Does anyone know if the S5 V8 is around the same MPG as the S3 8P? Cost to fill tank and range?

[LynxE]

Been looking at getting the S3 but I love the A5 coupes so much. Was originally gonna get the 3.0tdi and then add mods etc but there's so many issues these days with diesels with swirl flaps, EGRs, DPFs etc that I dropped the idea and decided on the S3. I only do a 25 mile round trip to work on mainly B roads/country lanes anyway so a diesel just isn't the way to go. Looking at the S3 and it looks to be average of low 20s MPG if driven mainly normally but sometimes sporty. So I don't do more than about 500 miles a month and some say it's about 250 miles to a tank in the S3 so £150ish a month on fuel is OK.

As I'm saving though I can't take my eye off the S5s and they are about the same money but they're so much nicer looking and you get so much more of a car. The only issue is that I don't really want to be doubling the amount I spend a month on fuel. I don't mind say spending 200 quid a month, maybe even 250 with the option to put more in should I do a road trip or decide to have blast one day but I don't want to be always be putting 300 quid in or more every money.

Does anyoone know if they are comparable to the S3?

I hear they do about 20 MPG but does anyone know how much it is to fill the tank and how many miles on average they get?

TIA

 

[Kayobong]

I think if you're that worried about the fuel costs then neither car is for you as you'll never be able to truly enjoy it! For me, with a heavy right foot the S5 will sit at around 22-26MPG. If you're trying you can easily achieve 30-32MPG, but each car will vary depending on factors such as tyres, manual or auto, how it's been looked after, etc. My experience with fuel is based off my Tiptronic S5.

Funnily enough, I moved to my current S5 from a manual 8P S3, and on average the S5 has been more economical so far. I really have no idea how... My S3 was completely standard and doing the same journeys where my S5 now achieves 30MPG, the S3 would be doing around 28MPG. So, for fuel economy they're very closely matched. One thing to note is the tax is a fair amount more on the S5 as it is in the highest tax bracket I believe.

Picking between the S5 and S3 really comes down to how you will use the car as they are very different beasts. I know it's a cliché, but the S3 seems a lot livelier, much like a go cart, it's a much more involving drive but many of them don't come with some basic luxury features. Whereas the S5 does feel a lot more cumbersome, you'll really notice the weight, but it's considerably more comfortable, and its brute in its own right with a lovely naturally aspirated V8 soundtrack which is rare nowadays. It also has much more of a presence on the road, I get a lot more looks and compliments in the S5 (usually from older folks) than I did in my old S3.

Whatever you end up getting, I look forward to seeing it!

 

[LynxE]

I think if you're that worried about the fuel costs then neither car is for you as you'll never be able to truly enjoy it! For me, with a heavy right foot the S5 will sit at around 22-26MPG. If you're trying you can easily achieve 30-32MPG, but each car will vary depending on factors such as tyres, manual or auto, how it's been looked after, etc. My experience with fuel is based off my Tiptronic S5.

Funnily enough, I moved to my current S5 from a manual 8P S3, and on average the S5 has been more economical so far. I really have no idea how... My S3 was completely standard and doing the same journeys where my S5 now achieves 30MPG, the S3 would be doing around 28MPG. So, for fuel economy they're very closely matched. One thing to note is the tax is a fair amount more on the S5 as it is in the highest tax bracket I believe.

Picking between the S5 and S3 really comes down to how you will use the car as they are very different beasts. I know it's a cliché, but the S3 seems a lot livelier, much like a go cart, it's a much more involving drive but many of them don't come with some basic luxury features. Whereas the S5 does feel a lot more cumbersome, you'll really notice the weight, but it's considerably more comfortable, and its brute in its own right with a lovely naturally aspirated V8 soundtrack which is rare nowadays. It also has much more of a presence on the road, I get a lot more looks and compliments in the S5 (usually from older folks) than I did in my old S3.

Whatever you end up getting, I look forward to seeing it!

