Originally Posted by basspro

By the way, the reason for test driving the S4 was to sample the new supercharged V6 which will also be in the 2011 S5. Helped me make my decision between buying 2010 or waiting for 2011 S5.

thanks for reading

Originally Posted by basspro

My impression of the S5 was somewhat surprising. Great sounding V8 (WOW) but did not feel as responsive or powerful as expected(currently drive 300hp v6). However, when in sport mode, the acceleration was just awesome. My test drive of the S4 was interesting. Of course no v8 rumble but the new dual clutch auto is noticeably more responsive, as is the engine. At this point you may be thinking that I preferred the supercharged V6. Answer would be no. Why? In order to fully derive the power from the V6, you have to literally floor the accelerator, which I did many times during the test drive. When floored, the acceleration seemed almost instant. However, during the test drive of the V8, never once did I have to floor the accelerator. So in the end I placed an order for a 2010 S5 because: 1)I need the sound of that V8 ; 2)Something about having to push the accelerator to the floor in order to go fast doesn't sit right with me and 3)If I really only cared about acceleration, I would have gotten an M3,ect. Of course I've only driven NA engines and don't care to mod my cars engine. Just my 2 cents.

Originally Posted by absS5

2010 S5 is V8 and the 2011 will have the v6.

Originally Posted by acadia

Try to tell people that audio note is impressive, V8 all day. A proper GT car should definitely be a v8, no way , you could convince on the V6t, I'd take the V8 all day long, wish it was like 400+ HP, but I love my car.

Originally Posted by basspro

By the way, the reason for test driving the S4 was to sample the new supercharged V6 which will also be in the 2011 S5. Helped me make my decision between buying 2010 or waiting for 2011 S5.

thanks for reading

Originally Posted by AeroSmith

Except of course for a 6 cylinder Porsche, right? A NA 3.8 liter 997 with X-51 get's you just about 400 HP. And I don' think it's a stretch to call it a proper GT.

;-)

Originally Posted by AeroSmith

Almost more interesting to sample S-tronic in some respects, no? I'd love to hear more about your impressions regarding the dual clutch gear box.

Funny, because the V8 is in my wife's Q7 (sounds amazing in that vehicle as well) I'm kind of excited about getting something different in my S5 cab.

Originally Posted by basspro

For the cab, I think that the v6 with the new dual clutch would be perfect. IF it came with a v8, the exhaust note would louder and probably start to be annoying. Just my opinion. As far as the dual clutch is concerned. It is very responsive. I didn't try out the paddle shifters as it wasn't a long test drive (car literally just came in and they didnt want too many miles on it). However, the sales guy used the paddle shifters when coming out of the lot and the acceleration was impressively smooth and fast. I tested the auto in both drive and sport modes. Unlike the V8, there was no noticeable difference between the two modes. The new tranny is definitely an improvement but again to get the car really moving, I was surprised at how often I bottomed out the accelerator.