Today’s Nice Price or No Dice hot Audi has an effective factory theft deterrent—a manual transmission. Let’s see if its price makes it a steal anyway.
A certain solace is afforded today—Boxing Day—as, with it, comes the calm realization that we have a good six-month respite from the indignation of too-early Christmas displays at retail stores. Another Boxing Day tradition is regifting to the less fortunate. At $7,900, the 1983 Ford Mustang GLX convertible we looked at yesterday likely wouldn’t be among those pass-on presents. That price and the car’s excellent condition earned a solid 70 percent Nice Price win in our voting, meaning it is most likely a keeper.
Apparently, today’s 2015 Audi S5 coupe isn’t a keeper, at least not for its present owner. Otherwise, why would they have put it up for sale? Maybe they are simply moving on as the car’s presentation and particularly noteworthy six-speed manual gearbox make this Audi a suitable partner in crime.
Long considered one of the best sport coupes out there, the S5 plays Mama Bear to the A5’s Baby Bear and the growling Papa Bear of the RS5. To make matters a bit confusing, this S5 wears the RS5’s egg-crate grille sans the traditional quartet-of-rings Audi badge. Happily, it doesn’t go full faux RS, keeping the S5 badge in that grille.
Behind that eggless crate sits Audi’s sweet, 3.0-liter DOHC V6, pumped up to 333 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque by the twin-scroll supercharger that lives down in the valley, the valley so low. These are rev-happy engines, with that max horsepower coming on just 300 rpm shy of the 6800 red line. They are still perfectly tractable down lower in the spin cycle, pulling like a freight train from bottom-end revs. The six-speed behind the engine feeds all four wheels via Audi’s vaunted Quattro all-the-time AWD.
The ad doesn’t note any modifications to the car, but we’ve already spotted that upgraded nose, and the shot of the engine bay reveals an aftermarket carbon fiber air intake in the otherwise unmolested bay. It’s a clean-looking install and nothing weird or especially concerning, though.
The rest of the car looks just as clean as the under-hood environs. The metallic grey paint appears without flaw, and the only thing remarkable about the ninja-star factory alloys is the fact that they appear to be wearing rubber bands rather than tires.
A peek in the cabin reveals nothing alarming or off-putting there either. The aggressively bolstered front buckets have the S5 badged embossed on their backrests, and the car appears to have been optioned with the carbon fiber trim. This is a modern enough car to have a fairly well-functioning infotainment system, as long as you can put up with Audi’s preference for a knob-based MMI interface.
This being a coupe, access to the back seats is constrained but not impossibly so, and the twin buckets back there are reasonably comfortable over short hauls.
According to the ad, this S5 has a mere 52,000 miles under its steel belts and comes with both a clean title and a passing grade on its smog test. It’s touted as being free of any mechanical, electrical, or visual issues and will be backed up with service records for those with trust issues. The asking price is $16,000.
Now, the only major issue with either the S5 or RS5 is that, while each is substantially more car under the hood, their looks are almost exactly the same as the milquetoast A5 from which they spawned. This S5 benefits in that differentiation department by having the gaping maw egg-crate grille and massive, rubber-banded alloys, so it comes with a leg up. Plus, it has the super-rare stick shift, so who cares if others are unimpressed?
The question, of course, is whether it’s worth that $16,000 asking, and now it’s your turn to weigh in with that determination. What do you think? Is this S5 worth that sort of money? Or, for that $16,000, would you bid this Audi adieu?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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