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I was looking at the Optima SX before I bought my car, but they were more expensive and I worried about the Engine/Transmission Quality. Then they ended up replacing all of them due to poor quality.of the original engine. Hyundai/Kia seem to really back their cars, at least for now. If I needed to buy a car right now, it would probably be a 2016 328i or 2016 Volkwagen GTI, a cheaper alternative would be a 2012 VW Jetta Diesel Wagon, I have seen them for 6k
I just drove a 530i (with sports package I think) for a rental and came back with three impressions.
1. The engine is a joke. It is fine. It is marginally sufficient.
2. It handled well for being that big of a car.
3. I HATE the infotainment system.
I also just test drove a 2019 Audi S5 Sportback with premium package.
1. Engine has great usable power, but for 70k it needs another 50-100.
2. Loved the screen in the dash. GPS was incredible. Sound was fine...on par with Bose.
3. Loved the hatchback...extremely ergonomic usage (although narrower than anticipated).
4. Brakes were underwhelming.
Overall the S5 was nice, but it sure as S$it was not nice enough for a 70k pricetag. I would have topped that car out at 50k. I don't ever see myself buying one given the pricepoint to performance ratio.
Personally, I think cars like the S5 are choice targets for the used car market as a 2-4 year old car. They depreciate hard, and (I'm assuming) original owners usually follow maintenance schedules.
I also think the S5 Sportback is kind of generic looking. The S5 Coupe is a much more attractive car, IMO. Something about the Audi Coupe has always appealed to me... looking both upscale and personal at the same time (because 2dr).
If I had to be critical, I'd say there are way-y too many sight lines on this car. And the side crease is really awkward at the fenders.
Personally, I think cars like the S5 are choice targets for the used car market as a 2-4 year old car. They depreciate hard, and (I'm assuming) original owners usually follow maintenance schedules.
+1 I bet a lot of them are leases, so with the 1 year free maintenance, you're talking maybe 1-2 out of pocket maintenance trips amounting to mostly oil changes.
I'm not that familiar with the S5 pricing, but a quick google search has a base price of $53K at which point i think the performance is more inline with the price. Whenever you add almost 20K in options the value proposition begins diminishing for just about any car--that's base M3 price territory. For 70K, might as well stretch to 75 and go RS5. The good news, to your point, is a lot of those options don't carry the same weight on the used car market, so they become an really good value. In other words, the car might have depreciated 45%, but those 1200 quilted leather seats only add a couple hundred dollars, and outside an Audi dealer, might not add anything.
Boosted cars respond ridiculously well to tuning though. JB4 is $500 (even cheaper second hand) and would easily pickup that missing 50 horsepower and not jeopardize the warranty. At that point, you're talking sub 4 second 0-60 runs and low 12s in the 1/4. I'm running piggyback tunes on both my R and wife's A4 (Merry Christmas honey, I'm stage 1 tuning your new car!) and have been really happy with the results, enough so that I don't see the need to go the dyno/pro tune route.
It looks like Hyundai is getting closer to making a mid-engine halo car that may now have hybrid power from Rimac while remaining "affordable." Very interesting... https://www.motor1.com/news/391030/h...-hybrid-rimac/
I finally had a chance to try out a loaded Genesis G70 AWD with the 3.3L twin turbo V6. It was surprisingly good. I think it is a very good replacement for our cars considering all the new tech and really nice fit/finish throughout. The engine is great and the AWD works well, but you would have to give up the manual transmission to get these features. If I was not so hell bent on track days, this car would be an extremely nice daily driver with lots of power. It is like a slightly watered down Audi RS3 with nicer seats.
You can see the quilted leather seats look great and it carries over into the door trim. They actually did a better job here than Audi did on the RS3?!? These seats also have adjustable side bolsters on the driver's side that firm up automatically when you put the car in Sport mode- a very cool feature. Oddly, the Sport mode does not firm up the suspension very much compared to the Comfort mode. The Veloster N has a significantly more noticeable ride difference in the different drive modes.
