Having had an S4 Avant 10 years from new (B8), I was waiting for Audi to get over its diesel S4 period, so welcomed the launch of the new S5 Avant.  I found a dealer willing to sell me one of the first available cars (they had one more arriving than they were required to hold by Audi for showroom/demo) - and took delivery in November '24.  If I had just placed an order for one I was told it would be delivered in April/May '25.  It is the fully loaded ‘Launch Edition’.

I have now done 4,500 miles, so possibly the most experience of this model in the UK.

My overall impression is of a car that is highly loaded with clever features, but the software development is far from complete!  There are many software issues and, so far, I have seen little interest from dealers or Audi in sorting them.  Many are annoying and reduce the use of features (I have turned them off), but one stopped the car totally.  Here are a few examples:-

• -          The ‘speed nanny’ (beeps when you exceed the speed limit) very often gets the speed limit wrong.  It miss-reads signs or misses them altogether and seems to work both from map information and camera recognition of signs.  For example, on a 70 limit dual carriageway (non-motorway) it most often thinks the limit is 60, then passing under a bridge it will change its idea of the speed limit to 30 mph.  I turn it off every time I start the car (useful to be able to programme a steering wheel button to do this).

• -          The ‘cross traffic’ detection when reversing will suddenly apply the brakes to stop the car if it thinks there is cross traffic (so sudden it feels like you hit something).  It took me a while to work out what was causing the braking.  There was no cross traffic.  It thinks my hedge, my wife’s parked car, my daughters gate, etc. are cross traffic!!  When I took delivery, the salesman commented that it suddenly braked when he backed it into the showroom … I have switched this feature off.

• -          Driving past an exit slip road on the inside lane of a dual carriageway it gets confused by the white line marking (hatches etc.) and applies the brakes – not what you want at 70mph.

• -          The infotainment system’s behaviour seems inconsistent (there  may be a logic, but I haven’t found it!).

• -          The worst case was when I parked one day then came back to the car – it unlocked, but then was totally dead, nothing on the displays, it would not start, the brakes could not be released, nor the steering lock and I couldn’t open the rear door or lock the car again.  It took Audi recovery 3 days to recover the car to the local Audi dealer and 2 days for the dealer to fix.  It was apparently a ‘known’ software problem and fixed with an update – I was not notified of any recall.  Needless to say the update did not fix the other issues.

  Other non-software thoughts?

• -          The car is significantly bigger than the B8 A4/S4 with less room inside, feels more like an A6/S6 to drive.  Disappointing.

• -          Storage space is more limited – there is no room for a spare wheel and the emergency tyre re-inflation kit does not fit the dedicated space under the floor.  The first aid kit has no home, so these things rattle about the luggage space.

• -          Performance is of course good, but the supercharger (combined with gearbox set-up) of my old car gave better rev/torque characteristics than the new one.  

• -          The hybrid operation/performance is good and well refined.

• -          The 20 inch wheels on my car give relatively poor ride – take the 19 inch if you can.

• -          In my personal view the styling is poor, messy and more bling than I prefer.

What would I recommend? 

It is a good, but not exceptionally good car – but I would suggest giving Audi another year to finish the development … so don’t buy yet.

Many thanks indeed Andrew. It’s great that you have been prepared to share your experiences for the benefit of others. 
Oh, of course welcome, and please keep in touch. 
Many thanks and kind regards,

Gareth. 

Picking up my S5 Avant today. Lets hope a few months of customer "beta" testing has ironed out the glitches. I have been advised that there are a few features that are pending updates. Thankfully SW updates are over the air - or are they?? I have worked in an electronics and software environment and all new products will have glitches, bugs, undocumented features and ultimately recalls where over the air fixes are not possible. The price to pay for initial exclusivity? 

Agree with the comment about the S5 being more like an A6 regarding dims and possibly appearance. From my perspective this is a plus as I am trading in my trusty A6 C7 for it. The load space is less but the towing capacity is up, BONUS!

The car is on 20" rims, not sure 19's are an option - I did not configure my car but did not see other wheel options on the Audi configurator site. 

The car has more toys than Santa's workshop - its going to be some time before I find and test them all but looking forward to it. 

 

 

Good evening Andrew and Tom

Just trolling through the website ths evening as I havent had a look for a while and just spotted both your two interesting and informative posts.

