[V8] The Audi S5: A $59000 NOPE!

[Tony and Lillie]

Well, at 32, I guess I'm a little more open to new designs. I wouldn't call 
the car beautiful, but I do like it. Do I think it looks as good as my 4000 
Quattro, no. But, that wasn't exactly a beautiful car at that time either. 
Not compared with a 308, or 911 anyhow. Same with the V8, etc, etc. Even the 
Sport Quattro for that matter. These are all sedan based sports cars (well, 
I could argue the "sport" for the V8, but..). However, the new Audi's still 
drive like a propper German car. Go drive an Audi, a BMW, and a Mercedes. 
Then, take a Camry, a Maxima, a Fusion, a Sebring, and an Accord for a spin.

I'll agree that all the electronic dodads are quite unnecessary, but most 
people today won't live without A/C and power windows. How about central 
locking. The daily driver Jetta has none of this. Power steering, nope. 
Automatic transmission, nada. At 1900 lbs, it's about as pure as a car gets. 
But, if you want conveniences, the new Audi's have plenty of them. Some 
would say they take care of everything for you, so you can concentrate on 
driving the car.

Anyhow, back to the styling, they are distinctive. That's not always a good 
thing, I know. TheAztec, the Pacer, the Edsel. But, in this case, they look 
like a modern sedan/coupe with a distinctive grille. Like I said, they are 
growing on me. It is here to stay, that sort of design. Oh, as for the Q7, 
however, horible. I can't get used to that one!!

My Dad however, doesn't like any of them. He says all new cars are ugly, 
other than exotics. Hey, Maseratti still builds a beautiful 4-door. But, in 
person it has some odd angles as well. Oh well,

As for the V8, 15+ year old electronics an expensive maintenance costs have 
continued to depreciate them since I bought mine. Now I could get a nice 
5-speed for what I paid. They will continue to be a very unique car as far 
as Audi's. It's interesting getting out of the '79 Fox and into the V8, then 
into a new Audi A6. The differences are huge for each generation jump. Yet, 
there is a similarity between them at the same time. They all were/are top 
of the line at the time, in their respective classes. Same great, solid 
engineering went into them. None standout at the time for styling 
breakthrough. But I like them all. If I had the $$, I'd take one of each, in 
brand new condition, of course ;-)

Tony Hoffman



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at adelphia.net>
To: <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 7:18 AM
Subject: [V8] The Audi S5: A $59000 NOPE!


>I just read the review of the S5 on line.  I disagreed with almost
> everything said about the car in the article.  I must be getting old.
>
> To begin with, the profile of the car looked just like what Toyota would
> produce if they produced a two door coupe and took pictures of it just 
> after
> it returned from the NTSA Frontal Crash tests.  The blunt nose on what 
> Audi
> is producing today is a design element for which I have no word...other 
> than
> stupid, perhaps.
>
> The ass end of the thing looks like something that Chris Bangle would be
> proud.  Why did Audi think that it needed to make the ass end of this 
> coupe
> look like something that BMW's design committee would reject?
>
> Overall, the thing looks just sort of Japanesee, to me.  Like one night 
> good
> old Oke, the night janitor in some Yokohama design studio took an hour or
> two off from sweeping the floors, and sat at the designers table.  I can 
> see
> him now, munching on rice balls, and scribbling furiously until, voila!
> There appeared something that became the Audi S5!
>
> And all this wonderous design swooping and scupting, plus enough 
> electronic
> gizzies to make the car unserviceable except at some big city dealership 
> at
> $300 per hour?  I don't think so.
>
> Me.  I will continue to pursue the idea of buying another V8, and 
> renovating
> it for another 100,000 miles.  Despite the amount of electronics already 
> in
> one of the things, at about five grand, with another five grand ready for
> retrofit, the car has lines that are pretty much ageless, at least to my
> eyes.  And even if I do change the wheels to 16 inchers, the cost of tires
> will not begin to approach those big rubber donuts on the S5.  My 
> insurance
> premiums will be nothing by comparison, and the tax collector will ask if 
> I
> am single handedly trying to bankrupt the town by not buying an expensive
> car for them to tax.
>
> Oh...one big drawback, of course:  I won't have nearly as many cupholders 
> as
> the guy driving the S5 has.
>
> Damn!  I hate it when I am only second best!
>
> Roger