Audi A5 2012 Review - International

How do you update one of the cleanest, purest designs in the car world? The balancing act between making sure enough people know it’s new and not upsetting the original Walter di Silva shape and detailing has been a delicate one, which is why the body changes look so, well, minimal.

For starters, there are the new headlights, some subtle changes to update the way light reflects off the sill and then it winds up with some very, very minor tweaks to the rear end.

For a car that started life in 2007 (the five-door Sportback didn’t emerge until 2009), the light touch is a good indication that Audi thought things were hunky dory in the looks department.

That’s why most of the money has been spent below decks. There is a mix of brand new engines and updated engines, but they’re all turbo-charged with direct fuel injection, there is an upgraded suspension setup, every model has idle start-stop and new safety features. But so little is there by way of new sheet metal that the car is exactly one millimetre longer than its predecessor.

For the first time, too, the upgrades are across the board, with the coupe, the five-door Sportback, the Cabriolet and even the S5 arriving at the same time.

This is the car that debuts Audi’s all-new 1.8-litre, turbo-charged four-cylinder engine and, as you climb the price ranges, its engine bays are filled with the 2.0-litre TFSI (though it looks increasingly redundant), a tweaked, turbocharged, 3.0-litre petrol V6 and a pair of 3.0-litre TDI engines.

There is also an all-new, electrically operated steering system that saves about 0.3L/100km in fuel consumption, a clever new Eco running mode that brings just about every system in the car under the parsimonious control of one bossy ECU and a new electronic damper control system.

The charge starts up high, with the 3.0-litre TDI engines that are such a favourite in Europe but, for two-door coupes, are an acquired taste that Australians, en masse, have yet to acquire. That’s a shame, because once you get past the straight-line sprinting abilities of similar-sized petrol motors, you find the diesels have a lot more to offer.

They have prodigious strength at the lower engine speeds we all typically use around town, for starters, and the A5 has three V6 turbo-diesels, all weighing around 190kg each with power outputs ranging from 150kW to 180kW.

They’re good, too (though one, the Euro VI compliant version, won’t be out until next year), with the base V6 crunching out 400Nm of mid-range gristle from just 1250rpm and doing a nice job of isolating the driver from its exertions, too.

It’s quick in the mid-range, willing at its higher reaches and even contrives to sound pretty deep and meaningful on the way to 100km/h in 7.1 seconds. Yet, when you arrive at the bowser, expect the combined European cycle to deliver 4.9L/100km for a set of CO2 emissions at just 129 grams. Not bad for a slinky, classy big coupe.

The economy isn’t much worse in the most-powerful diesel, which sips 5.7L/100km, but compensates by taking everything the basic V6 does, but doing it better and stronger. With 500Nm surging the A5 forward from 1400rpm to 3250rpm, the A5’s top diesel motor hits 100km/h in 5.8 seconds and sounds even more urgent.

Both diesel V6s are flexible at low revs and retain their form to their redlines, but the 150kW motor is a front-driver with a continuously variable transmission, while the 180kW version is all-wheel drive with a dual-clutch gearbox, which is head and shoulders above the CVT in all respects.

But they’re not the only diesels, with all body styles also getting (in Europe, at least) a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder TDI as well. There will be two versions of it, though, with a 105kW/320Nm unit for the Cabriolet and Sportback and a 150kW/380Nm specification for the Coupe.

That’s not the big four-cylinder news, though, because Audi has an all-new 1.8-litre petrol four pot, and it’s a cracker. While the existing 2.0-litre TFSI four-cylinder engine is carried over from the old model, it’s in danger of being rendered redundant, even with five Engine of the Year awards in its back pocket.

The 2.0-litre, familiar from the Golf GTI as well as the S3, A4 and A5, runs variable valve timing, direct fuel injection and turbocharging to crank out 155kW of power and 350Nm of torque while sipping 6.4L/100km on the combined cycle. It’s also smooth, sounds sweet and, when asked, aggressive and is both strong and flexible. And so it remains in the upgraded A5.

Yet, the little 1.8-litre four looks geared up to supplant it. It’s a real sweetheart of a motor and its numbers aren’t miles behind the bigger engine, with 125kW of power and 320Nm of torque. Even better, its maximum torque arrives at just 1400rpm – or not far from idle – so it’s incredibly, almost-diesel flexible around town and it reaches its peak power at a very low 3800rpm. It’s part of a trend called “downspeeding” in engineering speak, designed to provide all the oomph with less of the fuel consumption and lower vibrations.

