2009 Audi S5: Tell Me Why I'm Wrong

Walter de'Silva said it's his favorite design. As nice as it is, I think I'd prefer the A4 Avant.

Current Vehicles:
1) Camaro SS
2) Challenger R/T
3) Audi S5

Past Vehicles:
1) Audi R8
2) Ford GT
3) 2002 BMW M3

All Time:
1) Audi R8
2) Ford GT
3) Camaro SS

The Flex, you must be blind otherwise.

^^Just kidding I actulally think that the G8 is the best looking. It's perfect from every angle.

A4 Avant - I like wagons
S5 - nice clean lines, no extra crap
370Z - see above, but less so

Ford GT (oh wait, no longer in fleet)

Challenger.
S5.
M3.

Challenger and M3

Current Favorites:
1. Audi S5
2. Audi A4 Avant
3. Pontiac G8
4. Volvo XC60
5. Hyundai Genesis

Least Favorites:
1. Mazda 6
2. Infiniti FX
3. Nissan GT-R
4. BMW 750
5. Ford Focus

Past Favorites:
1. Audi R8
2. 2002 BMW M3
3. 2006 BMW 330
4. Hyundai Veracruz
5. Mini Cooper S

the A4 Avant (I'm a wagon fan, too) and the R8. Strangely, the S5 does nothing for me, though I suspect it looks much better in person.

maybe if that B-pillar was removed...

S5
A4
XC
6

M3 Sedan loses points with me, only the coupe looks good.

E46 M3
A4 Avant
S5
A8

i'd say its a tie for me between the s5 and a4 avant.
i like the m3 as a couple, and the camaro/challenger would be good if they weren't so damn huge in person.

of the past fleet cars, i'd do with the 2002 m3, ford gt, and magnum pi.

i think the bigger picture is how few attractive cars are currently being manufactured. i mean, there are some downright hideous cars in your current fleet.

m3 "coupe"... sorry. thanks so much for not including edit in this pointless site redesign.

Currently? Sure. But historically, nothing beats the Ferrari 308.

The S5 doesn't make it into my Top 5, but it probably makes it into my Top 10.

Infiniti G35
Cadillac CTS
Ferrari 308 GTSi
Audi R8
Ford GT

Of course, I'm slightly biased towards Nissan products, and apparently, there are some Bavarian biased people in here too. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

1) The S5 looks like it was designed by a committee. Sure it has "OK" proportions- so does a last-gen Honda Accord. Nothing about it says "This is 2009." It says "this is anywhere from 1998 to 2009 give or take 10 years." Yes that means it will age a little better on paper, but plenty of other car companies manage to do daring and graceful, but Audi isn't a real luxury car company anyway.

2) The headlights are tacky/lame. "German Rice."

3) It's a coupe. Here are a list of coupes that still look better than the S5:
-Honda Accord
-Nissan Altima
-Infiniti G35 (probably the best looking one.)
-Ford Mustang

And not to mention, you have lots of cars in your long term fleet that push the design envelope in exciting ways. The clean-box Ford Flex, the swoopy 370z, the origami GT-R, the alien FX, the comic book Camaro, or even the cubist Dodge Ram.

I think from the side, the S5's butt looks too big.

It is a good looking car though.

All-time:
308
GT

After that it's a multi-way tie:
02 M3, A4 Avant, A5, 370Z

Then:
Camaro
(It would be higher on my list, were it a different color).

G8 GT - steroid-abusing E39
S5 - like it's been dipped in candy shell
R8 - Batman!
Genesis Coupe - good swoopy
Infiniti G35 / G37 (sedan and coupe) - nice, classic swoopy
Camaro - G8's younger, single brother
E46 M3 - classic bavarian rep

Honestly, the cars that inside line picks up have never quite been my cup of tea looks wise (must be something wrong with all your tastes ;) ). If I had to pick, I'd say solstice, ferrari, or cts. Audi's look handsome enough to me, but frankly, not really any more-so than buicks. Smooth, well detailed, and understated doesn't exactly get my blood pumping (my heart does that, in case you were confused!).

I saw my first S5 in Alabama last weekend. It was a nice dark grey, and I have to say it looked a lot better than any photos I've seen. It was also doing about 90 mph.

I'd have to say the best-looking cars were the Smart Fortwo Passion and the BMW 135i

...just kidding. The Audi S5 is the best-looking in the current fleet, I'd give the R8 honors for all time. Give them their due, the gang at Audi can draw.

1. Audi R8
2. Audi S5
3. Ford GT
4. Pontiac G8 GT
5. BMW M3 (both)

Wow....I am a huge BMW fan but the cars above the bimmers are design genius and will be (or are) classics.

