas pedal at 30mph and had the S5 up to 110mph and it got there remarkably quickly, obviously high end performance is light years ahead of the Accord's abilities, but I would say only when the speed gets past 50 or 60, up until then the Audi may be faster on paper but the real world difference would only begin to show itself at higher speeds, but the S5's engine is definitely in its element when pushed and is without doubt a real performer - even so it wasn't the sort of "pushed back in your seat" fast, it was just "fast".
I thanked the salesman - who didn't hassle me, either he was cool and being laid back was his selling tactic, or else he could tell that I didn't much care for it - I even had to ask him for a business card.
So I jumped straight in the Accord and drove the exact same route - the brakes were sharper, the handling about equal, engine response superior, cabin much more pleasant to be in, no annoying beeps and bongs etc etc etc
The one big difference, the S5 stickered at $65,000, so call it $70,000 after tax and add-ons, and I just placed it second to a car that I drove off the lot for $25,000.
I didn't go to the Audi dealership with a pre-planned objective to trash the S5, I honestly expected to be blown away, after all it costs almost 3 times as much as an Accord Sport and I have no ego to dent, I'm sure there are better cars than the Accord, I'm just trying to find one. I expect the S5 to be better than a Sport, a lot better - but for me at least, it simply wasn't. If someone offered me an Accord Sport CVT or an S5 I would take the S5, I'm not completely stupid - but not if I was paying for it. So yeah, the Accord Sport really is THAT good, believe it.
My original plan was just to take a look inside one but the salesman insisted that we take it out for a spin - no problem, so off we went.
First impression of the cabin was that it's adequately spacious for a coupe, but nothing like the Accord - but then I didn't expect it to be. Now I do love coupes, but immediately on getting into the S5 I was reminded of the first big failing they have - the huge doors. Giving other parked vehicles door kisses is almost unavoidable as you swing that hangar door sized portal open, almost as big a pain is how far back you have to reach to grab the seatbelt. Ok, on to the cabin proper - the S5 follows the trend of all high end vehicles these days, because it seemed like the thing was equipped with every electronic detection and warning device known to man, it was positively distracting what with all the bings and bongs that were going off - I asked the salesman to shut them all down (or as many as he could) while I tried to figure out how to turn the radio off (I couldn't - he had to). One other thing, it was only 95 degrees in Phoenix today as we have some of those white fluffy things in the sky that we see about 3 times a year, so the Audi's AC wasn't put to any great test, but I had it cranked all the way up and it did not blow as cold as the Honda's unit did. Acceptable yes, but not as efficient.
Ok, Starship Enterprise mode disabled, now let's see if it drives like a starship. I chose my own route (this is in Phoenix) down I-10 and then double back past the casino on the new 2 mile straight road through Indian land that doesn't get policed. First the brakes, they were ok, adequate certainly but impressive no. I didn't stomp on them hard but I was confident they would stop me - compared to the Accord however they were definitely inferior. The pedal feel was slightly mushy and the "bite" that my Sport's pads have simply wasn't there. Maybe they are more durable under severe abuse, but for every day driving I will take the brakes on the Honda every time.
Then the handling - I really did like the cropped steering wheel, it had a great feel to it and is one (albeit minor) area where it scored over the Accord for me. Cornering was good, but it didn't seem quite as sharp as the Honda, that really surprised me because roadtest magazine writers go crazy about the S5's handling - I myself did not.
Finally the performance - according to mein host that 3.0 Turbo V6 puts out 333hp, so I gently coaxed it for the first 4 miles letting it warm through, but even driving gently I couldn't help but notice the lag when pulling away from a Stop sign, or when accelerating from a trailing throttle in any road condition, it was as if the first half inch of pedal travel was just "pad" - coming from the near instant on/off of the Sport's go pedal I was really surprised, I know all about turbo lag but this engine has 6 cylinders and 3 liters of capacity, so low down "instant" pull should be there without the turbo - it wasn't really bad, but it was inferior to the Honda's pick up - yes that's right, the Accord's 189hp engine feels notably more responsive than the S5's 333hp engine, there I said it. The one thing I really did like was the transmission and the engine note, both really good, clear wins over the Honda. Back to the engine - I floored the gas pedal at 30mph and had the S5 up to 110mph and it got there remarkably quickly, obviously high end performance is light years ahead of the Accord's abilities, but I would say only when the speed gets past 50 or 60, up until then the Audi may be faster on paper but the real world difference would only begin to show itself at higher speeds, but the S5's engine is definitely in its element when pushed and is without doubt a real performer - even so it wasn't the sort of "pushed back in your seat" fast, it was just "fast".
I thanked the salesman - who didn't hassle me, either he was cool and being laid back was his selling tactic, or else he could tell that I didn't much care for it - I even had to ask him for a business card.
So I jumped straight in the Accord and drove the exact same route - the brakes were sharper, the handling about equal, engine response superior, cabin much more pleasant to be in, no annoying beeps and bongs etc etc etc
The one big difference, the S5 stickered at $65,000, so call it $70,000 after tax and add-ons, and I just placed it second to a car that I drove off the lot for $25,000.
I didn't go to the Audi dealership with a pre-planned objective to trash the S5, I honestly expected to be blown away, after all it costs almost 3 times as much as an Accord Sport and I have no ego to dent, I'm sure there are better cars than the Accord, I'm just trying to find one. I expect the S5 to be better than a Sport, a lot better - but for me at least, it simply wasn't. If someone offered me an Accord Sport CVT or an S5 I would take the S5, I'm not completely stupid - but not if I was paying for it. So yeah, the Accord Sport really is THAT good, believe it.