Audi A5 Coupe 3.0 TDI quattro S-line Tip (A) Review

And that kind of pants-moistening comes in the most exclusive forms.

For some of us, it comes from watching Formula 1 live. Others might want to drive a supercar, to know what it feels like to have 660 angry stallions waiting to be unleashed by the order of your right foot.

For me, it's that perfect exit from a sharp turn where you have your foot half way down on the accelerator and continuing the pressure downwards at the precise moment, catching the rear-end as it steps out from all that power.

So imagine the glee on my face as I got a little sample of that temperate Eden when I picked up Audi's first-ever diesel variant in the Singapore market, the Audi A5 3.0-litre TDI.

No, I'm not insane; I know it's a diesel. But how does diving into and out of a corner with 500Nm of torque running through a Quattro system sound?

Flashback

Diesels have it bad in Singapore, a victim of an outdated sentiment set way back in the days of soot and 10 cent soya bean drinks. A stand that has met much resistance and particularly, hesitance to change from the government, even though the advancement of diesel technology has been widely embraced in Europe for years.

If we had to make a list of "one of those" rules, this would rank up there with the "No eating or drinking on the train". I'm not saying that we should be able to munch on a cheeseburger during peak hours, but surely to be fined $30 for sucking on a sweet or sipping water from a bottle on the MRT is plain ridiculous (true story).

I digress, but two years ago, if I had decided to buy myself a diesel I would be staring pale-faced at a special tax allocation of four times my road tax. That's four times the road tax, on top of the vehicle's road tax.

Then came 2008, and after much pressure to get with the times from the general public, the government changed the special tax formula to $1.25 for every cc of your engine instead. That effectively meant that I would pay a special tax amount of $2,387 for a 1,910cc car compared to paying $4,428 pre-2008.

More affordable, but still not making sense.
What a looker

It's a wonderful, fulfilling feeling walking up to the A5, especially when you've got the keys to it.

The pronounced creases work their way up from the front bumper, highlighting the gaping chrome grill as it sweeps along the sides and ends off at the rear-lamps. Then you've got those attentive eyes that look so much meaner with the tastefully arranged LED, day-light running lamps. Adding to the muscular and intimidating stance, the coupe sits 1,981mm wide and 106mm off the ground.

It looks gorgeous, a car almost perfect in design in my opinion. The smooth, lowly slung roofline helped by the raked windscreen cuts a great line, ending off abruptly at the rear. As disruptive as that just sounded, we must remember that the "long bonnet and short rear overhang" formula has been the recipe for sports cars for a long time now.

Make your way to the rear, the visual achilles heel of most cars, and they've got that nailed as well. The rear quarters have all been kept neat and primed; everything seems to be exactly where it should be. Then we've got those absolutely gorgeous 20 inch Y-styled rims that reek of Lamborghini influence, nicely topping off the exclusive and luxurious image this coupe was gunning for.

The interior and the drive

Having the best interior in the business is certainly something the company from Ingolstadt has proudly carried over in their growing class of vehicles. All of Audi's children have an almost identical cockpit layout filled with buttons and knobs that feels solid and tactile to the touch.

Taut Milano leather adorn the seats and the door panels of the A5, exuding a calm luxurious warmth when you're settled down inside. Once seated, you sink just a tad into the arms of the seductive side bolsters as you depress the smart key into the slot, tightening your grip around the meaty steering wheel just as the engine subtly comes to life.
Truth: No matter what manufacturers say, diesel clatter will always be present.

Audi A5 3.0-litre TDI fact: You hardly hear the clatter. It's almost inaudible when you're seated inside in idle, but you do get hints of a somber clatter if you're standing next to it on a quiet street or an enclosed area.

Performance wise though, diesels are in a class of their own. And the 500 Nm of available twist action on the Audi will eagerly oblige in showing you how inept petrol vehicles are as you bury the accelerator. For a split second nothing seems to happen, until the rev needle hits 1,500 rpm, and your head gets thrown back into the headrest as the car pulls away without taking a breath, all the way to 5,000 rpm.

The Quattro system that comes standard on the TDI gives you the confidence to enter tight corners (like a tight sweeping bend) in excess of 100 km/h. But if you're the type who'd rather tame a stallion before riding it, I'd recommend turning the Electronic Stabilization Programme (ESP) off.

Like most other systems though, the driver never has full control over how much of the rear slides, so what you're left with are half-baked over and understeer attempts that prompts you to turn the ESP back on.

Why we all should own one

When I had the chance to ask Mr Reinhold Carl, Managing Director of Audi Singapore, why they had decided to bring in a diesel model, he replied "The launch of the Audi A5 3.0 TDI was never about driving sales volume. Instead, I wanted to raise awareness of the multiple benefits of a diesel car. "

"We want to use the launch of the A5 TDI as a platform to educate local drivers on the many possibilities diesel engines offer. Just as importantly, we want to present our case to revise the existing tax structure from one that is concept-oriented to one that is based on emissions."

With a torque figure that's more than that of an F430 (albeit, at a very low rpm), 236 horses, 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds, fuel consumption at 7.1 litre/100km and a CO2 emission figure of 191 g/km, it's hard for local drivers and the government to ignore Audi's case in point.

I can't possibly tell you it's a sensible buy considering a special tax of $3,708.75 payable on top of everything else, but what I can tell you is that we're all missing out on something special.

Whether you drive your car from home to the supermarket and back, or you love pushing your car to it's very limits through turns, diesels have everything for almost anyone. It's practical, it's fun, it's fast and it has an abundance of joyous torque!

So unless the official sentiments towards diesels change here, the Audi A5 TDI and cars like it will be nothing more than mere showroom icons of "what could have been, if only™".