Breaking Down the 2018 Audi S5 with Exterior Designer Frank Lamberty

During the recent U.S. launch of the2018 Audi S5, we sat down with Audi exterior designer Frank Lamberty in Palm Springs, California. He's cheerful, animated, and visibly thrilled to talk shop for any length of time.

Automobile Magazine: Looking at the new A5 and S5, I can't help but notice a pattern similar to other revolutionary designs like the original R8 and TT. Some of the original purity, softness, and simplicity have been lost compared with the original, more elegant A5.

Frank Lamberty:You mention the TT, the R8, and the A5. All the first of their kind. When you do a successor the story is always different. And normally with a foundation in such an iconic design you should just leave it, although you don't want to fall into the Porsche 911 trap. Is the theme radical or respect? The original cars have a first, clear thought.

The first TT was very industrial, carving off the corners, and a lot of its influence can be felt in the A8 and A6 of its time. This was quite an intellectual design, and somewhat polarizing. But there came a time where we wanted to reach more customers and sell more cars, and the era that followed was a little more mainstream. We still wanted to stay simple, but needed to get more emotional and more fluid, and that's how the R8 and A5 came to be. How do you write the story from there?

AM: Well, the S5 has definitely gone sharper, more geometric, and more masculine. You see it most prominently in the grille.

FL:Yes. We got feedback it was a little bit too soft, too elegant.

AM: That language makes a lot of sense on SUVs like the Q8 quattro concept from Detroit this year, but seeing it on a car like S5 signals to me a change in design philosophy. Eventually though, you can't just get infinitely sharper and tougher — where is this all going?

FL:You are right, and you have a very good eye and sense for the design. What I will say is that at Audi we have an excellent tooling division. I say that because we have very strong in precision, quality, and perfect lines when it comes to working with steel. The cutlines on the hood, the radius we can bend on the S5 character line, or how tight the radius is on the rear decklid is. Nobody else can do that among our competitors. We accentuate that because we are proud we can do it, but I see your point that it could get to be too much.

AM: It fits for certain cars, but I don't think you want to lose the calmer beauty in some areas.

FL:Right now we have the combination of really sharp lines, yes, but also strong volumes. The S5 shows the character line, but also lots of volume and tension especially on the rear fenders. It's about combining elegant treatment with precision, although you are right the simplicity got lost a little bit. The result though is more drama and emotion. And I really want to point out that despite that, we are still nothing compared to how insane some car design has gotten out there.

AM: Do you mean the Japanese, say, Lexus?

FL:It's gone crazy compared to 10 years ago. I don't know what drugs those guys are taking.

AM: So while they're doing that wild stuff, explain your future design direction. Is thePrologue concepta signal we'll get some more stateliness and elegance?

FL:If you take close look, the A5 and S5 are already a bridge. The "Power Dome" hood, the fluidity of the lines in profile.

AM: It feels like you're going for something timeless, something that will age well.

FL:Compared to the competitors we're still very clean, simple, reduced. The A4 is this way, but of course we get feedback that it's not enough.

AM: People say it's boring.

FL:Exactly. And that's the situation we're in, finding the balance. The best way out of that conundrum is to create a new design philosophy. For that you have to create a new car.

AM: So what's in the pipeline?

FL:Things will come up. We showed the Prologue and Q8 concepts because there are products behind them. That's the direction. The new theme is all about highlighting Quattro. Mercedes is doing their rear-wheel-drive focus with all of their lines pointing to the rear, and we will play up Quattro. And there are many ways we can do that.

AM: What about some of the nods to older Audis, like the C-pillar and rear scoops on theQ8 conceptthat reference the Ur-Quattro?

FL:Yes. And I'll say that although the Ur-Quattro is not a beautiful car, if you have the heritage, you have character. This is what we want to transfer, but it's a matter of knowing what to use and how to use it.

AM: But is there still a case for pure clean-sheet design? I think about the R8's side blades as something that was totally Earth-shattering for Audi design.

FL:It's a good point, and the R8 was a chance to create a totally new feel of a car. For sure we could have done something more like a study we once did with bigger links to the Auto Union history, but we wanted to create new symbols. And the original A5 was the first chance in a while to do a coupe, so it was its own kind of new car. And that had a certain unique character. If you have a strong idea, it'll work out.

AM: How do electric vehicles offer the chance to design something innovative?

FL:I hope it could mean a totally new field of design based off of a new architecture. Right now, if you take a look at Tesla, what's happening is if you add batteries on the floor, the cars get taller. It often means cars without such sporty proportions. So you have to think if we'll still have beautiful coupes in the future. I think eventually we'll have to consider leaving the cars we know behind and thinking about totally new concepts.

AM: So how is that playing out at Audi?

FL:We're working on answers. I'm interested in how customers will react to something that could be a total shock. If we really embrace new technology, a new layout, I want to demonstrate that in design. If we look at the GTs from the 60s, they had a long hood because of a big inline engine with a power dome because of the height. But I can't tell you how the design for such a car might look until there's a new kind of technical layout.

AM: It seems like right now we're in a bit of an in-between phase.

FL:Very much so. Time will tell how much the customer is really ready for the ultimate look of future EVs. As long as there are no compromises, it'll be fine.