2018 Audi S5 Review: First Impressions
CARS.COM — The redesigned 2018 Audi S5 may not look that different in photos from the outgoing car, but in person, the two-door coupe Audi showed at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show has a finer, more chiseled appearance. With the S5, it’s all in details like the intricate headlights and swooping-profile body line that add dimension to the previously simply designed coupe. A lower hood line and lower stance flatten the profile and make the S5 look lower and longer than the outgoing car.
The S5 isn’t just a pretty face. A spacious interior feels almost a class larger than competitors like the Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe and Lexus RC coupe.
If you’re maniacal enough to shove your adult friends in the backseat of a two-door coupe, the S5 can accommodate them fairly well. I’m 6 feet tall and the top of my head just barely touched the top of the interior, and leaning forward a smidge cleared the sloping rear roofline. The backseat feels wider and roomier than the C-Class or RC, as did the front, where the S5’s tightly compact center console and wide foot area are more spacious. Getting into the backseat was also fairly painless, with a large opening to the two rear seats.
A coupe like the S5 is more about being in the driver’s seat, though, and visibility is good, with tall side windows and an easy over-the-shoulder view to check blind spots out of the also-large rear quarter windows, which are more substantial than others in the class. Cabin materials and quality are classy and elegant, and the fully digital 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit is an impressive feature in other Audis that we expect to work just as well in the S5.
