Hi guys,
Having looked at various makes and models to replace my stolen Mercedes SL350 I find myself drawn to the Audi. Ticks all the boxes on looks, power, ability to extract more performance and is more practical than the SL. Do any of you own one or have you owned one?, if so any comments would be much appreciated as all I’ve read and discussed with dealers and independents is that they are solid, reliable and pretty sensible on maintenance costs.
Many thanks in advance
Tenuous link but I’ve had an A8 with the same engine. It’s a great engine but lacks a little torque. I had it remapped with a custom map from MRC tuning and had it at circa 400bhp.
Never had any engine problems whilst I had it. Servicing at an indie should be quite cheap. If you supply your own oil, you can buy Quantum LongLife III from TPS which is a wholly owned VAG subsidiary. It’s usually around £20 per 5 litres or less.
Thanks very much, useful info. One of the appeals is the ability to get an MRC map and pulley upgrade once out of warranty as it gets the S5 to RS5 performance so knowing you had the remap with no issues is good to know.Originally Posted by kungfupanda
a friend had one, remapped with about 400 bhp
a white convertible one. nice enough but it absolutely haemorrhaged money, (15k in under 2 years iirc) she was glad to get away from it in the end.
£15k??? What went wrong with it and did she use a main dealer for repairs?
that, from what I remember was just depreciation!
I’d be interested to know how it cost her that sort of money, engine and gearbox are renowned as rock solid so that’s surprising and worrying to hear!
Ahhhh depreciation costs are inevitable.
I thought it was repairs.
My A8 felt bulletproof. The ZF 8 speed auto was really smooth as was the engine.
Early cars were in fact the opposite- Gearboxes were temperamental, massive problems with mechatronic units, if it’s one of the first cars be careful and the box. Apart from that they are pretty bullet proof and loads of fun.
MRC are a decent outfit, depending on where you are based you could try Kim Collins in Hayward’s Heath (QST Tuning) definitely knows his stuff with Audi product.
Last edited by Rob153; 22nd October 2019 at 22:41.
Thanks Rob, so steer clear of 2010 and 2011 cars or do you mean pre-2014 cars when I believe there was a facelift?
Not quite in the same league as the S5 but Mrs B has a 2014 A5 3.0 Tdi Quattro Sportback Black edition.
It has been bulletproof in the 2 years she has owned it.
Comparing the A5 to my Merc E350 convertible the A5 seats are better, the Navi operation is much less intuitive. The operation of A5 gearbox into Sport mode or Manual is better than the Merc and the 7 speed box is about the same but the A5 engine sounds like an old tractor- especially when cold. The A5 ride is harsher and noisier than the Merc. Both accelerate like stink but the A5 does it without any drama thanks to the Quattro and doesn’t feel as quick as it is, whereas my Merc sounds fantastic when you floor it and feels much more rapid x but I doubt it actually is, it’s just the engine roar and the back end squatting.
The A5 is far more practical and the back seats have loads of headroom despite the coupe roofline.
With the rear seats folded the floor is almost flat and I can get my cycle in the back with just the front wheel off.
The only thing I was aware you needed to avoid when we were looking at the Audi was to avoid the Multitronic gearbox which has been a known weekness.
I would certainly recommend the A5
Last edited by barreti; 22nd October 2019 at 23:03. Reason: Adding more info
I thought the more powerful S and RS cars didn’t have DSG gearboxes (with the mechatronic units) because they couldn’t handle the torque. So Audi relied on standard auto boxes.
Yes I personally would- 09/10 and 2011 model year cars.
Whats the boot space like? I have a V6 EOS that I want to replace, but am struggling to find a convertible with decent boot space. The S5 is something I am looking at, but need to ID if the boot is suitable before I waste my time.
S/RS cars were fitted with an S-Tronic box which had the problems. Audi were naughty as they realised they had a problem and the part price mysteriously went up dramatically, basically the gearbox oil became magnitized and subsequently frying the mechatronic units.