Thanks for the reply

It's not that I'm that worried about fuel economy I guess, though maybe I made it sound like that, I was just worried it was gonna be vastly more than a 2L turbo petrol

Being doing some digging and came across this

How many miles can you run on a full tank?

www.a5oc.com

This backs up what you've just said that actually that the S5 seems more economical than the s3. Seems I could get a min of 250 a tank from the S5 even with some playful driving and probably even more. I'm used to big cars anyway having had Insignia estates, a Skoda Superb and now I run a Mondeo. Also I remember seeing the S5 getting quite good reviews for handling when compared to other Audis. It's a better looking car, has more presence (as you say), has the V8, will have the B&O sound and not the Bose and I've always loved the RS5 is my dream car. Also day dreamed of the 3.0T S5 if I won a couple of hundred grand so.... I'm sold

S5 it is then when I've saved at the end of the summer. Any things to look out for? And I'll be sure to share it on the page

 

[derekw]

I went from an s3 to s5 and dont use any more fuel unless im booting it obviously. S5 is a much better car

 

[Kayobong]

Thanks for the reply

It's not that I'm that worried about fuel economy I guess, though maybe I made it sound like that, I was just worried it was gonna be vastly more than a 2L turbo petrol

Being doing some digging and came across this

How many miles can you run on a full tank?

www.a5oc.com

This backs up what you've just said that actually that the S5 seems more economical than the s3. Seems I could get a min of 250 a tank from the S5 even with some playful driving and probably even more. I'm used to big cars anyway having had Insignia estates, a Skoda Superb and now I run a Mondeo. Also I remember seeing the S5 getting quite good reviews for handling when compared to other Audis. It's a better looking car, has more presence (as you say), has the V8, will have the B&O sound and not the Bose and I've always loved the RS5 is my dream car. Also day dreamed of the 3.0T S5 if I won a couple of hundred grand so.... I'm sold

S5 it is then when I've saved at the end of the summer. Any things to look out for? And I'll be sure to share it on the page

The B&O is a must, it sounds epic, I had the Bose system in my S3 and there's no comparison to the B&O I have now. The seats are also not comparable, it is so easy to do long journeys in the S5 purely because of how comfortable the seats are. I wouldn't say the handling in the S5 is that great, it has a tendency to understeer, but they're heavy cars so it probably feels a bit more cumbersome than it actually is. Saying that the quattro is the proper Torsen system so theoretically should be a bit better than the Haldex in the S3.

The V8 is supposedly reliable, and I've not had a problem yet however I've not long owned my S5. The main thing you need to look out for is carbon build-up, the 4.2 V8's are notorious for this and if you're looking at a S5 which has recently been walnut blasted that's a bonus as it's something I'd recommend getting done. It is quite expensive and will cost around £800 for a walnut blast of the intake valves, with new gaskets so factor that in. If you're looking at a car with over 60k miles make sure the spark plugs have been done as they're due every 60k and get expensive as there's 8 of them. Injectors fail at higher mileage, brake discs are expensive, routine servicing is a bit more expensive as the V8's hold 9L of oil. There are a few electrical bits that can go wrong on them but nothing specific to the S5, just the A5 platform in general.

 

[LynxE]

The B&O is a must, it sounds epic, I had the Bose system in my S3 and there's no comparison to the B&O I have now. The seats are also not comparable, it is so easy to do long journeys in the S5 purely because of how comfortable the seats are. I wouldn't say the handling in the S5 is that great, it has a tendency to understeer, but they're heavy cars so it probably feels a bit more cumbersome than it actually is. Saying that the quattro is the proper Torsen system so theoretically should be a bit better than the Haldex in the S3.

The V8 is supposedly reliable, and I've not had a problem yet however I've not long owned my S5. The main thing you need to look out for is carbon build-up, the 4.2 V8's are notorious for this and if you're looking at a S5 which has recently been walnut blasted that's a bonus as it's something I'd recommend getting done. It is quite expensive and will cost around £800 for a walnut blast of the intake valves, with new gaskets so factor that in. If you're looking at a car with over 60k miles make sure the spark plugs have been done as they're due every 60k and get expensive as there's 8 of them. Injectors fail at higher mileage, brake discs are expensive, routine servicing is a bit more expensive as the V8's hold 9L of oil. There are a few electrical bits that can go wrong on them but nothing specific to the S5, just the A5 platform in general.

