FIRST DRIVE ~ 2013 Audi A5/S5

JEREZ, Spain: Amazing!

Here it is the fall of 2011 and I’m driving the 2013 version of the Audi A5/S5 Coupe and Cabriolet.

Time waits for no one especially in the auto industry.

While the models tested were European spec, Audi is not shy when it comes to letting the engineering do the talking.

In fact, the press briefing for Canadians at the launch in Spain was lightening quick with a simple overview and then we were let at it.

The A5 and S7 versions for Canada will arrive in the middle of next year as 2013 models, but after that, what versions of the A5/S5 Coupe and Convertible we get could vary mightily from the cars driven in Spain.

When the A5/S5 Coupe and Cabriolet bowed four years ago, the A5 came with a 3.2-litre V6 (265 hp. 243 lb/ft) and the S5 had the big 4.2-litre V8 (354 hp, 325 lb/ft).

Audi has been on a campaign to lessen weight as part of its “every gram counts” engineering strategy.

This is partly done in the A5/S5 with small, lighter engines with produce the same power but with reduced fuel consumption.

The A5 now gets a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine producing 211 hp and 258 lb/ft of torque. The S5 will arrive with a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 with 333 hp and 358 lb/ft of torque. The only holdover is the RS5 that retains the V8 now with 450 hp.

There are a number of diesels we won’t get and a fascinating 1.8-litre direct injection turbo four-cylinder we probably won’t see until the next generation A4 or maybe even the A3.

Driving the 1.8-litre to the airport in Spain, we had three people on board. It went like a big-bore V6 down the highway with one of my colleagues at the wheel passing anything and everything along the way.

Equipped with the new eight-speed S-tronic automatic transmission, shifts were imperceptible.

The transmissions we will be getting are a mix of a six-speed manual and seven-speed or eight-speed Stronic.

For example, the A5 Coupe with seven-speed S-tronic and quattro goes from 0-100 km in 6.5 seconds.

In the 333 hp S5 Coupe acceleration time is from 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, a 0.2-second improvement over its V8-powered predecessor.

Fuel consumption numbers are vague at this point but look for approximately 9.5/6.5L/100 km city/highway from the 2.0-litre and 12.9/8.1L/100 km city/highway for the 3.0-litre.

Both models will be equipped with the latest version of Audi’s famed quattro all-wheel-drive with a front/rear torque basis of 40:60 per cent.

Part of the S5 drivetrain is Audi’s crown gear and sport rear differential. It measures the torque going to the front and back wheels and then makes sure traction is applied where it can best be used.

At this writing inclusion of the system on the Canadian A5s had yet to be decided.

Audi’s quattro all-wheel-drive is so good you don’t even know you have it. That sounds strange but it’s true.

With a front or rear-driver, when you punch the pedal you feel which end has the grip right way. Do that in an Audi and the car digs in and goes without any fuss.

That’s because the system is constantly moving torque around so effectively it is transparent to the driver.

The roads in Spain are skinny and dangerous and when it comes to road etiquette, the locals just don’t care. You can be on a long straight at 100 km/h and suddenly come to a 20 km/h double switchback without signage and be faced with some ancient sedan trying to cut the corner to save whatever is left on the brake pads.

Here, believe me, quattro proves its worth.

Several of the safety systems first seen on the A7 have found their way into the A5/S5 such as lane departure warning system, adaptive cruise control and a driver fatigue sensing system that alerts the driver to pull over and take a rest.

Current A5/S5 owners will be pleased to know styling is pretty much the same with edges hardened that, I was told, improves the aerodynamics and thus uses marginally less fuel.

It’s hard with the space I have to get into the build quality and technology in this car but I’ll start with the passenger area of the S5 Cabrio.

It begins with full Nappa leather throughout and front sport seats that you can tell were designed to grip the driver and front passenger during high-speed driving and handling.

The Cabrio I drove came with Audi Drive Select adaptive dynamics system, which in its current form allows the driver to fine-tune the amount of power steering assistance, the response of the throttle and the automatic transmission’s shift points.

The latest version of the system adds a fourth ‘Efficiency’ option to its settings list, which originally offered ‘Comfort’, ‘Auto’ and ‘Dynamic’ modes. In the Efficiency mode, all the above functions, plus the air conditioning unit, are configured for minimal power consumption.

The controls for the optional MMI Navigation Plus with its large hard drive, seven-inch colour monitor, 3D graphics and DVD player have also been improved. The number of hard buttons has been reduced from eight to four and the volume control now features a joystick cap for simpler track selection. Voice control and digital radio reception also received some fine-tuning.

In Europe they have a navigation system that uses real-time Google map displays. If you are driving along and see a building or river on the monitor, you can look out and there it is.

Whether we will get this is probably not going to happen as I was told the internet in North America is not fast enough to cope.

At this point pricing is still very much up on the air but the current price walk from the A5 Coupe to the S5 Cabrio is $46,700/$60,500 and should remain fairly close for the 2013 model as Audi has pretty rigid model-pricing scale.

 

BODY STYLE: Four-seat sports coupe and convertible.

DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, all-wheel-drive.

ENGINE: 2.0-litre DOHC turbocharged inline four-cylinder (211 hp, 258 lb/ft); 3.0-litre supercharged V6 (333 hp, 358 lb/ft)

FUEL ECONOMY: Premium (Est.) 2.0-litre, 9.5/6.5L/100 km city/highway; 3.0-litre 12.9/8.1L/100 km city/highway for the 3.0-litre.

PRICE: (Est.) $46,000-$62,000