Its 0-100km/h sprint is, at 7.9 seconds, 1.4 seconds slower than the 2.0-litre, but its 5.7L/100km fuel use is 0.7 better, by way of compensation.

And it doesn’t lose anything in driving. If anything, it’s smoother than the mightily accomplished 2.0-litre TFSI, and it certainly sounds sweeter and spins without any apparent effort. It’s one of the most finely balanced engines out there, regardless of capacity or cylinder count. When they make a V8 version of this, watch out.

There’s a whole host of technical innovations, including allowing indirect fuel injection when it’s beneficial at lighter throttle openings, changes to the valve train and valve openings, a new turbo-charger and an exhaust manifold that’s integrated into the cylinder head, where it is cooled from its own water jackets.

It’s also lighter, at 131.5kg, which helps the handling – and the little 1.8-litre TFSI is one of the sweetest handling machines in the range. It rides on 17-inch, 225/50 rubber, which helps its ride quality no end, and it’s standard with the six-speed manual ‘box, which helps it to engage the driver even if the engine’s sweet delivery fails to make a dent.

That leaves the thumper engine, the S5’s supercharged V6. It’s a wonderful motor, managing to deliver a character all its own that’s neither V8 wannabee or V6 wheezer. It sounds strong, metallic, muscular and meaty, and it just gets better with added revs, as though it enjoys the workout.

It’s got 245kW of power to drive its Quattro all-wheel drive system, and it drives it hard enough to get to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds. Furthermore, it’s flexible throughout the range and bristles with muscle everywhere and, with the S5’s slightly lowered body (10mm) and bigger wheels, it fits perfectly with its character.

By 2900rpm, it’s already thumping out 440Nm of torque and it’s 20 per cent more fuel efficient than the old 4.2-litre V8. Unless you’re a bonnet lifter, you’re never going to understand, just from driving it, that the S5 is not a thumping V8. It lacks for nothing, not even a distinctive engine note.

Audi will slot a detuned version of this motor into the A5 later in 2012, to replace the 3.2-litre FSI V6. It will have 200kW/400Nm and will be roughly a second slower to 100km/h than the S5, which is still pretty sharp.

But the A5’s across-the-board drivetrain strength isn’t universally reflected throughout the car.

Its interior is nice enough, with a new steering wheel, new indicator stalks and typically luxuriant, taut, practical finishes and touches all ‘round. There is also a huge boot that’s incredibly useful, thanks to its deep, flat floor in the coupe (and an even larger luggage area in the Sportback). The rear seats can be folded flat in all three models, even the Cabriolet, to embiggen the luggage area, and the convertible still boasts 320 litres of luggage area even with the roof folded down.

The chassis, too, has improved, with more aluminum bits in the front suspension and a lighter, tubular anti-roll bar to help the five-link front suspension.

Its ride is better, too, in all three configurations. It’s not necessarily softer, just more supple and more compliant and better damped (though, as ever, the S Line suspension feels more for looking at than for driving).

The only real complaints centre around Audi’s new electric steering. It’s rubbish. It might use less fuel, because it doesn’t need any assistance when it’s running straight ahead, but that only helps the driver at the servo, not on the road.

Audi’s quite proud of the system – and anything that saves 0.3L/100km is a bit of a silver bullet in this day and age – but it’s not yet, to use a car company favourite word, optimised.

There is so little feedback from the steering and so little self-centreing that you never feel like it’s been integrated into the rest of the package. Everything else about the chassis and driveline package invites you in to the A5 and S5, yet the steering does its best to lock you out.

It’s incredibly frustrating, but it’s worse if you order it with the Active Lane Assist system that uses cameras to pick up the lines in the road, then, if you haven’t indicated or there’s a car on the other side of the line that you’ve not seen, the computer pushes you back away from them.

Nice in theory, but we’re not all that stupid all the time. It works with increasing strength in the steering, pushing the wheel back away from your own inputs, even if you’re just using the full lane width on a winding road. It results in a constant battle of your own inputs versus the car’s, and the constant weighting and unweighting of the electric steering system is just a pain and detracts from the rest of the driving experience.

What’s worse: you can’t turn it off. It can be adjusted, so you can make it react later, when you’re close to the line, but you’re stuck with it. Fortunately, it’s an option, so you can revisit it in another generation, when it works a bit better.

But it’s just one blight on the A5’s copybook, and it’s probably worse than it seems because the rest of the car is so good. After all, the original A5 was a pretty good gadget. The new one is, demonstrably, even better.

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