Early TT 3.2, VW R32’s with the DSG box suffered the same problem, so VAG new they had a problem with them since 2003. Early S/RS (4.2 V8’s) models had a Tiptronic box, different kettle of fish.
Thanks for clarifying that Rob.
Anyone else had experience of this model?
Not the convertible, but I've had an S5 Sportback since new (2017), and it's my daily driver. Absolutely zero issues with it (apart from too-frequent trips to the petrol station!). Great fun to drive, handles well (including in the snow - we live in a village and the last time we had snow, only me and a few of the farmers in their Land Rovers were able to get out). Servicing is surprisingly reasonable - I use an authorised independent Audi specialist, who is about 50% cheaper than the main dealer. Silly performance if pushed, but will happily cruise on the motorway at low revs, too. Big plus point for me is that to the untrained eye, it just looks like a normal A5, so I don't tend to get too many boy racers driving an inch from my rear bumper, but it has all the performance I need, when I need it. Can be remapped for even sillier performance, but I've never needed more. Quite practical - great big boot in the Sportback (will obviously be smaller in the cabrio), and seats 4 people comfortably. Any specific questions, PM me.
Thanks Tredders, just the kind of info I was after. I too live in a village and the road from where we are to the main road is a mess this time of year as it often floods in two low lying areas and is covered in mud from tractor tyres, snow and ice make it even worse!!
The S5 will be a toy as I have a 2016 Leon tdi as my daily so the lack of 4 doors and a big boot isn’t an issue. My budget won’t get me into one as new as yours and the stories above about earlier cars and gearbox issues has me slightly concerned, having said that all cars have issues and I’d only buy a FSH car that had been serviced correctly.
What’s your MPG like using it daily and how much A road and motorway does that include please?
On A roads and around town, I get 28-30
On my weekly run to / from Heathrow, I’ll get 35-38 (if I set cruise control to something legal).
All bets are off when you put it in Sport mode and put your foot down. Low 20s all the way then...!
Thanks Tredders, the Cab May be slightly worse due to additional weight, however that’s pretty similar to my SL350 that was stolen so I can live with that. How do you find the MMI compared to something like the iDrive on BMW’s as amazingly a 435d is quicker and way more economical than the S5.... but without the M Performance pack they look a bit dull my comparison to my mind.
Are you comparing the B8 (older shape) cab with a B9 sportback (current shape)? The crossover happened in late 2016 as I previously had a B8 2.0T quattro S Tronic (2009) and also had a B9 S5 Tiptronic in 2017 (both coupes). The later car is much improved and even returned slightly better MPG, both around 30, but the S5 had 354PS where the 2.0T had 211PS.
The B8 S5 started off with a 4.0 V8 and then got the 3.0 supercharged engine, despite the "T" badge, when the B8 was facelifted. I believe it also had relatively poor MPG as well but never ran one.
I have the same car, apart from Audi's own dimwitted software on the 8 speed ZF gearbox (BMW do it much better) it's a very capable all rounder, mine's been tuned as well which makes it even more fun with 627Nm and 410bhp
Last edited by Vanguard; 28th October 2019 at 15:50.
Autovogue do some conversions to the 435d that might catch your eye?
Colleague has a 385bhp one of theirs with enormous torque
Last edited by GOAT; 28th October 2019 at 16:21.
I’m going to be looking at 2011-2013 most likely for my budget. Pretty sure there was a facelift in 2014 but not sure I can stretch to that new unless they are much improved ( same car under the skin I think)
Very nice and love that colour. Who did the tuning and has it been reliable since doing it?. Did the gearbox or brakes need upgrading?. Was that power just from a chip or did you have the pulley upgrade done?I have the same car, apart from Audi's own dimwitted software on the 8 speed ZF gearbox (BMW do it much better) it's a very capable all rounder, mine's been tuned as well which makes it even more fun with 627Nm and 410bhp
Last edited by Kevin Glover; 28th October 2019 at 22:23.
Yes I’m aware of the ability to tune them, it’s partly why I looked at them but to be fair it has bags of torque as standard, just not sure of the styling and can’t decide if the M performance pack looks cool or chavvy!!
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