I currently own an RS4 but it may be sold soon so I went down to the local Audi dealer and test drove an S5. I figured even thought it "only" has 350'ish HP it would be fun to drive.

My initial impressions are:
-Great build quality
-Nice lines on the exterior
-Looks kinda big
-Feels kinda big
-Interior was top notch - blows away a 3 series BMW
-Nice techie-ness inside
-Quiet...my RS4 has a catback and is pretty loud...at one point the S5 was running and I didn't even know it!
-I don't know when 350HP started to feel slow but this one did (335 feels much faster IMO)
-Nice seats


Anyway, for those who have driven both what did you think of the S5? After rolling in an RS4 it just felt soft to me...maybe with a few mods I could fall in love.

 

i agree with your impressions 100%. I too have a 2007 RS4. I was praying and hoping for a convertible R8 but since it clearly aint gonna happen (don't want a convertible V10) I started looking at the S5.
It's gorgeous in person. The interior is top notch Audi, as usual. The seats are truly awesome, I quietly hate the recaros in the RS4 (damn italians..make beautiful stuff for short folks, I'm 6'5").

It does feel very slow however. The RS4 gives much more thrilling punch when goosed. It's disappointing, because it's basically the same engine. Maybe the RS5 is what I need.

 

The S5 feels slow due to the torque curve it has. It's very flat. Also it is faster than a stock 335 both i and xi, based on more than a few encounters. The S5 is a great car, and does perform very well for what it is. The thing I love most about it is the handling after the Stasis rear sway bar was installed. The chip companies, and the people who've installed them have noted that the S5 does open up a bit and feels punchy like an RS4. The quarter miles and 0-60's are very comparable as well. When it comes down to it based on the two RS4's I've driven, I wouldn't trade my car for them. Currently I have the GMG exhaust and it's far from quiet. Good luck with your decision.

 

I like the S5 but it is slow. I have one. There are not any mods for it on the market worth anything IMO. You can put an exhaust on it, or the chip, but it really doesn't gain much. You can supercharge it but it's 50K. S5 is a nice car, and nice fit and finish but I feel AUDI missed the bus on the powerplant for it If the RS5 ever comes about I think it will be amazing. I get a TON of compliments on my S5. Get more comments on it then my C6z.

 

I agree with you on the fact that it should have more power, but slow is a bit extreme. That means that a 335 stock is a Camry. It may not be a Z06, but does put down similar number to a RS4. The S5 does everything well, accelerates smooth, looks amazing, and handles great. The AWE exhaust claims around 14 WHP which in turn makes a little over 375 crank. With a chip exhaust and air filter you'll definitely be near 390 crank hp, which isn't the fastest car in the world, but not the slowest either. All I know is I still smile a year later while driving my car.

 

+1 -- based on similar discussions with dyno sheets we've had on the A5OC forum, I wholeheartedly feel like this car would feel a lot better if the power were moved around a bit (hinting at camshafts as a great mod which probably nobody is developing for).

To the OP: just add coilovers and a cat-back and it will feel a lot more like a "sports" coupe without being over the top.

 

It's my first AWD car and I guess I just dont' care for it too much. Robs too much power. I mean at a 20% drive train loss you only putting around 280 to the ground... Guess we all have our needs.

I would be skeptical that you get 14 WHP from an exhaust and 25 from the chip.... Friend of my tint guy has an S5 and he chipped it and exhaust and he gained 10 hp. IMO the 2+grand for 10 hp isn't worth it. (i realize it's all a he said she said, and wish I could actually see graphs, but he said he was not happy to spend that kind of money for that kind of results)

After I learned how they do their advertizing and what not on the power gains I would just need to see it on a real car first to believe it.

I guess I just feel or thought the S5 was made to compete with the 3 series or the M3 and it's far from that. Your right it's not slow. The RS4 has 70 more hp, not quite the same, but I guess close...

My brother has an 2002 m3 and my step bro has a 2007 RS4, and they are neck and neck, while I'm a ways back.

Guess I'm trying to say, looks A+, Handling A, Interior fit and finish A+, Performance it lacks IMO. But we all have different needs and wants. I now know I need/want more hp, but still in a nice car hence why I'm looking around to see what's out there. (If the RS5 ever comes out I bet I'd buy one )

 

I agree with you in that I don't know when 350 hp started to feel slow, but I too agree it does. The power curve would make sense.

 

What kind of chip did your friend of a friend get for 2k? Farnbacher loles, EVOMS, PES tuning all offer chips in the 1200 range that offer around 15-20 WHP. I am skeptical about these numbers, but I've seen an independent dyno for one of those showing the power was there. Whats your brother have in the e46 that he's staying with RS4's? e46 M3 and S5 are neck to neck quarter mile, and thats only if the M doesn't spin off the line.

 

http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...ex.html?t=5694 - PES Tuning Dyno (skeptical with this one) 25 WHP
http://www.fabspeed.com/PDF_files/EVOMSit%20Audi.pdf - EVOMSit 20 crank hp
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=23601996 - Farnbacher Loles 25 crank hp

Maybe suggest another tune for that guy, seems he got ripped. Add an exhaust and air filter to any of these and you should be near the 380-390 crank mark IMO.

 

chip and exhaust was 2k.

We were just stop light racing. His e46 is stock. e46 is much lighter right???? And there is no way the e46 and s5 are neck and neck, I didn't spin the wheels and launched hard and he spun them and still passed me.....

 

of course nothing close to the central US

 

I guess another thing I have realized is for me I want around 450-550 at the wheels for a DD. But I couldn't have known that at first, as I really did like the S5, but then I started driving other cars, got my c6z back and now I'm thinking I want something else... HP/speed is addicting lol

 

Most reviewers have said the S5 runs a 13.2 quarter mile, that is the same for a e46 M3. For you to have been smoked by it means you'd be getting be by stock 335's then, maybe you don't know how to launch an AWD car?

Speed is real addicting I know, my stage 2 STi used to beat RS4's and e46 M3's np, probably beat the e92 M3 off the line for a good while as well. As I've stated before the the S5 just offers something that compensates for the performance lacking, that doesn't mean its not wanted just means its not needed. I wonder what chip and exhaust he got that only offered him 10 crank lol.

 

The S5 is a beautiful car with a top notch interior. Performance is not it's strong suit what so ever. I don't care what anybody says, the car is slow..... The suspension is way too soft and has way too much body roll. I've put on a Stasis exhaust, H&R Coilovers, and rear ARB. The car handles a bit better. Less body roll than before and rotates much better now, but no track car by any stretch of the imagination. The exhaust ads a nice tone to it, but the car isn't any faster.

You cannot just take independent parts and add them up to come to a horsepower total. Exhaust 15hp + ECU 15hp + Filter 5hp does not equate to 35 extra horsepower at the crank. Theoretically I guess it should, but that's not how power mods work. The parts independantly might produce it's claimed hp gains over stock, but how it reacts with other mods is another story. You really have to test the total package on a dyno before and after to see what the real gains are.

The S5 is a great looking car and I have accepted it for exactly that. A good looking tourer that my wife enjoys driving..... If it was pure performance I was after in a similiar price range, the M3 would of been sitting in my garage.