I'm particuarly interested in your opinions and views of the new S5 Avant as I put an order in for one at the end of January.

If I could explain my situation and the reasons behind my decision.

I have been a very contented owner of two 55TFSI Q8's for the last 6 years. Firts one purchased in 2020 and the one I have now in 2023. Both have been fine, well built, well engineered cars and I have enjoyed the drivong experience. After being extremely fortunate in owning many decent cars in my almost 60 years of driving ( I'm 78 years of age ) , the Q8's were my first foray into the world of SUV's !

I had resisted for many years but as my Missus and I are oldies , we were convinced by the ease of entry and exit as our old bones and joints are now getting creaky !

My PCP for my current car ends in June so since Christmas I have been pondering on what will be our replacement.

We still have good health and fitness and we both came to the conclusion we wanted to downsize a bit as we do live in the New Forest in Hampshire and the Q8 is a mighty big car !

We do about 11/12000 miles per yearmade up of local journieys t local towns like Salisbury and Winchester and twice a year two big road trips to Deutschland that take 3 sometimes 4 weeks and cover 2000 miles plus. It's these 2 trips where the Q8 has excelled, especially on the Autobahns !  

So, I firts thought....maybe a hybrid . Do they make sense ? It would work on our weekly driving but woud not on our 2 big tours to Germany. I looked at a Mercedes E300 E. A very fine car and Mercedes offer very competetive PCP rates. However, I came to the conclusion that it had a 190 bhp engine and once the 50 mile electric range had depleted whilst in Germany and we do 400 miles per day, we would be lugging around a whole mass of batteries that are contributing nothing. And 190 bhp aint enough on the unrestricted Autobahns ( about 30 % of their road network now ) ....especially when they spot the UK reg !

And we have also found that the charging network in Germany isnt alot different the one we have here in the UK . We tend to stay in the same hotels in Berchtesgaden, Berlin, Dresden and Lower Saxony and all have 2 maybe 3 charging points and almost always they are occupied.

So, Ive been a VAG Group man most of my life and had alook at what Audi has to offer and I spotted the new S5 Avant. Had a good look at one in a local showroom and had a test drive and I was mightily imptessed. Looks good, is fast enough and has alot of tech.  

One final test was to see if we could both get in and out with ease after getting used to the climb up and down in the Q8.....and we could. 

So, after a bit of thought, we ordered a new one from the Factory. It's in black with black interior ( just couldnt get my head around the alternative called Arras Rec !) Not too keen in the panoramic roof but decided to order the tech pack with the better sound system, heads up and the passenger screen.....as my Missus is my Navigator ! Also thought the adaptive dampers would be a good idea as we will be coming out of a car with air suspension. As Tom said in his post I'm pretty certain the car only comes with 20 " wheels.

The Dealer hsip has informed me that the car will be built at the end of this month and will be here in the U.K.somewhen end of March. I have a private buyer for my Q8 and he wants it when we return from our latest road trip to Deutschland on March 22nd.  abit sad as this will be our final trip in the Q8. Both cars have travelled the length and breadth of Germany in the last 6 years from the Bavarian Alps to the Island of Sylt on the  border with Denmark. They have been fine cars and jave kept the two of us safe. I hope the S5 will be as good.

I After the first couple of weeks of ownership I will post my first thought on the new car and comparison to the Q8.

I hope this is of interest to anyone who sees it. If not, please just ignore.

Frank  

Hello Frank, I do not think you have made a bad decision. The only factor that would have been decisive to me would be ease of access with the S5 being lower causing some to struggle getting in and out. The S5 certainly has the legs for the long journeys but also the agility for those wonderful roads around the New Forest. I do not think it is much smaller in area than the Q8 but have never checked the figures. 

My S5 was never going to be as frugal on fuel as my previous A6 C7 Diesel but there comes a point where enjoyment overtakes economy. On longer drives to Glasgow and Doncaster I have seen over 36MPG. Adaptive Cruise and the adaptive ./ adjustable suspension is definitely a bonus. 

You will have seen that early cars have had the odd undocumented feature that has required SW updates but the car is certainly able to tick most if not all boxes be them practical or based totally on desire. 

