Never mind Pepper Potts in the Iron Man movie, this is who I feel like when I drive our 2009 Audi S5: Wonder Woman in her invisible jet! The Audi is so quiet, powerful, fast and floaty yet not detached. Its nearly quiet engine was kind of surprising to me since its competitor, the BMW M3, emits such a beautiful sound when pressed. With the S5, I'd be hitting 4,000 rpm and still not hear a peep from the engine. Of course, when I rev it to 6K there's some noise but not really.
In any case, even over bumps (i.e. that normally jarring imperfection on the on-ramp to 90 West from 405 North) the cabin is undisturbed. I'm flying!
BTW, re: Wonder Woman in her invisible jet, I always wondered why she just didn't turn "invisible," once she stepped inside. If it's a special plane you'd think they'd give it that power instead of making its pilot vulnerable like that. Kinda defeats the purpose of having an invisible anything.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 5,547 miles
rick8365 says:
11:15 AM, 07/15/09
InvisaJet......hahaha...CLASSIC!!
Imagine looking up and seeing her there, just seated flying through the air alongside the guy on the....hey why is the gurney invisible?? Soooo realistic!
Re: the S5 exhaust note or lack of....I'm disappointed to hear that you really don't hear it - the 4.2 is such a great sounding plant in other applications.
funkymunky says:
11:23 AM, 07/15/09
I'm shocked to hear your comments about the engine note. I LOVE the sound of the S5. When I drove it, I thought it sounded like an F-16. Maybe you had the windows closed. Airtight cabin.
SadButTrue says:
11:24 AM, 07/15/09
^Yeah, it's a windows-closed thing. Crack the windows and you get the exhaust note, which is awesome.
joefrompa says:
11:31 AM, 07/15/09
That's pretty nice, that the windows can somehow exclude a sound so completely...albeit in PA, we drive with our windows shut about 4-5 months a year (except when a quick blast of cold air is needed).
Personally, I think that a daily driver needs to be able to be heard when wanted and turned off when wanted, as judged by the throttle position and rpms of the engine. BMW did pretty well in their old 540i/m5 (I haven't driven a more recent 550i/m5), in that at 2000 rpms it would be quiet and at 3500 it would be a nice growl.
I think corvette does it pretty well too on their base engined models, as most of them I barely hear when they drive by.....kinda sad actually.
blueguydotcom says:
11:35 AM, 07/15/09
S5 competing with the M3...rofl. There's no competition there. The S5's main 3 series competitor is the 335i.
sgude says:
12:27 PM, 07/15/09
LOL -- only a woman would ask why Wonder Woman isn't invisible in the InvisiJet...
It's 'cause guys watched the show!
billt9 says:
01:10 PM, 07/15/09
why does wonderwoman need a jet to fly? Even Lucy Lawless can fly.
rick8365 says:
02:04 PM, 07/15/09
I did have a thing for Linda Carter :-)
hondacura4 says:
06:00 PM, 07/15/09
I don't see the the S5 being a direct competitor to the M3 as its performance is much closer to that of the 335i. An RS5 however would be a direct competitor.