Show me your S5/S5 Avants
- Thread starter GaryP
- Start date
Taken delivery of an A5 Avant 204 TFSI Edition 1 S+V and can give you some initial thoughts on that. They will apply equally to the S5 I think.
Firstly colour choice is critical. Black makes the car look like a blob. Very difficult to see any of the design features at all. Lighter colours are better.
In terms of quality this is a step down from the A6 C8 it replaced, and that was a step down from the A6 C6 that replaced (theme!). I would gladly sacrifice some of the useless tech for higher quality materials in the interior. The plastics are hard and scratchy and the faux leather feels even more faux. This can be seen throughout the vehicle. I supposed this is something we have to accept now that more recycled and recyclable products are used.
The interior itself is well designed, everything is where you expect it to be, but i wish there was a few more buttons, mainly for the heating controls. Screens, whilst looking funky are a pain to keep clean, as are all the other haptic panels, which are in piano black (easily scratched). HUD, which I've never had is actually proving useful and can be configured as to how you want it. Also o creaky dash, which plagued the A6 (a common problem)
The B&O sound system is awesome. Far better than the standard system in the A6. I never though speakers in a headrest could work, but they do.
I have the 204 TFSI and it drives nicely. Lacks a bit of torque compared to a Tdi, but we don't do the miles now to justify diesel. I estimate around 450 miles to a tank. Ride is smooth, not crashy and the brakes feel sharper than the A6's.
On the whole I think swapping was the right choice, just wish the hybrid had been an option.
Biggest gripe is no owners manual, and the online one is useless. A good book with some pictures would make it easier to figure things out.
Firstly colour choice is critical. Black makes the car look like a blob. Very difficult to see any of the design features at all. Lighter colours are better.
In terms of quality this is a step down from the A6 C8 it replaced, and that was a step down from the A6 C6 that replaced (theme!). I would gladly sacrifice some of the useless tech for higher quality materials in the interior. The plastics are hard and scratchy and the faux leather feels even more faux. This can be seen throughout the vehicle. I supposed this is something we have to accept now that more recycled and recyclable products are used.
The interior itself is well designed, everything is where you expect it to be, but i wish there was a few more buttons, mainly for the heating controls. Screens, whilst looking funky are a pain to keep clean, as are all the other haptic panels, which are in piano black (easily scratched). HUD, which I've never had is actually proving useful and can be configured as to how you want it. Also o creaky dash, which plagued the A6 (a common problem)
The B&O sound system is awesome. Far better than the standard system in the A6. I never though speakers in a headrest could work, but they do.
I have the 204 TFSI and it drives nicely. Lacks a bit of torque compared to a Tdi, but we don't do the miles now to justify diesel. I estimate around 450 miles to a tank. Ride is smooth, not crashy and the brakes feel sharper than the A6's.
On the whole I think swapping was the right choice, just wish the hybrid had been an option.
Biggest gripe is no owners manual, and the online one is useless. A good book with some pictures would make it easier to figure things out.
With regard to the hard copy owners manual check with your dealer as I have one for mine.
Is that the full manual or the quick guide?
Random question. Do you have sound deadening in the bonnet? Opened mine for the first time just now to find there is none. Another cost saving measure?
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Had been fully intending to get the new model on the basis it was going to be the last version with an ICE but after visiting the local dealers to look at one I left disappointed. Audi interiors used to look AND feel special but compared to my current S5 the quality of the interior has definitely taken a big step backwards in keeping with other Audi models in recent years and certainly not what you expect to find in a £70k car.
Interestingly you can get a £12500 discount on a S5 Edition 1 through Drive the deal which gives some insight in current demand for the car.
They are desperate to sell cars. I have not seen one other new A5 on the road.
I got service pack, sound and vision and paint work treatment thrown in, plus £10k in contributions. They also gave 2k above market for my trade in A6 without even looking at it.
Shame they couldn’t lower the APR. Audi rates are higher than most other manufacturers at the moment.
Seen a couple but not really surprised. Audi seem to have dropped the ball over the last few years and prices for some of their new models are significantly more than the ones they replacing which would be fine if you felt you were getting a better car
Attached article makes for some interesting reading
From Pinnacle to Plastic: Audi's Candid Confession About Interior Quality Decline
Audi's head of Product and Technology Communication has made a striking admission about the brand's declining interior quality, marking an...
My brother knows a salesman who checked their stock. Diesel does, petrol doesn't. Not too sure why.
Having had an S4 Avant 10 years from new, I was waiting for Audi to get over its diesel S4 period, so welcomed the launch of the new S5 Avant. I found a dealer willing to sell me one of the first available cars (they had one more arriving than they were required to hold by Audi for showroom/demo) - and took delivery in November '24. If I had just placed an order for one I was told it would be delivered in April/May '25. It is the fully loaded ‘Launch Edition’.
I have now done 4,500 miles, so probably the most experience of this model in the UK.
My overall impression is of a car that is highly loaded with clever features, but the software development is far from complete! There are many software issues and, so far, I have seen little interest from dealers or Audi in sorting them. Many are annoying and reduce the use of features (I have turned them off), but one stopped the car totally. Here are a few examples:-
- The (UK/Europe) ‘speed nanny’ (beeps when you exceed the speed limit) very often gets the speed limit wrong. It miss-reads signs or misses them altogether and seems to work both from map information and camera recognition of signs. For example, on a 70 limit dual carriageway (non-motorway) it most often thinks the limit is 60, then passing under a bridge it will change its idea of the speed limit to 30 mph. I turn it off every time I start the car (useful to be able to programme a steering wheel button to do this).