Nice switchgear all around for the driver. All the buttons are in the right spot and easy to use. You also have heated and A/C seats as well as a heated steering wheel- with 2 settings, a nice touch. The seats are comfortable enough to start thinking about cross country trips. There is also a heads up display that gives you the option to change the size, color, and angle of the information.
The door trim looks great with the quilted leather and Lexicon stereo sounds great. It should since Rolls Royce uses the same brand. The bass sounds much richer than in the ATS-V, M3, or RS3. However, it sounds like more bass comes from the top of the dash. Not bad, but I think I still like our Bose system a touch better.
Every review I see on this car complains about the rear seat legroom in this car, but ironically it has 0.10" more legroom than our cars. On the side of the passenger seat you can see power buttons so the person in back or driver can actually slide the front seat forward. Nice touch. The black alcantara headliner you can just barely see on the A-pillar also looks really nice.
The analog gauges look a bit basic compared to the rest of the interior. The digital section includes a G-meter and a lap timer. Why? The steering assist is amazing and keeps you centered in your lane. It kicks in automatically or as soon as you turn on the system. Every other car I have driven with this feature takes a while to work.
Here is where you can customize the drive modes if you want. No real need to do that though. Easy to switch between modes too with a dial right behind the shifter. At the bottom right is a very potent wireless charger.
This is a smart trunk with opens automatically if you stand behind it for 3 seconds. Nice when your hands are full. Unexpectedly, it is also a power trunk a la the Audi A8. Some very nice luxury touches on this car. The trunk is about the same size as the Audi RS3. Both have a bit higher load floors which make them smaller than our trunks.
The styling on this car is very clean from the back 3/4 view. Nice clean lines with integrated exhaust tips. Not a huge fan of gray though.
The brembo brakes provide great stopping power, but the paint looks cheap and out of place compared to this color. The wheels also look cheap with this color. Too much gray. Maybe they would be fine on a different color car with snow tires, but the silver spoked rims (see last picture) in the package below this look much better and stand out well.
The styling on the body and hood look good. The wheels and front end leave something to be desired.
Being different is not always good. The hood and headlights look good, but the front bumper and grille look out of place compared to the smooth styling at the rear.
I think the car looks much better in this Black Forest Green with these wheels.
So how does it drive? The size, feel of the handling, and instant acceleration kept reminding me of the RS3, albeit a bit slower and less dramatic. The engine definitely does not sound as good and the brakes do not grab as hard as the RS3, but this is a perfectly fun daily driver that you could hammer out long trips in effortlessly. I was pleasantly surprised with this car.
TT RS
As a coupe guy i have always had a soft spot for the TT RS ( even though im not an audi guy ). The last gen comes in manual ( newest does not ._. ) Though they still have those awkward fender lines as mentioned above.
I stopped read once I saw you were reviewing a Hyundai. Hard PASS.
Oh yea, because Infiniti just screams 'prestige' compared to them...
The 3.3 in the Hyundai and Kia is a beast and isn't snapping belts like dental floss; unlike the 3.0 in another brand's lineup.
I would try not to be so judgmental just because of the badge...Both Hyundai and Kia are killing it with their current lineup and have very competitive options compared to most of the 'established' brands in their segment.
Personally, I think cars like the S5 are choice targets for the used car market as a 2-4 year old car. They depreciate hard, and (I'm assuming) original owners usually follow maintenance schedules.
I also think the S5 Sportback is kind of generic looking. The S5 Coupe is a much more attractive car, IMO. Something about the Audi Coupe has always appealed to me... looking both upscale and personal at the same time (because 2dr).
If I had to be critical, I'd say there are way-y too many sight lines on this car. And the side crease is really awkward at the fenders.
I want to like them given the value per dollar but I can't not see 2015 Jetta GLI when I look at this car. Is it me? I've seen a few in person and they just don't look like the image of Audi I'm accustomed to.
I have a preference for the previous gens' front fascia.
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