S5 looks even better in person than in pics and it is my fave. Not impressed with how the R8 looks in person.
The XC60 also looks hot in person. Best looking SUV in the market right now.
Flex is another favorite because Ford has managed to come out with a box that looks cool. Easy to do with sporty swoopy cars, not easy to do with boxes.
Focus would be my worst looking car.
The current pony cars and most of the Asian designs leave me cold. Camaro and Challenger are terrible to sit in, what's with the super high tank like beltlines?

I test drove an S5 yesterday, and I must say, it sits much lower than it seems in pictures. In pictures it looks somewhat 'over designed' almost as if it's look came out of a book. But in person its simply beautiful and athletic. The car i drove was a metallic dark blue.

So my vote is S5

I don't see why everyone gushes over the A5/S5 design. I think it's a weird, awkward blend of swoopy and chiseled styling. It looks inconsistent to my eyes--I never get used to seeing them.

The S5 is the best-looking one currently in the fleet. The 308 is the best one of all time, then the '02 M3.

1.-S5
2.-R8
3.-Challenger.

You aren't wrong. Hands down for my money the S5 is the best looking car currently in production.

The R8 and A4 Avant are easily in the top 5. Audi is really on a roll right now. I still find the Camaro a bit overdone for my tastes.

In no particular order:

1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger
1) Challenger

The S5 is the best looking car in the fleet. I can't think of a coupe I'd rather have in my garage right now. The interior (which is what I get to look at while people look at me) is impeccable.

With that said, what's the deal with the FAKE AIR INTAKES on this otherwise classy car? I'm probably the only guy that cares, but fake air intakes are a design cliche I hope goes the way of the tailfin.

In a move designed specifically to irritate me, Audi gave the S5 bigger fake air intakes than the A5. Why?

for some reason I don't think the S5 photographs well. The wheel gap's accentuated and the side sculpting is flattened. In real life it looks great.

I really like the S5 look, too bad I would never buy it due to price.
I saw a Genesis Coupe the other day, and wow, way better looking to me in person.

All Time
1. GT
2. 308
3. GTR
4. Focus
5. Challenger
6. The Evo
7. S5
8. M3
9. Flex
10. G8 (It maybe old and bland but its better than a civic or smart anyday. IMHO)

Although I'm very fond of the S5's styling, the more I look at it the more plain the styling gets.

1. GT-R(obviously a lot will beg to differ)
2. EVO X GSR when they put the wing back on and no, Iam not sixteen.
3. M3
4. 370Z

I like the looks of these cars because they focus more on functionality. Iam a fan of form follows function styling.

Iam not in the retro thing so the Ford GT just looks silly to me. The Ferrari is a car that I just don't care about because its too old. Again Iam sure to be in the minority here.

The G8 has good looks even with the fake hoodscopes and for some reason it looks silly without them or maybe its just growing on to me.

Finally the R8 and the S5 don't really impress me. Both are all show, no go, like most Audis.

The the CURRENT fleet the S5 and camaro are the 2 best looking cars. How anyone could say the M3 is better than either one is beyond me. The M3 looks like a run of the mill 3 series with ugly 18" wheels and bigger exhaust pipes. in that white the car is utterly forgettable. The Z probably comes in behind the other coupes I mentiomed. I do not like the rear of the A4 wagon at all- the sedan looks much better.

The 6 would rank high if it was the V6 with the 18s and bumper mounted exhaust tips. The I4 looks somewhat lame.

1. Camaro
2. S5
3. G8
4. Z
5. Genesis
6. Ram
7. Mazda6

The best way to ask this question is to imagine each of these cars had an anemic 4 cylinder mill in them, and THEN choose the best looking one. I'd say the engine and performance confounds the perception of the car and to truly evaluate the presentation, one needs to neutralize the other varying factors.

That being said - I'm biased as I own a Z. Why? Because I love the way it looks and drives (can't separate the packaging from the product).

Kevin

1487, in my eyes the M3's "beauty" lies in its great proportions. The sedan looks good but the coupe is right on the money.

Best looking cars currently:

1. S5
2. Challenger
3. MINI-E
4. M3
5. Evo (before all mods)

Best looking of all time that stand out in my mind:

1. R8
2. GT
3. E46 M3

HondaAcura:

I can get those proportions in a 328 or 335 which I see every day. The 3 series is a good looking car but hardly newsworthy considering it outsells several affordable family sedans. I think the M3 looks worse than the 335i. In this company the M3 is forgettable. If camaro drives by people stare, if an M3 drives by all but car nerds don't even realize its V8 powered 3 series costing $70k. I guarantee you an M3 won't garner attention in most major cities.