The pano. roof helps light up the interior, the passenger screen (a divisive option) works for me - Disney+ for those that want in-flight movies, or as you have highlighted, lets the passenger assist with entertainment and navigation. 

Mine has massage seats - heated and cooled. These are comfortable although it took a short time to find the sweet spot of settings. Side bolster adjustment too for that hugging support laterally. 

The Hybrid + definitely helps with economy and will give the Green Fraternity a fuzzy feeling until they realize it only works up to a certain speed and a short duration. Times that it is most noticeable are when in traffic such as motorway tail backs or in Towns and also when arriving home and car parks. I expect you have already experienced adaptive cruise but it was new to me and when sat in tail backs I found it works perfectly. The regeneration seems to work as described although there is no State of Charge gauge but it does show when power is being recuperated. 

I have parking and towing assist but have not tried these in the past 9 months of ownership although as a tow car it works will- More to like than dislike. 

Hi

Maybe my mistake was to buy the new S5 Avant model (one of the first in the UK) before they finished developing it....

I had previously an S4 Avant, which I bought new (because I wanted the Adaptive cruise after experiencing that on my previous Jaguar Super V8) and kept for 10 years and 10,000 miles.  in the first years (before I retired) I did 20,000 per year, but less than 10,000 latterly.  It was reliable and did everything I needed, including towing classic/vintage cars on trailer.  Best towcar I have had and a good towing capacity (2100kg).  I would have bought a new S4 but was avoiding the diesel version, so when the petrol S5 replacement was announced that seemed the ideal replacement.  I would never have an SUV ...

So my S5 is the Launch Edition, intended for dealer showroom/demonstrator 4 months ahead of general availability in November 2024.  Stratstone offered me one as they had one more ordered than Audi required them to have.  It has all the extras, except the pan roof for some reason and Stratstone did me a good deal on the price.

It didn't have a towbar, but I thought I could add that, as I did to the S4.  However I found that you cannot add an aftermarket towbar as with the new coding protocol it is impossible to code anything other than an original Audi one - which costs over £2,000, or would if you could get one (though they are fitting them on the production line to order).  After a year of asking Audi said it is available, but "on back order", I ordered one 2 months ago and still no date.

Everything is on back order ... it took 2 months to get rubber floor mats, 3 months to get a windscreen after mine cracked - and now my interior mirror has detached from the screen (hanging by wires till I stuck it back with double sided tape) - the dealer said the windscreen needs replacing again as the bonding has separated - no news on when that will appear!

I have had 3 software updates so far (one of which followed a stranding with a dead/unresponsive car), but still have some gremlins.  Today, for example, the cruise control would not work because it said a door was open - though I have checked all the doors and re-opened and closed them.

So already this has been the most unreliable car I have owned in over 50 years (revealing my age there!) - a contrast to the last Audi, and the dealer service has been poor (they have one technician that is very good and customer friendly, but the 'front of house' people who you usually have to contact are hopeless, they don't have any technical understanding and don't return calls etc.). After the first 3 years I used a good local Audi specialist for the S4, at less than half the cost.

Rant over ... it is good to drive, performs well, is (only slightly) more economical than my S4.  The adaptive cruise is better (old one didn't work below 5 mph).  Some of the tech is good, when it works, though some is too nanny-ish.

You guys are coming down from larger cars, for me this is significantly larger and heavier than the S4, with less room inside, especially storage.  So not so easy to park in congested Cambridge! (I had downsized from an excellent but LWB Jaguar).  Nowhere to put the tyre pump (I had a spare wheel in the S4!) or first aid kit (was in the rear arm rest of the S4).

I don't think I will buy another Audi it would seem they have gone downhill.  Product development, incomplete; parts supply, inefficient and poor customer service (not just the dealer, Audi UK are no better). 

I hope your experience is better than mine! 

Hi Tom and Andrew

Many thanks for your kind responses.

Andrew , I do understand your frustration with the many problems with your S5. That is not good and I hope Audi get their act together and help you sort it out. 

I purchased my first Q8 in 2020 and the first Edition Ones were almost all bought by punters by then . I did hear that the Edition One models had simliar software problems so I think I was a little lucky in having a " second generation " car that had been sorted by then.

