Pacific Audi

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Driving Impressions

The Audi S5 starts with a deep purr, definitely a V8 but refined compared to rumbling Detroit muscle. However, in the upper revs the S5 aligns with the A5 V6's more mechanical song. The gas pedal has lots of travel so the driver can fine tune how much power to apply and how quickly.

Audi's manual transmissions are geared for performance, not highway fuel economy; if long highway cruises are on your agenda the A5 will merrily scoot to 60 mph in about six seconds and easily exceed any speed limit in the world while returning better mileage.

The S5 is an Autobahn bruiser, its elastic well of torque set up to accelerate with authority from virtually any speed (0-60 in less than five seconds) and is still pulling as it is reined in electronically at 155 mph.

That speed isn't useful in the American landscape but the flexibility certainly is. Where some muscle cars reach 50 or 60 mph in first gear with the engine turning 6000 rpm, the freer-revving S5 does only 65 mph in second gear at 7000 rpm. Power comes on smoothly and progressively, with plenty of torque to get you moving and a soundtrack Mozart couldn't better, rather like a muted American LeMans racing sports car, as the engine approaches the redline it would happily laugh off if not for bits like air conditioners. At 65 mph, the engine spins 15-percent to 25-percent faster than most big V8s, so even at that speed in top gear there is useful urge in acceleration.

The gearing also pays dividends around town, where motion is so effortless you can start out smoothly from stop in second gear. The car will idle in gear quite slowly and has decent compression braking so you can crawl along in traffic, and with just the slightest forethought, rarely have to use the clutch pedal. The shifter feels solid and of some heft, reminding us of a front-engine Porsche and heavier than the typical BMW; it is direct, precise and never misses a gear. Indeed, the only negative aspect of driving this car as a daily gridlock grinder is the gas mileage.

At the other end of the spectrum, big brakes and sticky tires haul the car down from speed in a drama-free hurry, without the nose diving to the pavement or the tail standing up like a hound on alert. Designed where repeated heavy slowing from 125 mph is common, the Audi's brakes will be tested in America only on racetracks. Naturally, the latest generation of electronic brake assistants are on board, but you have to be a real poser to have them come into play.

Quattro, Audi's all-wheel drive system that comes standard on the A5 and S5, nominally sends 40 percent of the power to the front wheels and 60 percent to the rear wheels to give dynamics related to a rear-wheel-drive car with the stability and enhanced poor weather traction of all-wheel drive. This system is always on and requires no driver action, automatically distributing propulsion in the most efficient, effective, stable manner.

As a result, the S5 is able to put down all 354 horsepower in any dry conditions and a greater proportion of it inclement conditions than would be possible without quattro. There's no tire spinning nor even a chirp as it lunges toward the horizon. With a set of narrower dedicated winter tires the only alternative that might come close is the considerably more expensive Porsche Carrera 4.

Another large change comes from the S5's layout, the first recent Audi to put the differential in between the engine and the transmission, taking some weight off the front wheels. The S5 splits its weight almost evenly over the front and rear wheels, which when matched with the all-wheel drive allows each corner to do a near equal amount of work. That translates to a car that feels less nose-heavy than before, changes directions much more crisply, minimizes body roll (just enough to know you're pushing it) and has inspiring confidence; indeed, we covered one stretch of wet road without putting a foot wrong as fast as we&#

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