2008 Audi A5 in West Covina

Take a wild guess how often the power-obsessed freaks at Automobile Magazine prefer the slower version of a car to the faster one. Yeah, not often. Which is why it was such a surprise that I liked the Audi A5 3.2 so much better than the S5 4.2.

First of all, let's call a spade a spade here: with looks like this, who cares how the thing drives? The A5 is drop-dead gorgeous. Stunning, in fact - and it turns heads everywhere you take it. It gets just as much attention as the S5 - big wheels and an S badge are largely irrelevant when the car itself looks as good as this one does.

As always, Audi nailed the interior, too. The A5 has great materials inside, and ergonomics are first-rate. The only unexpected fault is that the A5's steering wheel seems offset from the center of the driver's seat - it's skewed a little towards the inside of the car. It's the kind of thing you usually don't notice except for that it gives a slight sense of awkwardness to the driving position until you figure out what's causing it.

The 3.2-liter V-6 is a pleasure, both acoustically and in terms of its output. It has quick throttle response, revs smoothly, and makes power all over the rev range. It revs happily to seven grand, filling the air with a refined, aggressive honk that, while not quite as sinister as the thundercloud wail from the S5's 4.2-liter V-8, is sufficiently loud to make nearby pedestrians' heads spin around. Its 265 horsepower is more than sufficient. In fact, even though it produces almost 100 hp less than the 354-hp S5, the V-6 communicates so much more directly with the driver that the slower car is more fun. Read full article