Tom, many thanks for you support in my decision to choose the S5 as a replacement ! Its a bit of a leap of faith isnt it. Both my Q8's have been superlative cars. The firts one had 40,000 miles when I got rid and this one will have 32000 when it goes in March . The build quality of both was impressive. I had and not had a single squeak and rattle in either. A big plus point for me ! I was the proud owner of 2 VW Phaetons before these Audis and they were probably the finest engineered cars that I had ever owned. I do remember Car magazine way back in 2006 road testing one and said that if a nuclear device was let off in the cabin it would probably survive !

So, I hope the S% will not disappoint. For all its undoubted strenghts I have to admit that I have fallen out of love with the Q8 and SUV's in general.

Not only is it big but it's a clumsy car too if you get my drift. Just about enough power to haul almost 2 and a half tons down the autobahn but even in Dynamic mode which firms up the supsension and steering Ive always been a little hesitant in giving it a full blast.

Tom , I take your point about the ease of entry and exit but as I said I took my Missus to a local showroom where they had an S5 Avant and she got in and out many times and not once did she show her pants ! And I did look closely !

As an aside, we spent about 30 mins there looking at this car and not once did the six or so salesmen bother to get up from their desks to see if we wanted any help. We didnt but what a way to try and sell cars eh !

So I am looking forward to the S5. The reviews have been mostly postive so we shall see. I'm going to enjoy my old Q8 for the last time in Germany. We depart in 2 weeks time and we will have a blast up to the Bavarian Aps before swinging westward to Dresden and then to Lower Saxony.

We always spend our final 2 nights in the town of Ypres in Belgium where we walk to the Menin Gate and pay our respects and say our thankyous to all the Tommies who perished in the mud of Paschendale.  

Good evening Tom and Andrew and anyone else who's interested in this post.

I last wrote in February, explaining that our latest road trip to Deutschland in March would be our last in our Q8 before we switch to an S5 Avant that was ordered in January.

Just if anyone is interested, the road trip went well and our old Q8 performed beautifully on the Autobahns as well as on more minor roads. The autobahn network in Germany has deteriated terribly since Covid. Miles and miles of restricted speed roadworks and lane closures for either road repair or bridge inspections. The latter after the bridge in Dresden collapsed 2 years ago and the authorities have decided to do substantial checks on almost all old bridges in the network....just in case !

We had great weather, especially up in Berchtesgaden and then for 8 days in the wonderful city of Dresden.

I already had a dealer buyer for my Q8 so I took it up to him the week after we got back. The car was in immaculate condition with a ceramic coat and a bit of PPF and I left the 2 channel Blackvue camera in it with Celteq battery as it was a big faff to unwire it and remove. Also it had 6 oil change services in 30,000 miles as I like to look after my cars.

The guy was atypical Dealer and I noticed that the day after the sale he had it on his website for £4995 more than the price he gave to me ! And it disappeared the next day so I presume he already had a buyer . So, maybe I chose the wrong profession eh !

The supplying Dealer for my S5 Avant at Bury st.Edmund got in touch late March to say that the car had been built and it was being shipped that week.

So, last Friday my missus and I rented a Vauxhall Mokka from Enterprise ( a decent little car ) , departed our home here in Hampshire at 7 am and drove the 150 miles to take delivery.

I bought my old Q8 from Marriots in Bury st Edmunds and I have found them to be a really good Audi Dealership.Polly Goddard, the Group Business Fleet Manager arranged everything as she did with my Q8 and she is a delight to deal with. Kind, patient and knowledgeable.

It took an hour for the handover and so we left in our new S5 Avant for the journey back. Almost total gridlock around London so it took 5 hours to do 150 miles. Got home exhausted so maybe I'm getting too old for this malarkey !

So, the car is in Black with black upholstery and I specced it with adjustable dampers, the tech pack and red brake calipers.

First inpressions ? Its very very different from my Q8 but all good. Comfortable ,well put togetherand looks great in my opinion. One of my worries was how comfortable on the road it would be , coming out of a Q8 with air suspension. Now I did have it in comfort mode the whole way back but the supsensionn is supple and forgiving. I'm old school so I will run it in for 1200 miles so I didnt give it a blast at all.

My greatest problem in 3 days of ownership is the tech. I'm 78 years of age and I'm finding this stuff hard to understand and accept.

