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The engine is smooth and refined, yet it’s raucous enough to raise a smile. Torque is particularly impressive from around 2,000rpm, making acceleration a breeze even in higher gears. Higher up the rev range, the engine isn’t quite as capable, lacking the urge it has further down. – 4car

Luxury brands’ bean counters have severely stretched their products’ DNA. Merc’s bank vault gestalt took an enormous hit over the last twenty years. Bimmer’s SMG gearbox, iDrive multi-media controller, run-flat tires, SUV and dumbed down steering are a worrying divergence from their Ultimate Driving machine ethos. The aforementioned Lexus IS’ harsh driving dynamics bear scant resemblance to their magic carpet LS flagship. Only Audi creates a range of automobiles with brand-faithful consistency. – TTAC

Other than an occasional tyre drone, we can find little fault with the A5’s refinement… And then there are the dynamics. The first pothole you take is enough to show that there’s been something of a revelation in Audi’s ride department. The A5’s longer wheelbase and improved weight distribution gives it a significantly improved secondary ride quality compared to the equivalent A4. The second discovery is the A5’s new found agility; where an A4 or A6 feels nose heavy, the A5 is much more eager to change direction. And thirdly the changes to the steering system have indeed improved the response rate. So a definite improvement. The truth is that for all the A5’s advancements it still just trails the 3-series in driver enjoyment terms if nothing else. Equally the A5’s ride quality may be light and day better next to the A6, but on the most demanding of B-roads the A5 can’t match the 3-series’ supple primary ride and taut body control. – Autocar

Giving a car more power doesn’t necessarily make it any better. Make it too costly, and you set yourself against trickier new rivals, make it too powerful and you out-reach the capability of the chassis. It’s a path fraught with difficulties… Companies can push their cars as far as they want, but the better stuff often lurks at the bottom. – Piers Ward’s Top Gear review of the Audi TTS

the V-6 whips up 265 horses and 243 pound-feet of torque and manages an EPA-estimated 16 mpg city and 27 mpg highway, figures better than the V-8’s by 33 and 42 percent, respectively. We observed 15 mpg in our S5 test and 20 mpg with the A5. Time slips suffer by one second in the 0-to-60 dash and 1.1 seconds and 7 mph in the quarter, with the A5 chalking up a 5.8-second 0-to-60 and a 14.5-second quarter at 98 mph. Although the engine comes noticeably alive at higher rpm, it is admirably flexible and will lope along comfortably at nearly any speed in any gear… Although braking numbers differ by only one foot (158 for the S5, 159 for the A5), the A5 managed to best the S5 on the skidpad, pulling a genuinely sporty 0.90 g. The A5 we tested included the S-line performance package, which, for $2900, brings everything from the more expensive S5 except the V-8’s additional kapow. You get the front and rear fascias, 19-inch wheels, Dunlop SP Sport 255/35ZR-19 performance tires, and a firmer suspension. Although the larger rims and rubber no doubt aided the A5’s superior skidpad performance, they are also more vocal on the highway than the base rubber, thrumming on smooth pavement and emitting a sharp pong over expansion joints, but neither is at an offensive volume. Skidpad numbers aside, neither the A5 nor the S5 is an overtly sporting machine. Styling is a very well-executed job one. Ticking no options boxes but the S-line trim will net a visual dead ringer for the S5 with fully respectable performance and a significant fuel-economy bonus at a $7150 discount. – Car and Driver

There’s something immensely satisfying about the way it goes about its business. Supple and soothing enough to dissolve otherwise gruelling distances, yet composed and enthusiastic enough to make a decent fist of more demanding roads, it has every base covered. – evo

Question is: is a car that cries ‘enough!’ at 8/10ths enough for you?

Then there’s the talented chassis, and in particular the steering, which has that lovely ‘clean’ response a first-generation Focus driver might recognise. It’s not a light car this, but its ability to remain tight and controlled when you chuck it about shows how well its man boobs have been disguised. For a big saloon (it’s taller and wider than a 5-series), the way the Jag can be hustled, gripping hard through corners then spearing neatly out of them, is genuinely entertaining. An impressive bit of kit then, managing to be more fun than an equivalent Merc or Audi, with a warmer personality than a BMW. – evo

Not only is the R8 one of the more comfortable roadtrippers I’ve ever driven—in line with something like a 5-series or an A6—it’s also quiet, composed, and simply forget-about-it easy to cover massive miles in… Mind-blowing. – Sam Smith, Automobile