Having less than a week’s worth of driving I figured I was just about right to proclaim all the car’s strength’s and weaknesses (that’s a joke, these are just some initial thou…ramblings).

I love the seats. I love the seats. I love the cockpit, and yes, it is a cockpit. Audi has really aced the idea of the car is built for the driver. Never have I sat in a car and felt so perfectly aligned. The word ergonomics can only be used as an understatement; it’s to the point of making the driver feel lazy because everything is where your mind wants it. Driving this car everyday will leave you with a subconscious thank you to the hours spent in designing the interior.

The leather is perfectly soft to the touch, but has an overall firmness that I can not live without (boy I hope that makes sense to someone other than me). And that steering wheel is so soft and smooth, it can not be leather alone, it is simply too soft…it must be a composite blend of something and surely it includes baby ***. Did I mention the seats?

As for the exterior design, I can only say that there are no, NONE, zero, zilch, nada, not a single pictures that come anywhere close to the dramatic stance the S5 presents itself with. The oversized hood and body lines are art work plain and simple.

Having not gone over 4000 RPM’s it is difficult to comment much on the engine, but the noise in the cabin reinforces the cockpit feel as there is this sound that I can only try to describe. I believe there may be a jet opening up it’s engine under my hood. The sound is almost electronic, almost video-game-esq. It can only be noticed when the radio is turned down (move your finger a half inch to the right in between shifts…yeah, right there, where god himself must have placed the extra volume ****). The power is more than ample…and that’s with 3000 rpm’s left in every gear.

While the steering wheel itself is amazing, my biggest complaint comes from the computerized filter that Audi has placed in between it and the road. The “super power” steering at low speeds was entirely unnecessary and is unnerving as you never quite know when it will kick in. At higher speeds, moving the steering wheel takes on a pleasant weight that translates fairly well to a consistent feel for the road. This is one place that Audi would be well served to steal an engineer from BMW. As for the handling itself, I have not yet had enough opportunity to push the car. So far I can only say that the lack of confidence the steering wheel’s inconsistency has given me has left me favoring the conservative side of things until I am more familiar with the car. The clutch and stick work perfectly together and my left knee is thankful that Audi didn’t feel it necessary to make the clutch too heavy.

Coming from an M3, a car that was designed for the track, I have to say that I am amazed that I get to drive such design perfection without feeling like I have totally sacrificed a push it to the limits drive home form work. They are definitely not the same cars and the S5 was clearly not designed for the track, but I have to confess that I felt victimized by BMW’s horrible design choices and I am gracious that Audi has filled the void in combining beauty and beast. Did I mention the seats?