However, Ive spent some hours in the car in my driveway and I'm getting there and am impressed by most of it. Tonight I sucessfully managed to connect the car to the Audi App . Incredible stuff and very very impressive.

So, I hope this is of interest to anyone who reads it. If not just ignore, I wont be offended.

I will now give it a a couple of weeks until the car ticks around to 1200 miles and then I will give it a blast and report back.

Frank

Hi Frank, I certainly agree with you regarding the Tech although you have a few years head start on me. I am fairly Tech savvy but needed time to find all the features and tailor my shortcuts to my preferences. I would also sit in the car, on the drive, reading the manual and slowly getting more familiar with the tech offerings. The App does work well and reassures regarding security notifying if windows are down and doors unlocked when parked up. The simple tracking feature is a nice to have although I have not forgotten where my car has been parked by me to date. A sensible running in period is always worth doing - some may argue but the engineer in me understands what a bedding in period is for. As for comfort - the car is a very nice place to be, I drove to Glasgow from the SW of England non stop except for 1 coffee and comfort break (about 440 miles) with little discomfort and duress. The massage seats are a blessing in mine. The highest MPG I have seen indicated is 40, the lowest is 20MPG but that is towing my caravan. Once I got through the SW glitches of the the early days, the car has been a pleasure to own and drive. I now have roof bars so will be mounting up the mountain bikes for further adventures. Must remember to keep the speed sensible with the bikes up top. Hope that your experience of ownership continues to be a great one.

Hi. I hope yours serves you well, Frank!

There are many good things about the car, of course, but the appreciation of those things is too often clouded by problems. Yes, the tech is not always very intuitive! One of the most useful bits is the programmable button on the steering wheel - which I have programmed to switch off the mandatory 'speed nanny', that is now part of the start-up routine!

I am waiting for the 4th software update. The current annoyance is that when I select the cruise control it tells me that it is not available because there is a door open! Of course there isn't and there is no other warning that a door is open ... I'm told it is another 'known problem' which should be sorted at the next software update.

I also had a warning that my key fob battery needed replacing - so I replaced it, but the warning didn't go away and came up every time I started. The dealer replaced the battery again and that seems to have gone away (they may have cleared fault codes at the same time of course). I had checked my new battery and it showed 3.3V on a voltmeter (nominal 3V), so should have been OK, the original one was down to 2.7V.

Windscreen number 3 has been fitted (only took 6 weeks to come this time - during which the rear-view mirror was attached with double sided tape!). So far no problems with that.

The towbar saga continues ... having said in December that they were now able to supply, the dealer insisted on a deposit to place the order - which I negotiated down from £2,500 (!) to £500, on the assumption it would not arrive quickly. Since then I have been regularly chasing with no news other than "it is on back order". When it was recently in for the windscreen the manager approached me to say that Audi have withdrawn the towbar because there is a problem with it (I assume software again), so they repaid my deposit and I have no idea when or whether it will appear! One factor in choosing this car was the over 2 tonne towing capacity, for the occasional towing of one of my old cars. The S4 was a brilliant tow car - I even towed my Jaguar XJ with no problem, which was right on the weight limit. So a couple of weeks ago I had to rent a truck to transport one of the cars to Lancashire.

Finally - my tyres are almost fully warn - after just 10,500 miles! I was used to getting 20,000 or even 30,000 miles from a set of tyres so this is a bit of a shock - not to mention potentially an annual £1,000 bill. When I commented to the dealer the replay was "this is normal nowadays, with such a heavy car and low profile tyres" ... I am wondering whether to change the wheels for 19" to (slightly) improve the ride and reduce the vulnerability to pothole damage. I am not a fan of the skinny 'rubber band' tyres that are the fashion nowadays. They did originally specify the S5 as either 20" or 19", but seem only to supply with 20".

I hope someone finds this of interest. If boring, please ignore.

So, after precisely 2 weeks of ownership from new and 500 miles, the following are my thoughts about my S5 Avant and in particular to how it compares to my previous car , a Q8.

Firstly and most obviously is the tech in this car compared to the Q8 which was 7 years into it's development and used a vastly inferior architecture to the latest Audi MMI.

I am 78 years of age and to say I am astounded about how good this is and what it can do, is an understatement. Particuarly the " Hey Audi " feature which is outstanding. I never used the voice recognition in the Q8 as it was so poor but with this, it understands everything you say and you can control almost everything with it. I am smitten !!!

