snake07

Visited local Audi dealer today and A5 will be ready for test drive April-May time frame, also requested about pricing (before negotiation) for both A5 and S5, here are details:
1/ A5 SB Premium Plus for $55,200 includes Nav package, S line, Driver Assistance, 19" wheels, adaptive suspension, Bang Olufsen sound and warm weather package.
2/ S5 SB Premium Plus for $66,250 includes Nav, Sport package, driver assistance, Bang Olufsen sound and warm weather package.

So it's about 12k difference between A5 and S5 SB.

dseag2

Well, in the "different league" category, I traded a '15 S5 for my '17 A4 and haven't looked back. What makes the A4 magic for me is that it is extremely quiet and handles road imperfections quite well, yet when I want to wring it out it is nimble and fast. Honestly, I'm always amazed at how it does everything so well.

Re: the additional HP and torque of the S4/S5, I barely have the chance to use the power my A4 has with all the traffic congestion, so a new S4 or S5 Sportback would be overkill. That might be a very different story in Switzerland.

Glisse

Not that different, speed cameras everywhere, exceed limits by a large enough amount and it's off to jail, etc.

As I said, the 2.0TFSI quattro is hardly slow, and in terms of getting from A to B is more than quick enough for any sane, yet spirited driving.

It is more about feel. If you want extremely quiet, very comfortable (but in a 5, either A or S, think you'll need adaptive suspension) yet nimble, then an A5 2.0TFSI quattro makes more sense than an S5.

I haven't changed my mind since I first drove the various S4/S5 models. I am not a huge fan of the new turbocharged 3.0TFSI engine with Tiptronic, I preferred the supercharged engine with S tronic. Yes, the increase in power and torque is noticeable, but the older engine was sweeter feeling and had a more progressive build of power and torque. The new engine feels a bit coarser and just dumps you onto this large torque plateau. Bit like a diesel, but with a much broader rev range. The ZF8HP is not as crisp as the S tronic (particularly the DL501, no longer being used in the B9 series), and the difference is quite obvious. There is room for Audi to improve this, as BMW use the same ZF8HP and their shift behaviour is better.

There was more character with the older B8 engine/transmission combination, even if it was slower.

For me, what makes the B9 versions much better is the chassis. And with the S5, the suspension tune and the addition of the Sport differential gets the most out of the chassis. I have always liked Audi's self-locking centre differential / rear Sport differential quattro drivetrain. So after a year of looking, it was the combination of the B9 chassis and my favoured drivetrain that led to my S5 SB purchase, and not the choice of engine. And I had also realised by then that the RS4/RS5 would not be getting dual sequential transmissions either because of the "deal" done with Porsche, otherwise I might have waited a little longer.

But I can understand others not feeling such a benefit with the Sport diff, in which case the 2.0TFSI with an S tronic transmission and adaptive suspension would be a compelling option. Ideally, drive various iterations before ordering to work out which combination of engine/transmission/suspension is going to give you the balance you are looking for.