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

Sat May 12 16:52:12 EDT 2007

That someone “newish” was Chris Bangle.  He was a California kid who grew up
on video games and residual smoke from funny pipes along the boulevards of
LaLa Land….or so he MUST have.

Anyway, for some strange reason he became head of BMW’s design studio and it
is because of Chris Bangle’s bungling that BMW’s look like something…well,
back in the 1950’s there were a lot of horror monster movies made in Japan.
BMW’s look like something that is sort of left over from that era.

Oh, I KNOW that’s not politically correct in automotivedom, but you see, I
never forgave BMW for producing the 1984 318i that was absolutely the worst
automobile that I have EVER owned, and is the one biggest reason why I will
never own another one, even if they eventually do design a car that looks
like a BMW should.

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: John Bysinger [mailto:doog at bysinger.net] 
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 3:56 PM
To: Roger M. Woodbury
Subject: Re: [V8] The Audi S5: A $59000 NOPE!

oops sorry roger, meant for the list.  :)

On 5/12/07, John Bysinger <HYPERLINK
"mailto:doog at bysinger.net"doog at bysinger.net> wrote:

I'm sort of ok with the new design, but I'm very partial to midsize sport
coupes in general, it's a body config that I just love.  That said, I have
to say that Rogers statement made me laugh:

"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?"

Uhm, imho I think every back end on BMWs in the last 5+ years looks like the
design committee DID reject it.  The disjointed look they have these days
gives me the impression that 5 guys were working on the design, and none of
them talked to each other.  (I read somewhere once that someone newish at
BMW was responsible for the change and was praised for 'bringing new life'
into the designs.) 

I think the S5/A5's backside looks better than the current BMWs, but as you
can tell, to me that isn't saying much.

-John
'90v8q

On 5/12/07, Roger M. Woodbury <HYPERLINK "mailto:rmwoodbury at adelphia.net"
\nrmwoodbury at adelphia.net> wrote:

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

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