2021 Audi S5 Coupe review

For detractors who charge that Audi’s S5 Coupe isn’t the fullest monty, its current MY21 guise is convenient ammo. Its recent facelift might be relatively subtle, but it keeps to the brief of toughening and sharpening an already gym-toned form and the combination on test here.

Fresh black-accented rolling stock and battle-ready District Green topped with an unhealthy Carbon and Black highlight binge, it’s big on purpose and, conspicuously, it apes RennSport stock a little too faithfully.

As fetching a styling amalgamation as it is, the S5 looks at least to swing a larger hammer of promise, even if delivery sticks to the breed’s traditional middleweight sport-performance. Particularly given the MY21 is unchanged under its bullish, racy skin.

Surely, it’s a fairly tricky task creating a more compelling, perhaps emotionally charged mid-sized performance coupe without impacting the restraint and measured balanced that makes for a fun if tempered, daily-digestible package.

That is, after all, the S5’s major strength, rather than some weakness as it’s often construed. In fact, it’s that blend of purpose and pleasantry where this two-door coupe spiritually evokes the original Ur Quattro, and the common body style just anchors the pitch nicely.

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The S5 has a well-crafted, verging on opulent in interior fit-out, effortlessly techy and fully featured.

It’s also indulgently selfish in two-door form yet not overly impractical because of it, an extra sheen of sporting purity over its kin, athletic at heart if tempered nicely for everyday transit or unflustered long-haul grand touring.

And its 260kW turbo V6, while neither fire-breathing nor exotic, befits the premium Euro sport coupe persona and delivers the expected sub-five-second performance that goes with it.

It’s that blend of purpose and pleasantry where this two-door coupe spiritually evokes the original Ur Quattro.

Pricing and Features

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The MY22 S5 Coupe lists as a cleanskin for $108,700 before on-road costs, pricing having crept up $2800 since the pre-facelifted MY20.

That said, this current B9 generation’s 2017 arrival saw the S5’s price point drop by a whopping 17 grand against its B8 forebear to align with the likes of Mercedes-AMG’s then-new six-pot C43 competitor.

A two-door version is priced identically to the five-door Sportback, the more practical twin traditionally outselling the coupe in Australia by around five to one. A Quattro sport diff ($2990), which ought to be standard, as well as the aforementioned Carbon and Black package ($3500) nudges as-tested outlay to $115,190 list.

Headlining features includes 20-inch wheels (S4s get 19s) in a no-cost choice of three designs, adaptively damped suspension, six-piston front brakes and Matrix LED headlight trickery. There’s no extra charge for any paint choice.

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Inside, the S5 fits fine Nappa leather seats with front seat massage functionality, extended upholstery, a head-up display, three-zone climate control, ambient lighting and Bang & Olufsen 19-speaker 3D sound.

The MY21 facelift replaced the old 8.0-inch infotainment with a 10.1-inch touchscreen design, incorporating a 360-degree camera system, MMI navigation touch content, smartphone mirroring and inductive phone charging. Cruise control is adaptive.

Changes for the MY21 are mostly in the details, a move from a flat-bottom wheel (as tested here) to a round-bottom tiller, wireless Apple CarPlay integration and an extra, third Dynamic skin for the 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit driver’s display.

The S5 Coupe fits six airbags, all-speed autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, active lane-keeping, driver alert, an active bonnet and a tyre pressure monitor. The MY21 upgrade brought swerve assistant, rear cross-traffic assist, exit warning and pre-sense rear to the comprehensive active safety suite.

It’s currently unrated by ANCAP though the structurally related A5 carries over A4’s five-star result, itself only applying to four-cylinder variants and based off 2015 Euro NCAP testing: some assurance by very slim association, but still…

Comfort and Space

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The MY22 S5 update swaps the flat-bottomed steering wheel for a more conventional round item

The interior delivers on six-figure fitness and then some, rich and opulent if awfully heavy-handed with the carbonfibre-like accoutrement. The fit-out negotiates the middle ground between sporty S Line-augmented A5 and full-blown RS racer-isms by tracking a little closer to the latter's territory, but it's slightly relaxed, friendly enough for the peak-hour grind and unfatiguing when facing long stints in the waxy leather, diamond-stitched saddle.

On that note, the front pews are excellent, anchoring the upmarket cabin ambience, all-singing and dancing with a breadth electro-pneumatic adjustment from relaxed to firmly form-fitting depending on taste or driving situation. Our early build demonstrator fits the old, fetching flat-bottom wheel and its loss in MY22 configuration is a shame.

The material and textural blend is Audi interior design at its best, the extended trim treatment removing any veneer of cost-consciousness, the use of double stitching, suede and matte brushed metallic effects generous if not pleasingly short of ostentation.

It’s neat in detail, too, from the frameless mirror to the tactility of the switchgear and button damping, strategically lavish as a sort of deal-maker for buyers Audi is targeting with its S grade machinery, arguably more at home shoehorned into the two-door body style than Ingolstadt’s other mid-sized packages.

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There’s just enough specific skin content in the digital display to make this Virtual Cockpit take seem proprietary, something of a trap Audi has built for itself in a format that's too samey in so many model lines.

The loss of the old MMI Touch to a pure touchscreen infotainment interface is still a downgrade, regardless of Ingolstadt’s firm objection, while the recent move to a larger 10.1-inch screen helps mint the S5’s premium effect.

Audi has managed to shake many of the bugs that once plagued the back end of its digital eye candy, such as Google-sourced navigation mapping glitches. It’s still less than a harmonious marriage between Audi’s ecosystem and smartphone mirroring, but the proprietary features are decent and the sharpness and clarity of mapping and 360-degree camera system – with handy low-forward view – is superb.

