Features
Back to Library >
Our Cars: Audi S5 Avant
3 months ago
The S5 recently took part in our estate car triple test
More of an issue has been the Audi’s temperamental ADAS. A few weeks back it was flashing up error messages every other time I fired the car up, which I could just about tolerate, but then it demanded to be parked immediately. The car went back to Audi and behaved itself for several days upon its return, but then those same error messages began flashing up once more.
So far the situation hasn’t worsened and the car hasn’t repeated its panicked ‘stop driving’ demand, so I’m monitoring it for now. But if these issues persist for another week, the car will need to be seen to again, hopefully for a permanent fix. It’s always the same – roughly half the time I’ll start the car to be greeted by several yellow lights illuminating the instrument pack. A message will appear saying the driver assist systems aren’t functioning, then one by one, each individual system will report its own failure – lane keep assist, emergency braking, speed limit warning and so on.
But the most annoying bit is the generic message about ADAS failure that chimes every couple of minutes, as if I need reminding. On a long drive, you’ll hear that chime literally dozens of times. You can try stopping and switching the car off, but there’s a strong chance the problem will continue when you resume your drive.
"I can’t tell you how soothing it was to settle into a comfortable, roomy, quiet and even luxurious Audi estate for the drive home"
I’ve heard from another S5 driver who has had even more troublesome software and sensor problems with his car – at one point, the S5 avatar on the dashboard morphed into a Q5 and the HMI switched itself from English to German. No such identity crises to report here, but I’ll keep a watchful eye.
Truthfully, though, I have no other complaints. That’s perhaps my favourite thing about the Audi – ADAS stuff aside, it does nothing to irritate or frustrate me, or make me feel uneasy behind its wheel. Soon we’ll publish a story in which we drive a rather special but very tiny 1970s sports car. It was a blast, but I can’t tell you how soothing it was to settle into a comfortable, roomy, quiet and even luxurious Audi estate for the drive home. An Audi estate that, in its own way, can also be great fun to drive on a good road.
I wonder if its big brother, the brand new RS5 Avant, will offer that same blend of usability and engagement, or if it chases so hard after the latter it forgets what an estate car is for in the first place. As soon as UK test cars are available, we’ll bring you our verdict.
“However the RS5 turns out, you’ll have to work hard to convince me it’s worth £25,000 more than the S5 Avant. This car, plus a very healthy budget to park an interesting two-seater alongside it? Hmm...”
I can at least tell you I think the RS5 looks fantastic. Huge pumped up arches, four-square stance, the same shapely silhouette as the S5. And it does the numbers – its plug-in hybrid, twin-turbo V6 powertrain develops 630bhp, a massive 75 per cent increase over its sibling. So it’s bound to feel blisteringly quick, given that the 362bhp S5 already feels pretty brisk.
On the other hand, that hybrid system with its significant 25.9kWh battery adds plenty of weight – the RS5 Avant weighs 2370kg, or 405kg more than the equivalent S5. While you’ll feel that extra power everywhere, I suspect you’ll be well aware of all that mass too.
Can a new RS5 Avant really be worth £25,000 more?
Audi has taken the same approach with this new RS5 as BMW with the latest M5. Screw the weight – give it a big hybrid component to get a stack of additional power, plus a meaningful electric-only range that makes it much more appealing to company car buyers, as well as private buyers in countries like Ireland and France where lower official CO2 figures make hybrids cheaper than more polluting cars (on the other side of the Irish Sea, the smaller, lighter, less powerful M3 is actually more expensive than the M5 once the punitive carbon tax is applied).
Trouble is, the latest M5 is hardly the best of that storied bloodline, thanks to its 2.5-tonne weight, and perhaps the same will be true of the RS5. Time will tell.
However the RS5 turns out, you’ll have to work hard to convince me it’s worth £25,000 more than the S5 Avant. This car, plus a very healthy budget to park an interesting two-seater alongside it? Right now, I can’t imagine wanting the RS5 over that two car alternative for a moment.