I was looking at the B&O when I was considering the 2.0TFSI or the 3.0TDI and have seen a few vids on it. I'll do what I do in all my cars and add in an extra boot sub anyway but it does sound epic. I can do the spark plugs myself and oil change myself. I've seen my neighbour fix his brakes so I'd probably ask for his help and he can show me that so I can get the cost down there. I'd heard about the carbon build up. That's a price to have that cleaned wow! Nearly an 8th of the cost of the car if I spend 8K lol. You don't think one of the Terracleans would be as good? It'll be close to xmas before I have the money so Santa might have to help me pay to have it done but I agree it needs doing. I read about someone that was only getting about 258 when dyno'd until he had the carbon clean done. Hopfully nothing goes wrong in the first couple of months and I can save a cushion up after buying the car. But cars are my passion so I need something to spend my disposable income on

 

[Kayobong]

I was looking at the B&O when I was considering the 2.0TFSI or the 3.0TDI and have seen a few vids on it. I'll do what I do in all my cars and add in an extra boot sub anyway but it does sound epic. I can do the spark plugs myself and oil change myself. I've seen my neighbour fix his brakes so I'd probably ask for his help and he can show me that so I can get the cost down there. I'd heard about the carbon build up. That's a price to have that cleaned wow! Nearly an 8th of the cost of the car if I spend 8K lol. You don't think one of the Terracleans would be as good? It'll be close to xmas before I have the money so Santa might have to help me pay to have it done but I agree it needs doing. I read about someone that was only getting about 258 when dyno'd until he had the carbon clean done. Hopfully nothing goes wrong in the first couple of months and I can save a cushion up after buying the car. But cars are my passion so I need something to spend my disposable income on

Stay clear of Terraclean and the like, it is basically snake oil, as it doesn't actually touch the intake valves and from what I've seen, it does absolutely nothing. To be honest a walnut blast is not something that is strictly necessary, but like you say many owners have seen much improved BHP, as well as improved power delivery, engine responsiveness and economy from getting it done. A few people I have spoken to who have had their car walnut blasted have had about 280bhp before getting it done, and afterwards they've been seeing the factory figures of about 349bhp along with the improvements I've mentioned. It's something that is on my list, and I've got a dyno session booked in to see if it's worth doing yet which I recommend as it may not be worth doing if you're happy with the power it's outputting. I will be posting up the results once it's been done anyhow. If you're confident enough, you could always take a wire brush to the intake valves/ports and clean them yourself as doing it that way is just as effective, but much more time consuming. I'm the same, love cars, especially Audis. I tend to do interim services myself, but I've found it's important to get stamps in the book if you ever come to selling, so I let my local specialists sort that.

 

[LynxE]

Stay clear of Terraclean and the like, it is basically snake oil, as it doesn't actually touch the intake valves and from what I've seen, it does absolutely nothing. To be honest a walnut blast is not something that is strictly necessary, but like you say many owners have seen much improved BHP, as well as improved power delivery, engine responsiveness and economy from getting it done. A few people I have spoken to who have had their car walnut blasted have had about 280bhp before getting it done, and afterwards they've been seeing the factory figures of about 349bhp along with the improvements I've mentioned. It's something that is on my list, and I've got a dyno session booked in to see if it's worth doing yet which I recommend as it may not be worth doing if you're happy with the power it's outputting. I will be posting up the results once it's been done anyhow. If you're confident enough, you could always take a wire brush to the intake valves/ports and clean them yourself as doing it that way is just as effective, but much more time consuming. I'm the same, love cars, especially Audis. I tend to do interim services myself, but I've found it's important to get stamps in the book if you ever come to selling, so I let my local specialists sort that.

Yeah I reckon it's something I will get done anyway if I can't see it being done from a previous owner. I had plans for the S3 or A5 to have mods and remaps and alsorts done anyway. With the S5 I'll just get a decent exhaust and the carbon clean and that's proabbly it except for the extra bass in the boot or possibly an upgraded headunit. Might do a few cosmetic touches maybe but they look so nice stock anyway

 

[Kayobong]

My thoughts exactly mate, good luck with the search, I look forward to seeing what you end up with!