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Audi A5 and S5 – Coup de Grace for BMW 3-series coupe?

It seems to me that Audi are on a roll these days. There was a time when they ran along behind the big boys picking up the crumbs (in this country at least) playing second fiddle to the likes of BMW and Mercedes. They didn’t quite have the cach’e that the


It seems to me that Audi are on a roll these days. There was a time when they ran along behind the big boys picking up the crumbs (in this country at least) playing second fiddle to the likes of BMW and Mercedes. They didn't quite have the cach'e that their German rivals did. Besides, if you wanted a luxury 'drivers car' you bought a BMW. If you wanted a luxury, well 'luxury' car you couldn't really go past the Mercedes.

Now Mercedes have suffered their share of quality issues and BMW teamed up with Chris Bangle to make bangle angled ufo's. Audi in the meantime have simply got their act together and are building beautiful, desirable, well made cars.

Audi is selling more cars in Australia than ever before. A 30 percent increase in sales during 2005 has been backed up by a 20 percent increase on the 2005 sales in 2006.

This is the S5 which will be powered by Audi's 4.2-litre V8. A5's will be available with a 195kW 3.2-LITRE FSI V6

Enter the new Audi A5 Coupe, recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor-show and expected to be available by the end of this year in Australia. I predict that Audi's sales will continue to increase at the expense of the BMW 3-Series Coupe which is going to pale into insignificance alongside Audi's latest stunner. It's simply drop-dead gorgeous. BMW are stuck with their E92 3-Series Coupe and it would be hard to pick the rather bland looking BMW over the sexy Audi.

audi-s5-coupe-rear.jpg

Makes a BMW 3-Series coupe look a little blah...doesn't it?

The A5 Coupe has been designed by Walter De Silva (Alfa 156 designer) and pricing in Australia will start at around $80,000. The big news aside from the styling is that the longitudinally mounted engines are set further back in the engine bay when compared to previous Audi models. This should lead to improvements in weight distribution and thus handling. One more reason to buy the A5.

Audi's quattro all-wheel-drive system is used in conjunction with a either a 6-speed manual or Automatic gearbox.

audi-s5-coupe-interior.jpg

Still the best interiors in the business

The S5 variant was revealed at the Geneva motor show when the A5 was launched. Expect re-worked 'sports' suspension bigger brakes and wheels and the Audi 4.2-litre V8. Audi won't confirm it but an RS5 variant is expected at some stage most probably using the current RS4 drivetrain. Awesome.

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