Smooth, sleek and stylish, with a hint of sporty edginess. It’s nice to see that with the 2023 Audi S5 Coupé, some traditions are being maintained. Specifically, I’m talking about the tradition of making a luxury sports car look like a luxury sports car, rather than something bland and generic like every other car on the road. Honestly, in an upmarket vehicle, you want something that will turn heads and be admired (go on – admit that this is what you want!) even when it’s parked at the kerb or waiting at the lights. And in these terms, the 2023 Audi S5 Coupé certainly delivers.

However, looks are one thing and you probably want a luxury sports coupe that does more than look pretty parked up. So does the Audi S5 Coupé have what it takes under the very nice looking bonnet to back up the promise of those big deep air intakes, the 20-inch sport alloys and the clean and slightly aggressive lines? Well, how does a top speed of 250 km/h (I bet that’s been limited) and a 0–100 km/h time of 4.7 seconds sound to you? This degree of oomph comes courtesy of a 6-cylinder 3-L turbocharged petrol engine (with direct and indirect fuel injection and Audi’s very own fancy valvelift system) that has a power curve that peaks across the 5400–6400 rpm range at 260 kW and 500 Nm of torque at a nice low 1370–4500 rpm. This pulsating heart is well matched with the 8-speed Tiptronic gear system and Audi’s famous Quattro drivetrain. Of course, you can play around with the different driving modes (five of them) to your heart’s content to find what suits your driving style best.

It’s not the most frugal on the fuel, but even so, for a zesty 3-litre petrol unit, a combined fuel consumption figure of 8.8 L/100 km is respectable.

When you have that amount of power on tap, it’s important to have good safety features, and once more, the Audi S5 Coupé delivers. The feature that most drivers will experience the most are the brakes – and I don’t just mean that you can glimpse the red brake callipers at the front.  The braking system has the full alphabet of what’s necessary: ABS, ASR and EDL plus brake assist (also known as BA).  You’ll be less likely to see the six airbags in action (at least I hope not), but it’s good to know that they’re all there, including the head-level curtain airbags for front and rear.

If the Audi S5 Coupé presses your buttons (and you want to press the many buttons for all the fun bits of equipment), then you probably enjoy driving for pleasure, so you probably don’t need all the driver assistance features that this car has. You will probably like the 360-degree camera system and the fully adaptive cruise control. You may also agree with me about the benefits of the exit warning system that keeps an electronic eye out for oncoming cars and (more importantly) cyclists when you open the door, and about the light and rain detection system on the lights and wipers. However, you may not need the parking assistance feature, which doesn’t just help you get and out of parking spaces but also helps you locate them (The Audi S5 Coupé isn’t telepathic… is it? How does it know where I want to park?) or the active lane assistance that reminds you and recorrects itself when  you start drifting out of a lane. And I know the designers meant well, but given that the Audi S5 Coupé is such fun to drive, will you really need the attention assistance feature that gives you a visual and audio warning if it thinks your attention is lapsing (hmm – maybe the Audi S5 Coupé is telepathic after all). However, I definitely like the fact that the seatbelt warning isn’t just for the front passenger and the driver – there’s one for everybody.

Now, the Audi S5 Coupé is a technologically advanced luxury sports coupe, so naturally, it caters well to all the creature comforts. That’s what luxury is all about. It would be hard to pick a favourite feature in the comfort department, but the heated massage sports seats with full lumbar support for driver and front passenger would be very high on my list.  The fact that they’re trimmed with S-embossed Nappa leather is a bonus. My inner child also likes the ambient interior lighting feature (30 colours to pick from!) but the part of me that’s a lady nearing her 50s appreciates the three-zone climate control system, meaning that if it is just me and it’s not that hot in here, I’m not going to freeze out the front passenger or the rear passengers (the Audi S5 Coupé seats four people comfortably or five if the three in the back don’t mind a bit of a squeeze). And a multifunction steering wheel is always something I appreciate, along with the clear virtual cockpit display and the heads up display.

As the Audi S5 Coupé is a modern vehicle, it can interface with your smartphone you can access certain apps and enjoy hands-free calling. Regarding said smartphone, you can charge it wirelessly or with any of the four USB charging points (two in the back and two in the front, like the dumb old joke about elephants in a Mini). As the Audi S5 Coupé is at the top of the line, the audio system (a Bang & Olufsen 19-speaker surround sound system) is superb.

In fact, the interior features of the Audi S5 Coupé give my lounge a run for its money, if not more so, seeing as my lounge stays in one place rather than whipping along the motorway at the sort of pace that you’d expect from a sports car. I’ll have mine in metallic Tango red, please!

The 2023 Audi S5 Coupé models include the:

• Audi S5 Coupé

For any more information on the new Audi S5 Coupé or, for that matter, any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181.  If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quote requests out to our national network of Audi dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!