New A5 for a week
 

Dropped a cousin of mine at the airport at the weekend and have his car to use for the week, a new A5 3.0-litre TDI Black Edition quattro, with 1,800 miles on it. Just about every option spec'd. Pano roof, adaptive bi-xenons, B&O, alcantara/leather interior, dynamic steering, lane assist, etc.

It's good to be back in an Audi +++ if only for a week. First impression is that it's built very well. Nice and solid feeling, like an A8.

The panoramic roof seems a waste of money though if you ask me. £870 and it doesn't slide back; only tilts up by about an inch. Sure it's nice having the extra light from above and it's probably useful for venting the car in summer but it would be nice if it rolled back.

The flat-bottomed steering wheel with paddles is a nice touch. Would take some getting use to though.

One thing I noticed straight away with this 3.0TDI is the horrendous turbo lag. Takes a good couple of seconds for anything exciting to happen after you ease your foot down. Putting it in sport mode seems to solve this but locks off 7th gear it would seem.

It's really smooth on A-roads and the M25. Not had a chance to take it through country roads yet but the ride did become a little rougher off the fast roads.

http://i57.tinypic.com/20z1frt.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/dwcdbt.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/14wefpg.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/2klx07.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/21ah63q.jpg

http://i61.tinypic.com/mvox8n.jpg

So far a nice and refined car I think, but just lacks something I can't put my finger on which a 3-Series (and now 4-Series) has. I hate the term, but the A5 doesn't feel like a 'driver's car'

Still great fun to drive though.

Anybody else driven the A5 at all?

Really nice car Ollie +++
I do like the styling of RS5 a lot, lovely lines and the headlights for me are the best looking ones from all the cars around.
And the MMI looks so much better
I actually seen a Polish guy who managed to get MMI from D4 working on D3, but not all the functions were working properly. It was a little project of his to see how frar can he go.
Enjoy it mate +++

i had a 3.0Tdi for about 18 months before the A8.

Mine was the 6 speed tiptronic. It's not turbo lag - it's poor throttle response / drive by wire.

It's not particularly good for economy and it's not that quick unless you use dynamic mode and when you do, the economy is even worse.