All German cars are pricey. Audi is actually better than Mercedes, though, in terms of upselling, and about on par with BMW. The S5 only has, for me, two must-have options: the S Sport package (differential and adaptive suspension), and the B&O stereo (very good in the coupe, though I hear the Sportback folks sometimes complain about speaker placement). Everything else is pretty much gravy, really, although I do like the red quilted leather seats a lot
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One thing I will say is the R gets far better gas mileage! Even in Comfort around town, albeit in weather that has been many days below zero and only like one day in the past two weeks above freezing, including a lot of snow, I'm betting like, um, 13 MPG, as opposed to 25 MPG in the Golf. I sure hope when the weather moderates that goes up at least a little bit.
OTOH, the engine is a joy to drive in every other respect. And the suspension, ride, and general deportment of the car is top-notch (as it damn well should be). I do still miss the third pedal, I gotta say, but that was the sacrificial lamb for my journey up the food chain. Sad, but true.
