Since its introduction, the Audi A5 Coupé has been touted by some as one of the most beautiful cars ever designed. The German Design Council awarded the car with a 2010 Design Award, prompting the designer, Walter de Silva, to comment “The Audi A5 Coupé is the most beautiful car I’ve ever designed,”.

Of course it was only a matter of time before a convertible version would be made and following on from there, a high-performance ‘S’ version.

The Audi S5 Cabriolet has the rest of the range beaten in the styling department. While the lines of the A5 Cabriolet are far better than its Coupé sibling in our eyes, the S5 takes things a step further with a number of highlights synonymous with Audi’s ‘S’ cars. Styling cues include the chrome mirror caps, radiator grille surround, window surrounds and of course the quad-exhausts exiting the rear bumper. Our press car was fitted with optional 19-inch alloy wheels, which fill the arches that are lower to the ground courtesy of S sports suspension.

Inside, Audi’s cabin wraps you in alcantara and leather combination seat trim. The signs are subtle, but between the decorative carbon inlays, sports seats, ‘S’ badges on the aluminium door sill inlays and multi-function steering wheel, you know you’re in one of their range toppers. The sport seats are standard, are electronically adjustable and heated, to make sure you’re always in a comfortable and cosy position. Other interior highlights include a thick-rimmed 3-spoke leather steering wheel, black headlining and automatic seat belt extenders that ‘hand’ the seatbelt to you once seated. Neck-level heating is an available option for the front seats – ducts on the top of the seatback emit warm air that keeps the back of the head and neck warm – while both the front and rear seats have been treated to reduce heat absorption from our African sun. Audi say there’s enough room in the rear for two, but in contrast to potentially infinite headroom, there’s just enough legroom to keep kids happy and that’s about it.

Like all open-top Audi models, the new S5 Cabriolet has a classic fabric top. The lightweight soft top opens in 15 seconds – and closes in 17 seconds at the touch of a button. With the roof folded away, the Audi S5 Cabriolet still offers best-in-class cargo capacity of 320-litres, or luggage for two plus a few extras. As with the A5 3.2 FSI Cabriolet we drove earlier in the year, the fabric roof provides good insulation from wind and road noise. However, when using the built-in hands-free cellphone kit, we still found it difficult to hear the caller at speeds of 100 km/h or above – a speed the S5 achieves effortlessly.

Contrary to what you may have thought, the S5 Cabriolet is not endowed with the same 4.2-litre V8 found in the S5 Coupé. Instead it uses the same TFSI engine as the Audi S4. The redesigned, supercharged 3.0-litre V6 engine, with an output of 245 kW and 440 Nm, delivers brisk performance. It requires just 5.6 seconds for zero to 100 km/h and has a electronically governed top speed of 250 km/h. The S5 Cabriolet is fitted with Audi’s seven-speed S tronic gearbox as standard.

Harnessing the engine’s power is Audi’s S sports suspension and high-performance brake system – recognisable by the brake calipers painted black and with the S5 logo. All four wheels deliver power to the road via Audi’s Quattro all-wheel drive system. However, further options are available for more dynamic driving. These include Audi’s Drive Select system, which allows the driver to adjust the engine, transmission, steering and shock absorbers according to three predefined settings, as well as individually. Audi also offers a new sport differential for the S5 Cabriolet, which variably distributes power between the rear wheels, up to a ratio of 40 percent to the front and 60 percent to the rear.

Best enjoyed with the roof down, the S5 begins to speak to you as the supercharged V6 spins past 4 000 r/min – even more enjoyable if you can find a cliff-face to amplify and bounce the exhaust note off. The S tronic paddle shifters are always at your finger tips and offer up seamless changes through the 7-speed transmission. The combination of S sports suspension and all-wheel drive mean the car is glued to the road and is able to carry grin-inducing amounts of corner speed. Equipped with the optional sports differential sending up to 60 percent of power to the rear wheels, the S5 Cabriolet feels more engaging than the traditional 50:50 Quattro setup, as you’re able to get the rear end squirming under acceleration. Our spirited driving only lasted for a few kilometers of mountain pass though, as we had to give in to the spongy demands of the performance brakes to ‘cool it’ for fear that they may go on a full-blown strike.

A slower pace does reveal a softer side to the S5 Cabriolet, one in which occupants are made to feel like the proverbial ‘million bucks’. Wafting down country lanes, the Cape Winelands district in our case, the topless S5 allows you to take in the sights, sounds and smells of a summery Sunday afternoon and even comes with a wind deflector as standard to keep your hairdo looking good while doing so. The smooth 7-speed gearbox and torquey 3.0-litre V6 are unobtrusive on the move and ensure effortless progress. This perfect picture can be given a jolt every now and then though by the firm suspension, an S5 trait we suspect could be remedied with the adjustable dampers available with the Audi Drive Select package.

The S5 Cabriolet is a good car, with many good elements – including the styling, engine, rear-biased sports differential and overall ‘feel good’ factor – but the lustre of the S5′s allure is lost to the soft nature of the brakes when driven like an S car and the rather uncompromising suspension for a car that appeals more to the touring side of motoring, rather than harder sports driving. For the sake of 0.8 seconds to 100 km/h, a 3 km/h slower top speed and almost 30% better fuel consumption, you can enjoy just about everything the S5 has to offer in the 3.0 TDI Cabriolet and from a price that starts from more than R115k less.

What we like…

• The acceleration.
• The glorious exhaust note.
• The styling elements that come with the ‘S’ badge status.

What we would like…

• Better endurance from the brakes.
• Slightly more plush suspension to take the edge off larger bumps.
• More volume on the car-kit please.

Related posts:

1. Details Of Audi’s New S5 Cabriolet
2. Audi SA Announces New S5 Cabriolet And TT RS
3. Road Test: Audi A5 Cabriolet 3.2 FSI
4. Serious Attitude For The Audi A5 Cabriolet
5. Audi A1 Cabriolet Rendered