Audi A5 Sportback

Luxury Automotive

Audi covers yet another niche within its expanding range.

The latest addition to the Audi A5 range has officially been revealed. The new five-door Sportback now completes the Audi A5 range which includes A5 Coupe and A5 Cabriolet models.

The A5 Sportback has been unveiled to coincide with Audi’s centenary celebrations. Combining the style of a coupe with the space and practicality of a hatchback, albeit a rather luxurious one. Expect the Sportback to arrive in Australian dealerships from March 2010.

The interior is spacious and the quality throughout is flawless, as we have come to expect from Audi.

Audi will initially offer three petrol and three diesel TDI engines, with a further three engines to follow next year. This spread of engines should see the base engine model coming in close to a A$60,000 price tag (although this guess would be under the old pricing methodology and so it’s likely to be closer to A$63-$64,000 including full on road costs and dealer delivery). That’s still a lot of very elegant and distinctive car for your money.

The 2.0 TDI should be a big seller for this model and it continues Audi’s remarkable success in delivering diesel engines that run on the smell of an oily rag! For a reasonable power output of 125 kW (and enough torque to have some fun with) it consumes just 5.2 litres of fuel per 100 km. That’s impressive for an executive car this size and equipment levels. There are other eco-friendly innovations as well, such as the start-stop system which further enhances fuel efficiency in city traffic, the fuel-efficiency improving S tronic transmission and a new ‘recuperation system’ that recovers energy during braking and deceleration, storing it temporarily in the battery. Naturally, Audi’s legendary quattro permanent all-wheel drive system is available on the top models.

It will appeal to those looking for something a little more ‘considered’ to leave in the executive car park.

Should be a winner.