The HVAC controls, with full two-row, three-zone independence, is a nice inclusion even if row two accommodation is best reserved for small kids or masochists.

The loss of the old MMI Touch to pure touchscreen infotainment interface is still a downgrade, regardless of Ingolstadt’s firm objection.

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This MY21 car misses out, but the MY22 update adds wireless Apple Carplay

The Coupe really is the driver’s choice of the line-up, if mostly because three other available body styles – sedan, wagon, Sportback – are far better suited to more than one passenger. But the least spacious package is also the mid-size S at its most naturally driver-focused. It is great that buyers have a choice and that the most driver-selfish option remains on the menu.

You sit low, its ergonomics are sound, its controls ideally placed and form fit for red-hot enthusiasm. Even the long frameless doors and self-sealing glass reinforce a sense of sportiness lacking in fast sedan, wagon or crossover alternatives. But quite why Audi’s designers continue to balls up the left-foot dead pedals in most of its model lines, sunk deep in the footwell and causing exhaustive seat squab adjustment, is an eternal head-scratcher.

At 410 litres, the Coupe’s boot is more compact than the sedan (420L) or Sportback (470L) if reasonably roomy and serviceable for most everyday requirements and large enough for a couple of cases when the touring weekends away beckon.

On the Road

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The current 260kW hot-vee single-turbo 3.0-litre V6 gets tarred with lacking the character of the old supercharged six (by shades), the charisma of the Noughties 4.2 V8 and having little of the speccy provenance of any contemporary inline-five or RS’s feisty 2.9 biturbo.

But it’s a fine unit with healthy stats – 500Nm in a thick 1350-4500rpm slab where you need it, lively 6400rpm top end, 4.7 seconds of collective 0-100km/h goodness plied via an eight-speed conventional auto that quickly proves a more fittingly refined unit than the old B8’s dual-clutch application.

It is, in short, a fittingly measured powertrain for the S5 brief, right down to the muted sonic gargle that’s polite enough for steady consumption if nicely rorty for sporadic punches.

On the march, delivery is eager, solid and flexible, with no dips or troughs, the ever-handy tap-for-sport sharpening response without overt transmission histrionics and making it equally useable around town as strung out on a back road.

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But where the engine and transmission marriage is sweetest is at a dull roar, with nice and progressive tractability delivered with smooth fluidity, as pleasant and dignified as you like.

There’s a suggestion in its manner that the Normal drive mode calibration errs more towards drivability than absolute economy and it bears out in consumption: mid-11s for balanced driving against its 8.8L/100km claim, spiralling well into the high teens if regularly leaning into its sporting chops.

The B9-gen two-door has been dynamically peachy since inception and there are more than shades of the big brother RS’s lively keenness to rotate and pitch in this more sombre S guise.

It doesn’t quite have the crispness, outright focus or cooperation when properly strung out to its limits – obviously – but the chassis’ breadth of talent and ability from mild to wild is nicely judged and befitting the coupe format that promises sportiness and decent performance in fairly balanced measures.

There’s ample grip for manhandling, though the S5 responds more naturally when progressively leaning into its talent, where it remains diligent and cooperative yet relaxed enough to not turn your knuckles white or fuse your spine with an overly punishing ride in pursuit of milking maximum agility.

Indeed, the chassis’ five-link suspension has been massaged to the point where there’s genuine compliance no matter how you choose to set the standard-fit adaptive dampers and there’s less Jekyll and Hyde between Comfort and Dynamic ride setting than in the RS.

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Audi’s steering is a matter for taste; clear and linear and thankfully bereft of silly adaptive ratio folly if notably ambivalent to the amount of lateral load-up across the front axle in communicating feedback.

It certainly tracks accurately and it takes some effort to break away the coupe’s front-end point or, for that matter, shift its tail off-line without a fair measure of provocation.

Does the optional sport diff bring real benefit? Only once the red mist properly descends and outside a race track environment – hardly S5’s forte – it brings shades of benefit at a spirited grand touring clip.

It’s a three-grand splurge for the completists even if, again, it ought to be fitted as standard anyway. Thankfully those powerful six-pot front anchors, with a solid pedal and progressive bite if prone to faint low-speed squealing, are bundled into the core package.

None of its fervour impinges on the S5's around-town friendliness. Its seamless powertrain, clear and measured damping and a sense of honed solidity makes for a comfortable companion for long stints in the saddle and, bar some tyre thrumming on motorways, it’s a polite cruiser and exceptionally convincing grand tourer.

Its seamless powertrain, measured damping and honed solidity make for a comfortable companion – it’s a polite cruiser and exceptionally convincing grand tourer.

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Ownership

Audi persists with an ordinary three years of unlimited-kilometre warranty from the date of first registration.

Capped priced servicing, though, runs through five years, costing $3150 (at the time of writing), which averages out to $630 per year for each 12-month/15,000km visit.

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VERDICT

The S5 Coupe really became more likeable in B9 form, which brought a big drop in price along with growth in polish and maturity. And the blink-and-you-might-miss-it MY22 does no harm or much benefit besides edging the styling brief deeper into the RennSport territory for sheer feel-goodness even if there’s no extra sportiness or performance to join it.

It remains quick, capable and engaging, albeit without quite the potency its façade suggests, thought the real depth in quality and key appeal is as an all-rounder for most driving occasions. The mid-strength coupe is nicely built, lavishly presented, and goes large on feel-good factor in a lot of nice areas.

In many ways, the S grade embodies premium European motoring properly, without overt cost-cutting and sans high-performance excess. The six-pot turbo befits the medium sports coupe format, it’s both comfortable and purposeful with natural duality, and the indulgence of the handsome two-door form remains a distinctive drawcard in an increasingly homogenised motoring world.

2021 Audi S5 Coupe specifications