Audi A5 2012 Review

Name: Audi A5 2012 Review
Brand: Audi

Audi's facelifted designer midsizer keeps the good bits of old but brings change where it's needed

Audi A5 Coupe, Sportback, Cabriolet

Local Launch
Bathurst, New South Wales

What we liked

>> New 1.8 gets more from less
>> Tidier centre switchgear; MMI more intuitive
>> Sound of the S5; silence of the others

Not so much

>> Steering needs work
>> Some controls (eg HVAC) still fiddly
>> MMI still complex

OVERVIEW

>> Subtle styling update belies substantial change beneath

When the A5 first arrived here this writer assumed it was built on the A6 platform rather than A4. It looks bigger than it is – almost E-Type in its proportions, its cabin set back behind that long, long nose. There’s a reason for that: the A5 layout is effectively mid-engine, but with the powertrain sitting behind the front axle rather than ahead of the rear one.

In original coupe form, the second generation A5 retains the essence of Walter da Silva’s much admired design, with some subtle sharpening up of the exterior creasework and tweaks in the usual places, namely the grille and light clusters. The tail-lights are better integrated with the surrounding panelwork, while the daytime running lights within the headlamp clusters now almost completely surround the main lenses.

There’s much new in the substance behind the style as well. Base petrol and diesel incarnations get new powertrains, while modifications to the carry-over engines boost performance and fuel economy.

Most notable about the new A5 is the staggering array of choices it offers on every front. There are now four petrol and two diesel drivetrain options distributed between three body styles: coupe, cabriolet and five-door Sportback. Past that? A near-infinite range of paint-wheel-interior finish combinations. A bewilderingly comprehensive, multilayered MMI central control system. And a whole bunch of options that open up more choice, like four-way switchable engine mapping.

The point of all this is customisation. It’s the embodiment of the 21st century business model: the only thing they won’t do for you is help you find a reason not to buy.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

>> Fuel efficiency improvements pay off in the showroom as well as the servo

A new base model means a new base price. By bringing in the 1.8 petrol and 2.0 diesel models, Audi has been able to lop more than $10K off the A5 admission price, reeling it in from around $80K to well below $70K.

Despite substantial improvements across the lineup, the company has managed to keep price changes minimal on existing models. For that, we can thank a mix of high competition and the benefits of bringing a number of models in beneath the 7.0L/100km luxury car tax threshold.

In typical Teutonic style, the vast array of choices makes for a broad pricing ambit – about $80K from floor to ceiling, before anyone starts perusing the option lists. Which you’d be safe to call comprehensive.

Standard pricing is identical for Coupe and Sportback body styles. Petrol TFSI models start at $66,900 for the new 1.8-litre four with eight-speed multitronic auto transmission, jumping to $80,900 for the 2.0-litre four with six-speed manual ($83,200 seven-speed S tronic) and $100,800 for the 3.0T V6 (S tronic only). The supercharged V6 S5 coupe starts at $135,900.

Diesel TDIs start at $68,700 for the 2.0-litre four with eight-speed multitronic transmission, jumping to $95,900 for the 3.0-litre V6 S tronic.

The petrol TFSI cabrios start at $78,500 for the 1.8 multitronic, $96,900 for the 2.0 quattro S tronic, $112,900 for the 3.0 V6 and $146,500 for the S5. Diesel TDI cabrios start at $80,900 for the 2.0-litre four and $108,800 for the 3.0 V6.

Only the base petrol and diesel powertrains are FWD. The rest come with Audi’s quattro AWD standard. A sport differential is optional with all the sixes.

The equipment lists are as generous as they need to be for an upmarket midsizer. Alongside the now conventional climate control and power windows, all come with auto-dimming rear view mirror, cruise control, electronic park brake, rear parking beepers, light sensors for the headlamps, rain sensors for the wipers and foglamps front and rear.

Every A5 gets the extensively revised MMI first seen in the A7 and A6 models. In its on-screen navigation it’s simpler and clearer than its predecessor, but it still takes time to learn. Working from five fields off the home menu – efficiency, comfort, auto, dynamic and individual – it allows drivers to drill down and tweak every fibre of the vehicle’s being. To the point where sometimes you don’t care if they’re coliban, desiree or kipfler, thick- or thin-cut with normal or chicken salt, tomato or barbecue sauce, you just want chips…

In some important ways, they’ve understood this. Looking at the popularity of options and factoring in the effect the fuel efficiency gains have had on overall pricing, Audi has upgraded the headlamps to standard xenons and the base wheels to 18-inch alloys. That doesn’t extend to the spare – all A5s get a space saver under the boot floor.

Inside, the seats are leather, with full electric adjustment for driver and front passenger. Everyone gets a decent audio package with Bluetooth telephony and music streaming.

