The GodFather Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Life with an Audi S5 Sportback: Month 3 The shorter days of September have revealed a glitch in the matrix - 23 September 2020 As the days begin to shorten, I find myself spending more time behind the wheel of the S5 in the inky blackness of night. Here, the classiness of its cabin design, including the neat ambient lighting details and clarity of the digital instruments, makes those journeys pleasant. But something has been bugging me, and it’s not the inside that’s the problem. You see, our car has Audi’s optional matrix LED headlights with laser light technology as part of the extensive extras tally. This tech contains two distinct elements. The first is the matrix LED adaptive beam function, using a forward-facing camera and controller to switch off individual LEDs or dim them in 64 stages to create several million possible light patterns. They also serve as cornering lights, shifting the focal point of the light along a curve. The second element is a fairly new laser light system. It doubles the range of the high beam, it’s claimed, using a phosphor-converted laser beam to generate a light cone of several hundred metres. The laser spot, used above 43mph, automatically dims if a car enters the camera’s path. Trouble is, something isn’t working properly. The system adjusts the beam pattern for the conditions ahead as it’s supposed to, but it has recently started to flicker and flash noticeably when switching between modes. I took the car to Basingstoke Audi to diagnose the fault, and after two days with them, an engineer had acknowledged some sort of issue. Sadly, the problem isn’t a well-known one, so the dealer needs to compare with a laser light-equipped car to see the difference. Despite the tech now being available on several models, the dealer claims to have no cars in its network fitted with the option. Audi’s UK headquarters have been informed, but there’s currently no fix for our S5. It’s clearly not performing at its best, judging by the number of times I’ve been flashed by oncoming cars in the past few weeks. It’s a small fly in the S5’s otherwise very appealing ointment. The engine is well run-in now and performance is stronger than ever, although the sometimes hesitant gearbox can irritate. I recently had a brisk, late night airport return run during which its blend of comfort, efficiency, pace and high-speed stability were so strong that it’s hard to think of much else better suited to the job. Love it: Light fantastic Leaving/coming home lighting animations are showy but very cool nonetheless. Loathe it: Seatbelt buckle The passenger seatbelt buckle rattles against the side seat plastic, so I click it in even if it’s not in use. Mileage: 2295 Back to the top Dig deep for weather reports - 16 September 2020 A few years ago, you would get a new car and spend a while pressing every button to find out what it did. In the touchscreen age, I’ve not been doing the same, oddly. Which is why, four months into my stewardship of the S5 Sportback, I’ve only just found out that the car has a live radar display in its weather app to show cloud cover for the coming hours. Handy. Life with an Audi S5 Sportback: Month 2 The right way to coast - 19 August 2020 I use the S5’s mild-hybrid engine-off coasting function on almost every drive. As any hypermiler will confirm, it’s much better to get up to speed quickly and then coast than continually accelerate slowly. I’ve discovered that you can tell the S5 to coast precisely when you want it to by lifting off the throttle and briefly pulling the upshift paddle. Handy. Mileage: 1254 Back to the top How does our £69k fully loaded test car compare with a £41k Kia Stinger GT-S? - 12 August 2020 By sheer luck (and the kindness of Kia UK), I found myself in possession of a Kia Stinger GT-S the week after picking up the S5. Although the Kia is a relatively niche product unlikely to be cross-shopped by many Audi customers, it was interesting to compare the brands’ very different approaches to sporting saloons. First, the price. Our S5 is just over £50k as a base price but knocking on the door of £70k with all our options added in. The Kia? £41k. And that’s before haggling, which is well worth doing given Stingers haven’t exactly flown out of showrooms. And don’t think the Korean car is sparsely equipped. It can’t match the Audi’s perceived finish or vast array of tech, but all the main niceties – sat-nav, Harman Kardon sound system, wireless phone charging, electric and heated nappa leather seats, LED headlights and the like – are thrown in. It even gets ventilated front seats and heated rear seats as standard, which the Audi doesn’t. It’s enough to make you wonder what Kia’s profit margin is on it… Performance is comparable, too. In outright terms, the S5’s 516lb ft of diesel punch monsters the 376lb ft of the Kia. But both quote the same 0-62mph time (4.9sec) despite the Stinger being two-wheel drive only. 1
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