S5: 3800 miles and a fling with a Carrera S

With almost four months and 3800 miles clocked on my S5, I am getting better at working the clutch and the acceleration pedals and no gremlins have appeared… yet. The one thing that I still struggle with it, is if I am focused on trying to shift smoothly and not upset the car, I get worse at changing gears; whereas, if I don’t really think about shifting smoothly, I can pull off gear changes a lot smoother.

It seems that while I am overly focused at trying to change gears smoothly, I get slower at moving the gear selector and manipulating the clutch and acceleration pedals; which, in turn leads to more a very jerky experience and cranks up the stress levels. The less aware that I am about driving a manual, the less I worry about making every shift butter smooth and it becomes less stressful. Read the rest of this entry »

S5: Pirelli PZero Rosso Tires

When my 2011 Audi S5 was built, a set of four Pirelli PZero Rosso tires (255/35ZR19) were selected and installed as the car rolled through the production line. This is the first time that I have had such tires on any of my cars and I’m thinking it will not be my first choice when it comes time to get new tires.

The tires are great at providing traction when slinging my cars around curves or when trying to blitz off from a dead stop. Unfortunately, those buggers are pretty noisy and high levels of tread wear; granted, these tires are ultra-high performance summer tires and aggressive tread wear is par for the course. The noise gets to be a bit tiresome when driving down a highway or freeway, next to a median divider with the windows down. I have experienced the same tire noise and short tread life on other sets of Pirelli tires that came with my 2004 Audi A4 (which were also included with the car when I purchased it). Read the rest of this entry »

Size matters: S5 shift knob

On the way home tonight, the odometer is showing that I am close to crossing the 2000 mile mark. Those miles have gone by pretty fast and I’m feeling quite comfortable with driving stick. Sure, I have stalled three times in the past two weeks and accidentally shifted from 5th to 2nd rather than to 4th; but, I’m getting much better at blipping the throttle while down-shifting and changing gears is getting smoother.

Something that has made it fun and comfortable at the same time is the size and shape of the shift knob. Before I had a chance to see the shift knob up close over a year ago, the Audi of America pictures made it seem like it was overgrown. In reality, the knob fits quite well in the palm of my hand and the oddly thick stalk adds to the already good ergonomics. The only tarnish is that the throws are a bit too long if I want to ram through the gears like a madman.

Now if only I could find the quarter that I dropped when putting it into the slots to the right of the shifter…

Almost 1300 Miles and Rollin’

After taking some pre-dawn pictures yesterday morning, I noticed that I have almost clocked in 1300 miles on Dalek-5 and started thinking how the S5 has been as a daily driver compared to my old 2004 Audi A4.

Outside of the performance and handling differences (354 HP versus 220 HP, 325 ft-lb of torque versus 221 ft-lb) and loads of additional features and technologies (multiple sources for music, including two SD slots, additional iPod/media interface, HD Radio and Sirius satellite radio compared to a six-disc changer and 20GB PhatNoise jukebox), there are some things included in my A4 that I miss:

• A cargo net for the trunk is not included in the S5, while one was included with my A4. The cargo net accessory for the S5 is a bit too expensive.
• No grocery bag hooks in the trunk of the S5. This feature is included in my A4 and I used it quite a bit as a way to keep loaded bags from rolling around in the trunk.
• When using the one-touch window buttons to roll the windows all the way up or down, turning off the engine stops the opening/closing process and requires me to hold the buttons up or down to complete the process. In the A4, the process completes until I tell it to stop with the buttons or a door is opened.
• Due to the lower-slung roof, lower seats and longer door opening, ingress and egress is a bit less graceful than the four-door A4.
• The fancier, sportier wheels with five dual-spokes each are a bear to clean.

None of the above are enough to cause me to get “buyer’s remorse” or lessen how much I really, really like the car. :)

I am still learning where the front wheels are in relation to the front of the car while driving; in which, has lead me to not pull far up enough in some parking spots or to nick one of the wheels on a curb.

I don’t have any new pictures of the S5 yet, as I’m waiting for a night in which the sky is clear and a nice open spot to take pictures of the lovely LED lights, front and rear.

S5: The Rear Seat is No Place for Me

Four Days In