Revelations: 666 ..."And the last sign before the Apocalypse shall be when epbrown agrees with 1487, the rain of frogs, plagues, dead rising and sounding of Gabriel's trumpet having been mild warnings, a mere throat-clearing, really."

Oh, crap! I agree - my favorite current BMW is the E92, which is sleek and elegant and pretty much everything you'd expect a car to be when you heard someone say they drove a BMW. The hood and sideskirts added for the M version look like they saw some kid's doodling of a 3-series coupe on his notebook, but left off the flames from the exhaust and the crudely drawn dinosaur chasing it. I like the sedan better, though it's still got nothing on the A4/A5 based cars.

ep:

If you actually pay attention to the substance of what I'm saying and you are logical you probably agree with me quite often. the M treatment on the M3 doesn't help anything visually. As stated before, don't see why anyone would pony up thousands extra for that vs the 335i.

...and the moment's passed. :)

You don't see why anyone would buy the M3 over the 335i?! Seriously? You see no difference in performance, philosophy, componentry? That's like looking at "War and Peace" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and saying "What's the difference? They both look to be fairly long books."

The S5 is nice looking, but not the best. It's just too damned conservative.

I think the Ford GT, Cadillac CTS, Ferrari 308, and M3 (both), were better looking for example.

Oh, and the Camaro too!

@ep

"performance, philosophy and componentry"? If you humor the author of this blog you might read that this is "on looks alone." The visual characteristics you mentioned only subtly differentiate the 335 and M. I agree with 1487 that the M is just another BMW to all but car aficionados.

Don't let him try to slip past, ym. Based on aesthetics alone, the cars aren't very different, true, but that's pretty much a BMW tradition - the M cars are always sleepers for the most part. You buy an M-Division car for the hardware inside (in my case, for the S54 engine) - none of the money is to pay for looks.

@altimadude and mikeolan : Warms my heart that you mentioned the G35. The looks didn't much resonate with me at first, but they started catching my eye around the 2005 refresh. Really clean and simple, and I love the vertical headlamp design. I wish they had stayed with the vertical design for the G37 sedans, but still a very fine looking car.

You people are giving the automobile-buying public a bit too much credit. People buy M Cars because there's a BMW symbol on the hood and an M symbol on the back.

No one's immune to badge awareness, least of all the types of people that walk onto a BMW lot and walk off with an M3 and a 60 month payment.

Trying to say people who buy BMWs are somehow above simply being fashionable is absurd. Don't try slippin that BS past the ole wrinklebump.

wrinkebump wrote: "Trying to say people who buy BMWs are somehow above simply being fashionable is absurd. Don't try slippin that BS past the ole wrinklebump. "

You're kidding, but I've always found that argument self-serving. "Most people have no idea what they're doing when they buy these. Of course, I, being a genius, have a greater understanding of these matters, and am the exception." Yeah, right.

People may buy various brands solely for the name, BMW included, but in my experience, that doesn't apply to the performance divisions. The type of people you're describing don't know from M, S, AMG, Nismo, and so on. Remember that these models make up a very small percentage of any car-maker's volume. You sell more C-classes than AMGs, more Corvettes than ZR-1s, more Boxsters and Cayennes than GT3 RSs.

BMW sold over 500,000 E46s, most of them 325i sedans with automatic transmissions - less than 10% of all E46s sold were M3s. Over 100,000 Z4s in the US, but only 4,275 M Roadsters, less than 2,000 M Coupes. No one wanders the showroom floor and says "Eh, gimme one with them-thar fancy Ms on it, Chauncey, the price don't make no nevermind."

It hasn't happened to Edmunds staffers yet apparently, but a LOT of E90 M3 owners report being gently chastised by passers-by in BMWs for "cluelessly" putting M3 badges on their plain old 3-series trying to pass it off as an M, when everyone knows there's no 4-door M3. :) And, as mentioned previously, the M-division versions don't look very different to the untrained eye.

the 135i is my favorite looking car, even though its gone. Every time i walk up to mine, i love the way it looks even more.

I own a 2010 S5 Black Pearl on Black so you know my preference.

Really wanted a coupe after 15 years with 5 Series BMWs. Looked at the 335 and with the S5 side by side the Audi has so much more presence.

My designer friends think it is the best looking cars on the road today. I have to agree.

After a round of golf and walking back to the car to put my clubs away a Mercedes driver pulled up to his buddy, in a Corvette parked next to me, said, (when referring to the S5) "that is an amazing looking car."

Even my wife says she loves the look of it parking her 328 next to it in garage, it is so sporty and I has a great looking butt.