The options list is extensive, but not always expensive. A paddle-equipped sports steering wheel adds $350 on the base models. The ‘drive select’ switchable engine mapping makes a big difference for a palatable $450, while sports suspension adds $700. Extend that variability and it gets costlier – drive select with matched dynamic steering leaps up to $2700. Top them off with the optional sports diff available with the sixes and it goes to $4800. Sat-nav with a built-in DVD player adds $4350 on the base models.

Mid- and upper-spec models get some useful standard extras in paddle shifts, a larger MMI screen, a separate rear climate control zone, keyless entry and start.

This is just the beginning, however. Past the three seat and three steering wheel upgrades are three grades of seat leather, ten wheel options and fifteen paint hues. Past that again, they’ll do virtually any paint colour you’d care for as long as they can find it in a duco that meets Audi’s quality standards (expect a few weeks’ wait and a bill of $4 - 4.5K).

A similar take on the seat finishes means you can order two-tone leather with contrast piping, mats with contrast edging.

The options list is rounded out by a handful of packages, most bundling sports and aesthetic upgrade combinations under the S-line label. Most useful among them is the Assistance package including adaptive cruise, active lane assist, park beepers all round and an upgraded driver information system. It’s $2800 on the base petrol and diesel models, less as you go up-spec.

MECHANICAL

>> Closing the power & torque gaps between petrol and diesel

Audi has worked not just on getting oilers to emulate their petrol counterparts for smoothness and wattage, but on bring all the best diesel traits to its petrol engines, particularly in the way of low-end torque.

The biggest news here is in the smallest engine. The all-new 125kW 1.8 TFSI four is Audi’s latest foray into the art of downsizing, slipping in beneath the 2.0-litre four that has until now has sat at the bottom end of the range. The newcomer is calibrated to serve up its peak power from a relatively low 3800rpm through a useful arc to 6200rpm. Its peak 320Nm comes up from just 1400rpm to 3700.

Audi has calibrated its petrol ECUs to cut in low with peak torque, then maintain it up through the rev range until it reaches its power sweet spot.

They’ve taken a part-step back from the now ubiquitous direct injection, integrating it with an indirect system that works more efficiently at lower revs. The result is peppy, flexible performance, getting the 1.8 from 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds through the no-option eight-speed Multitronic auto, with a modest thirst of just 5.7L/100km combined.

The midrange 2.0 TFSI four turns on 350Nm from 1500-4200rpm, tapering off just before its peak 155kW arrives at 4300rpm. The only engine available with a manual, it’s a terrific performer in both six-speed stick-shift or seven-speed S tronic DCT, whipping the coupe from 0-100km/h in just 6.4 seconds (6.5 S tronic). Fuel consumption is 6.8L/100km combined for the manual (7.0 S tronic), with 159g/km in flatus.

The base diesel, the 2.0 TDI, is also new to the A5, but has already appeared in the A6 launched in 2011. Audi’s oilers are closing the traditional power gap with petrol – at 130kW this one outdoes the 1.8 by five. A relatively narrow peak torque band – 380Nm from 1750-2500rpm – helps keep fuel consumption down to just 4.7L/100km combined, while belching just 123g/km of CO2. All while chopping nearly half a second off the 1.8’s 0-100 sprint time (7.8 seconds).

Not that fuel efficiency’s a problem with the diesel V6 [3.0 TDI]. This is our pick of the bunch. At 180kW, it’s only 20 shy of the petrol six, while putting down a stonking 500 Newtons from 1400-3250rpm. That makes for a nice mix of resort-like relaxation when you want it, with enough grunt for 0-100km/h in 5.8 seconds. All while sipping just 5.7L/100km combined and emitting just 149g/km CO2. Beautiful numbers indeed from end to end.

Enough to overshadow what is otherwise a terrific petrol V6 in the 200kW 3.0-litre TFSI V6. Good for 400Nm across a nice, wide 2150-4780rpm, it’s noticeably thirstier than those beneath it, rated at 8.1L/100km combined with 190g/km CO2. It’s worth mentioning here that over a fortnight in two (bigger) A7s, we were managing early eights with this mill just in city driving.

And for those after a petrol six with a bit more grunt, the numbers for the S5’s 3.0-litre supercharged V6 spell out its priorities. Particularly its love of revs, with a peak of 245kW available from 5500-7000rpm and 440Nm from 2900-5300rpm. Audi has tweaked the exhaust system to get a bit more rumble and roar, to very pleasing effect. Through the S tronic, it whips the S5 coupe from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds (5.1 Sportback; 5.4 cabrio). For a mill of its power, it’s pure of heart, too, adding all that extra oomph yet matching the atmo six’s 8.1L/100km and 190g/km on the combined cycle for the coupe (add a couple of points for the Sportback and cabrio).