- The ‘cross traffic’ detection when reversing will suddenly apply the brakes to stop the car if it thinks there is cross traffic (so sudden it feels like you hit something). It took me a while to work out what was causing the braking. There was no cross traffic. It thinks my hedge, my wife’s parked car, my daughters gate, etc. are cross traffic!! When I took delivery, the salesman commented that it suddenly braked when he backed it into the showroom … I have switched this feature off.
- Driving past an exit slip road on the inside lane of a dual carriageway it gets confused by the white line marking (hatches etc.) and applies the brakes – not what you want at 70mph.
- The infotainment system’s behaviour seems inconsistent (there may be a logic, but I haven’t found it!).
- The worst case was when I parked one day then came back to the car – it unlocked, but then was totally dead, nothing on the displays, it would not start, the brakes could not be released, nor the steering lock and I couldn’t open the rear door or lock the car again. It took Audi recovery 3 days to recover the car to the local Audi dealer and 2 days for the dealer to fix. It was apparently a ‘known’ software problem and fixed with an update – I was not notified of any recall. Needless to say the update did not fix the other issues.
- The car is significantly bigger than the B8 A4/S4 with less room inside, feels more like an A6/S6 to drive. Disappointing.
- Storage space is more limited – there is no room for a spare wheel and the emergency tyre re-inflation kit does not fit the dedicated space under the floor. The first aid kit has no home, so these things rattle about the luggage space.
- Performance is of course good, but the supercharger (combined with gearbox set-up) of my old car gave better rev/torque characteristics than the new one.
- The hybrid operation/performance is good and well refined.
- The 20 inch wheels on my car give relatively poor ride – take the 19 inch if you can.
- The door mirror field of view is poor - the wide-angle outer edge mostly just shows the reflection of the black surround - so always need to look over your shoulder (where the B pillar is in the way!).
- In my personal view the styling is poor, messy and more bling than I prefer.
It is a good, but not exceptionally good car – but I would suggest giving Audi another year to finish the development … so don’t buy yet.
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Great little review, shame to hear about all the software issues - especially the braking at exit slips roads - that could potentially be very dangerous!
Well got in the car this morning and it decided to change the language to Polish. Not very helpful, just as the owners manual was when trying to figure out how to change it back.
Also wireless carplay refused to connect again. Multiple attempts at forgetting device, reconnecting didn't fix it, but a hard reset of the phone did. (For the time being).
@ClassicMac I have set the * to switch off the speed limit warning, just as you have.
I have found that with adaptive cruise on, even though there was nothing in front of me, it would regulate the speed using the car in the lane to the left of me. I not disable this when using cruise control as personally I'm not a fan of it.
Agree with what you say about the mirrors, and I dislike the 'fish eye' view of the rear camera. Haven't found a way to change this yet, if there even is one.
Also wireless carplay refused to connect again. Multiple attempts at forgetting device, reconnecting didn't fix it, but a hard reset of the phone did. (For the time being).
@ClassicMac I have set the * to switch off the speed limit warning, just as you have.
I have found that with adaptive cruise on, even though there was nothing in front of me, it would regulate the speed using the car in the lane to the left of me. I not disable this when using cruise control as personally I'm not a fan of it.
Agree with what you say about the mirrors, and I dislike the 'fish eye' view of the rear camera. Haven't found a way to change this yet, if there even is one.
Hi. Yes, Carplay sometimes recognised and active immediately, sometimes needs to be selected manually.
I use the Adaptive Cruise a lot, I bought my previous S4 new in order to specify it (having had this on a Jaguar XJ previously). I find that this works well, with the stop-start in traffic a benefit the S4 didn't have. Mine is not influenced by the car on the left, but is by a car on the right - so I wonder whether yours thinks it is left-hand-drive or you are continental motoring (or the radar needs re-callibrating)!
I agree that the 'fish eye' distortion makes it more difficult to judge just how close you are to an obstacle. The all-round 'view from above' can be useful, but does not always appear ..
I forgot to say a couple of things in my review. 1) the Head-up Display is good and works well. 2) after 4,000 miles the car thinks that my average fuel consumption has been less than 10 mpg! Judging by how often I fill up it is closer to 30mpg - which is not brilliant, and despite the hybrid function not any better than my 10 year old S4. Probably not helped by the increased bulk.
My latest proble is Audi Insurance (who I went with as they suprisingly offered a good rate). I have a cracked windscreen (30cm and growing) . I asked Audi Insurance if they would permit me to get the local Audi service centre to do the replacement (I thought they would most easily get hold of the new screen) - they refused and put me throught to Autoglass, who said they had one in stock and fixed a date, only to call me beforehand and say they did not have one. They asked Audi Insurance if they could use an original Audi screen - Audi Insurance refused (!!!) and insist they use an after-market one, unless I am willing to pay over £700 ... but of course, there is no aftermarket screen available as yet. So no progress.
You would have thought that Audi Insurance would favour use of genuine Audi parts.
I have always found Audi insurance very expensive. They wanted over 1K for the A5, which at the time I was struggling to insure as it was such a new model
Don't they advertise that the vehicle, certainly in the event of an accident will be repaired using OEM parts?
Agree that the HuD is very good. A gimmick that I wan't really interested in, but actually now find quite useful, as long as I'm not wearing my sunglasses.
The B&O sound system is very good also.
I am starting to wish I'd bought an S5 or a diesel though. Finging the 201ps petrol quite uninspiring.
Don't they advertise that the vehicle, certainly in the event of an accident will be repaired using OEM parts?
Agree that the HuD is very good. A gimmick that I wan't really interested in, but actually now find quite useful, as long as I'm not wearing my sunglasses.
The B&O sound system is very good also.
I am starting to wish I'd bought an S5 or a diesel though. Finging the 201ps petrol quite uninspiring.