2017 Audi A5 & S5 Review
Car Tested: 2017 Audi A5, S5; Road Test No. 858; Test Location: Jaipur
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 64.50 – 84.45 lakhs
The Audi A5 and S5 are sporty and fun-to-drive cars targeted towards the enthusiast
The luxury car market in India has been witnessing a lot of new launches, especially from Audi India. The automaker has been launching a new car almost every month and this time around, they have not 1, not 2 but 3 new offerings – the A5, S5 Sportback and A5 Cabriolet. We went to Jaipur for two days to drive the A5 Sportback and S5 Sportback, while the A5 Cabriolet we’ll be driving later in Mumbai itself.
Motor Quest: Audi had launched the previous generation S5 Sportback in India and while the car didn’t fetch too many sales, it was a good product in the line-up and was slotted perfectly as a performance sedan. The new A5 and S5 do just that, they are slotted above the A4 and offer better driving dynamics.
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The A5 looks very premium with a hint of sportiness
Exteriors – Elegant! First thing that came to my mind as soon as I saw the car in flesh. It’s the low and long front hood that has this menacing look, almost grinning straight at you with its low prowl. The hood looks strong and imposing with its lines and complementing it are the LED headlamps that look evil in their own way. The grille is designed to look sharp in its Titan black colour with horizontally-placed chrome inlays and the Audi logo at the centre of the headlamps. The car doesn’t come with fog lamps, not that it needs them but instead comes with some chrome trim and very aerodynamically purposeful looking vents for cooling the brakes.
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The Coupe-like rear turns heads on our roads
Moving to the side of the car, there is a side vent with a short chrome inlay and a strong shoulder line running all the way from the headlamp to the tail-light. The door handles open upwards instead of the usual outwards making it a lot easier to open. The frameless doors are beautiful and just give this car a very unique look and surrounding them is you guessed it, more chrome. Although I have to admit, the use of chrome is minimal and doesn’t put me off one bit. The car also gets 17-inch twin 5-spoke wheels that look good. Coming to the rear of the car, it has a really sleek coupe-like roofline that’s so attractive with it curving slightly off the edge of the boot. The tail-lights are simple yet sharp LED units with dynamic indicators that are smoked, which add to that extra appeal. The car also gets chrome-finished twin exhaust pipes.
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The S5 has some more sporty bits, perfect sleeper car
On the outside, the S5 has the same shape and dimensions as the A5, but gets an S5 logo and a more aggressive looking front, with an optional titanium black grill with horizontally slatted matte aluminium inlays. The side mirrors are finished in brushed aluminium with the indicators integrated into them. The car even gets more aggressive S-Line side skirts finished in black. The S5 too gets 5-spoke 18-inch wheels which are a lot sharper in design compared to the A5 and look so much better too, with the brake callipers finished in red and the S5 logo on them. It has a much sportier rear diffuser in matte aluminium silver housing the quad chrome-plated exhaust system. The S5 is definitely the most attractive car in its segment.