Even though I havent had a blast yet, the S5 is clearly a much more powerful and faster car. The Q8 was not a slow car with 335 bhp and a 0 to 60 time of about 6 seconds but it had alot of weight to haul around.

Nect build quality ? I detest creaks and rattles in cars. One of the reasons I was a proud owner of 2 VW Phaetons as the build quality on those cars was unsurpassed in my opinion . I was a little concerned reading some reviews that seem to say that the build quality on newer model Audis had taken a dive. At the moment, thats not true and the car seems solid and well screwed together

Next, how comfortable would the S5 be compared to the Q8. This was my worse fear realising I was coming out of a car with air suspension and designed and built with comfort in mind and into one where handling and road holding was paramount. On that, the jury is still out and I know I was taking a bit of a punt on this. On roads I know and in comfort mode the suspension on the S5 certainly crashes and bangs a bit more. But nothing that really bothers me and I get the feeling that it is more to do with the 35 section tyres compared to the 40's on the Q8 rather than the adaptive dampers versus the air suspension.

And finally....perception ? Isnt it strange that the Q8 is still considerd the flagship model of the Audi SUV range but in 6 years of owning two they rarely received a glance or a comment although to my mind, they were pretty handsome cars.

Whereas in 14 days of ownership I have had numerous people come up when I have parked up, to ask and admire the car. I think the age range of the admirers is substantially lower that anyone who came up to look at the Q8 which tells you something maybe.

I hope this is of interest. If not just delete.

Frank

Second post on this after 35 days of ownership and more impressions of the S5 Avant.

So, the car has been away for about a week to have a 2 channel Blackvue dashcam and Cellink 8 battery installed by TTW Installations in Nottingham followed by a Gtechniq ceramic coat and a little bit of ppf on vulnerable areas of the car applied by First Choice Detailing of Christchurch Hampshire.

Used both these companies for many years on previous cars and I think they are the best in the business and would recommend without hesitation.

The car is settling down and I'm on top of most of the impressive tech now. Also my biggest fear after coming out of a Q8 was of poorer build quality in the S5 as reported in various road tests and subsequent creaks and or rattles.

None of that so far and the car is solid and feels well put together.

And so on to power and performance. Today I brought the car back from Christchurch to my home, a journey of about 30 miles. The car has just ticked over 950 miles, so on a quiet stretch of a dual carriageway through the New Forest I lit it up a little for the first time and strewth can this car move !

And just to make this relative. I am 78 years of age and been fortunate enough to have a wonderful missus of 56 years who has indulged me my great love of cars over many years.

So, looking back and seeing how brake horsepower has now gone through the roof in quite ordinary cars.

My current S5 Avant has 362 bhp, a decent output. Many years ago I was one of the first owners in the Southampton area to take delivery of a new Golf GTI....the original hothatch in 1976. That had 110 bhp and was considered pretty fast.

And the following are some of the cars I have been fortunate enough to own and their relative BHP's

VW Golf GTI 16v. 139 bhp.

Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI . 130 bhp. Because of it's light weight, this was a pocket rocket.

Then I grew up a bit and had more mature cars !

Saab 900 Carlsson 16v turbo. 185 bhp. When the little turbo arrow gauge clicked into the yellow turbo indicator, this car flew !

Porsche 944 S . 190 bhp

BMW 528i . This was for a time the largest engine you could spec. 181 bhp.

The list could go on and I hope people reading this dont think I am in any way boasting about these cars. I'm not, I realise I've been a little fortunate.

My point is that all these cars listed with their relative power outputs are now easily beaten by many family SUV's and saloons and hatchbacks on the market now.

I also realise that many EV's far exceed these figures. The EV route is one that I have never envisaged me taking for many reasons, hence the S5. At my age I'm staying with ICE cars until they are no longer available.

Any one here have any idea where this chase for bhp will end. My current car with 362 bhp is in supercar territory only about 20 years ago.

It is phenomenal and fun and whilst I am still able to do so and I'm competent I am going to hit the German autobahns a couple of times a year and mix it with the German guys there.

Oh and just in case anyone is concerned here because of my age , I am fully fit and have 20/20 vision plus.

I hope this is of interest to some here.