2010 Audi S4 and S5 Cabriolet
The new 2010 Audi S5 Cabriolet looks good from any angle. Even from the inside of the back seat with the soft-top snuggly closed. The room isn’t adequate for someone six-foot six, but that’s not the point. Viewed from this slightly cramped vantage, the fact that Audi attends to details in a most exhaustive manner seems abundantly clear. The balance of the interior is typically Audi, meaning excellent detailing from the stitched seats to the S-trim only red lines around the gauge pods. Ample room awaits front-seat passengers and their liter-size bottles of fancy water. The 2010 S5 replaces the 2009 S4 Cabriolet as the most affordable convertible in the Audi line. It shares the wider and longer stance of the S5 Coupe, as well as many of that car’s most beautiful exterior lines. An elegant detail is the way aluminum trim artfully wraps around the windshield and then rearward around the perimeter of the cabin in an unbroken line. Design magic.
The new S4 lacks panache when parked next to its more costly stable mate, but that doesn’t make it an unattractive sedan. The interiors look similar, as do some exterior details, including the handsome LED DRLs and LED taillamps. Audi’s new supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 with direct injection powers both cars. Those who need a V-8 can still find it in the S5 Coupe. With nearly equal power, about the only thing missing from the blown V-6 is the familiar is pleasing exhaust note of the eight. The smaller, more efficient (28 mpg highway) engine makes 90-percent of its torque from 2100 rpm, with a peak torque of 325 pound-feet and 333 horsepower. Getting used to the auto industry’s downsizing trend won’t be so hard with engines like this.
On the track, the S4 also responded appropriately to lifting the throttle mid-corner. A sign of a well-balanced chassis, the nose tucks in predictably, and helps the car feel responsive and forgiving.Top down, rougher roads did excite some shake in the windshield header. The side-to-side movement wasn’t wholly objectionable, and pointed out a compromise the engineers must have made to keep the S5’s weight down (4,350 pounds!) as opposed to adding even more structure. Trunks also showcase interesting tradeoffs in convertibles, and the S5’s told some more stories. The opening is narrow (in deference to a stiff chassis) and the size is limited in height and width to accommodate the top mechanism. The volume is still reasonable, and a split pass-through made possible by the individually folding rear seats add to the interior utility.
