Vandraad

Just got back from the dealer a few moments ago and I'm now quite excited to know that it is a reality. I will have, finally in my life, the exact vehicle I want. The right color, the right features, the right style. Everything I want and nothing I don't want. Here's what I ordered:

A5 Sportback (expected delivery mid-July)

• Prestige Package
• Matador Red Metallic (omg..in bright sunlight the color is amazing)
• S Line Sports Pacakage
• Driver Assistance Package
• 19" S Line Wheel (those 18's are just horribly ugly)
• Nougat Brown Leather
• Dark Walnut High Gloss Trim

Now it may not be a huge deal to many buying a new car, but for me doing so was an impossibility for so very long. 20 years ago I was down on my luck with an old bankruptcy haunting me, mediocre jobs with no real future and student loans demanding to be repaid. Thank goodness my tiny 1990 Toyota pickup (the only other car I've owned), for which I paid $9,000 brand new, kept on running. Then through a series of questionably decision I found myself in California and gainfully employed...but without the truck. The rebuild of my life could begin.


Starting with a credit score so low it wouldn't even register, living in the cheapest apartment I could find and riding a bicycle everywhere I tracked every #%!&*(% penny on an Excel spreadsheet. I negotiated nonstop with every creditor to work out plans to get everything back on track. The spreadsheet was extended year after year. Was I perfect? Heck no, but I gotta say when you over spend one month and you see how the balances are affected 1, 2 or even 3 years down the road it really makes you work harder.


So after 12 years of this hard work, 12 years of only riding a bicycle, 12 years of putting on the back burner every splurge, every luxury, every non-essential spend I have just 4-ish months until this dream machine is in my hands.

Tysandrew

What a fantastic and inspiring story, Vandraad.

Congratulations on your order! Amazing.

Did you get to test drive the A4 with the TSFI 2.0T engine (since A5s aren't in lots for test drives)? I'd love to know your impressions of the performance.

Sebast007

Good for you! Congrats on your order.
Matador red metallic. Is that a catalog color option for the A5 in the usa or is it an audi exclusive paint? I also love red colors ^^

Vandraad

Matador red was a catalog color option. I had to make sure it was not the bright red that has the name Tango Red. Matador is this nice wine/burgundy color. They had a car on the log in Matador Red and it was stunning. I even checked out Gotland Green as it my 2nd choice but the color just didn't 'pop'.

While I was there, Tysandrew, I did test drive a 2017 A4 Premium Plus that had the 2.0T TSFI w/ 252 hp/273 torque and holy hell did the power just shove me into the back of the seat. We pull out of the dealership and go through some new development area where the roads are done but no buildings are in so we had wide sweeping curves and 2 empty lanes all to ourselves. At one point we had a 1/2 mile straight and he 'bring it to a stop then just shove your foot to the floor'. I did..and nearly snapped my neck. All 4 tires screeched, the car lurched forward and we just took off. And unlike any other car I've been in, this one kept the body level. None of this front end climbing up. On the last leg back to the dealership we come to an on-ramp to the expressway. This is a deep curve, real tight. You're coming down from the overpass and like the Carousel at the Nurburgring, you drop into a nicely banked but very tight right hand curve. He tells me to floor it again. I was glad the doors were locked because the lateral forces shoved me up against the door..and yet the car stayed totally planted on the road. No slide, no tire squeal..nothing. A second or two later we're out of the curve and already approaching 75mph as we merge into traffic.

The performance was stunning. I fully expect the A5 will perform no less than what I experienced in the A4.

Tysandrew

Wow! What a testimonial! I wasn't sure about the 2.0T but after that experience, I will consider the A5 and save $9K. Thanks for sharing that.

Sebast007

I was also very impressed by the 2.0T A4 powertrain. It definitely is a great choice performance wise.

dseag2

I traded a '15 S5 for my '17 A4 and don't feel like I stepped down at all. It offers such a great power/handling combo along with a top-notch interior, I can no longer justify an S4 or S5 for myself.

I know you will love your A5 Sportback (Nougat Brown interior never gets old), and congratulations on overcoming such odds and getting the car you want!