For the first thirty minutes in the Audi A5, I didn’t like it. The colours of the metal and leather seemed a bit tacky, the tyre/alloy wheels combination droned a bit against the shoddy inner-city tarmac. I couldn’t hear the engine note, the pedals were offset like an old 3-Series and all in all I felt this was a car for posers. All style and no substance.
But then I needed to pull away quickly from some lights and about 1 second after I dropped the clutch, I was the other side of the junction and completely won over. My admiration for the car grew all the way down the A41 to Wendover. When worked a little bit, the engine finds its voice and the fun starts. It will hoon down motorways.
.jpg)
The gearshift is short and accurate without being racing-car definite. I think it is probably about the perfect balance for a car of this sort. You certainly wouldn’t want an automatic, for it will feel like it is straining at the leash around town.
Around corners, no matter how quickly you take them, the Quattro four-wheel drive system and 3.2 litre petrol engine are not going to let you down. It will be your nerve or lack of skill that lets the show down. That said, it didn’t build my confidence in the way some Subaru 4-wheel drive systems have. In fact, it felt more like a powerful two wheel drive at times.
Still, it is hard to be particularly worried; once you have tried the brakes you are for ever satisfied that you can stop at a moment’s notice. The 320mm brake discs can apply this great stopping power very quickly without being sudden – either that or I am brilliant at feathering the brakes specifically on this car.
It is also extremely comfortable; up there with all the luxury Executive saloons. There is ample head and legroom for the larger-framed man. The steering wheel and seat and be adjusted so much that even a chiropractor would be impressed by the range of postures you can adopt at the wheel of this car.
The build quality is imperious and to even mention it is to insult the Audi engineers and their achievement. It’s not just that everything is solid, many manufacturers are catching the Germans up on that , but everything works. I didn’t have to close the doors twice every time I got in as you do in a Land Rover.
So I arrived in Wendover feeling relaxed and happy. It was very much the same experience as driving an Audi A4 but with a little more pizzazz.
Then I had to turn around in order to pick up a passenger. I was just touching the brake as I let the car gently roll forward to complete part two of a three point turn and BUMP. The car suddenly stopped. No I hadn’t hit anything. I had the green light on the automatic electronic ‘hand brake’ on. So as you come to a stop, it applies the handbrake. Its fine if you come to a complete stop. But if you want to just let the car roll slightly it usually intervenes. It’s most annoying on a hill-based parking situation. I arrived home tired one night and pulled up to the kerb. I noticed that my door was blocked by a lamp post. So let the car roll back a little in order to make my exit from the cabin easier. It rolled briefly before BUMP. The brake was on again.
You can also knock it off if trying to pull out onto a busy roundabout or trying to pull out from a tricky, uphill side turn, onto a main road. You will end rocking the car at best, rolling back at worst. It’s the same problem I described when driving a Renault Laguna (see July edition of Used Car Expert magazine). These electronic handbrakes should be confined to Autos if you ask me. It also annoys me that they all take a second to come on and can make a cheap ‘clonk’ noise when it comes off as you pull away.
As soon as I had a passenger on board, one of the car’s greatest strengths became a great weakness. The controls for the navigation, radio, air conditioning and so on are all set around the gearshift. Once you know where things are, it doesn’t seem so complicated, and its rather satisfying for the driver.
But as soon as a passenger steps in, it is human nature – especially when its two men aboard – that the passenger becomes DJ and navigator. But if the DJ goes to change the CD track or tweak the Sat nav at the same time as the driver goes to change gear, you end up holding hands. Neither task gets completed and it’s a little embarrassing.
Summary
Not a car for the shy or retiring. The A5 is very seductively styled, beautifully built and has mind-blowing performance. It feels like a more substantial car than the BMW 3-Series so I would choose it over that, but only just. You will either love or hate this car.
Road test car details:
Audi A5 3.2 FSI Quattro
OTR: £39,360 (including £6,000 of extras)
Combined mpg: 31
Co2 per Km: 219
0-62: 6.1 secs
Words: Matthew Tumbridge.