Helping out there, all now get a new electromechanical steering box, auto stop-start and energy recuperation, helping cut fuel consumption by an average 11 per cent across the A5 fleet.

Drive select rotates through Dynamic, Comfort, Efficiency and Individual engine mapping via a switch on the centre stack (which, incidentally, would be better located on the flat of the console. The difference between settings is marked and immediate, especially moving between dynamic and efficiency, with the latter’s palpable skew to high gears.

PACKAGING

>> A good thing freshened up in the right places

We reiterate: the key here is choice. The A5 offers a multilevel upgrade path on everything. Fortunately, all upgrade formulas start with high quality base material.

Indoors, Audi has put most of its interior efforts into tidying up the cockpit, starting by simplifying the centre switchgear. Drivers of high-spec Audis know the console as a city of red lights by night. The A5 is the first with the new treatment set to flow through to other models. It’s still pretty busy, but where they’ve been able to ditch a switch, they have. For example the audio track select switches, previously sitting by the on-off/volume knob, have been absorbed into a knob you toggle left and right to back and forwards.

They seem to have redesigned the console with consideration to right-hand drive markets, too: that knob is now on the driver’s side.

The seats remain terrific; at least in the front of the coupe and cabrio. There, the largesse in the redesign doesn’t extend to the rear seats. They remain strictly kid-stuff, and with the coupe’s side windows sealed shut you might want to think twice if the kid’s prone to carsickness.

The Sportback is friendlier in the rear with adequate legroom for adults. That raked roofline takes its toll in headroom, though.

Extensive use of aluminium, for example in the front fender panels, keeps the weight down to around 1500kg in the four-cylinder coupe and Sportback, including quattro versions, and closer to 1700kg in the sixes, up to 1800kg in the cabrios.

Nick-nack and drink storage is adequate rather than great. There are smaller Koreans that do this kind of thing better. Bootspace is a useful 455 litres in the coupe, extending to 829 with the splitfold seats down. This expands to 480 in the Sportback, going to 1283 with the seats down.

SAFETY

>> A good base package with several useful options

The A5 still hasn’t been NCAP crash-tested, but Audis have long come up with five-star results. That includes the A4 on whose platform it’s built, and even the tiny A1.

It comes well equipped, too. Along with all the normal braking and stabilisation alphabet, the A5 comes with eight airbags – two front, two curtains and side torso bags front and rear.

A5s now also get a slew of new safety systems. The standard Attention Assist monitors driver behaviour, profiling the driver, and thereafter notifies of aberrant behaviour suggesting inattention, with beeps and steering wheel vibrations.

Beyond that, the assistance package features adaptive cruise control and active lane assist. The upgraded cruise uses radar sensors to maintain a preset distance from the car ahead. It’s a class-topping unit, capable of slowing to a halt and getting going again without resetting.

The lane assist monitors the car’s crossing divider and shoulder lines, using the new electro-mechanical steering box to gently get it back on track if it deems necessary. Overriding it is simply a matter of moving the wheel, or the brake or the accelerator yourself.

Audi also offers optional Side Assist, aka blind-spot monitoring.

COMPETITORS

>> Lineup designed to erode competitor brand loyalties

Audi’s presentation included bar graphs showing how it’s taken ownership of the so-called B-segment since the release of the A5 in 2007. Put that down in part to a lineup with fewer gaps than any competitor. No competing platform offers sedan, wagon, hatch, coupe and convertible variants with so many powertrain options.

Alongside the A4 sedan and Avant wagon lineups, this generation of A5 does much to further ramp up competition for BMW’s 3 Series, Benz’s C-Class and Lexus’s IS. Not only does it outstrip them on range and drivetrain selection – it’s the only marque in this class to offer AWD, and the first to bring technologies like adaptive cruise this sophisticated this far downmarket.

ON THE ROAD

>> A good thing made better

Such was the array of test vehicles on hand it just wasn’t possible to get around all of them. Having sampled the 2.0 diesel and petrol engines over a couple of recent weeks in A6s, we were keenest to get our hands on the Sportback with the all-new 1.8 TFSI.

A decent run through the main and back roads between Bathurst and Lithgow revealed a willing performer, smooth and quiet enough to hide its light under a bushel. It’s more potent than it feels – enough to have us wondering where it leaves the 2.0 it supplants at the bottom of the range. We didn’t go close to the claimed 5.7L/100km fuel consumption, but you can put our mid-sevens figures down to a whole lot more paddling and pedalling than it would normally have to live with.

To interrupt what is otherwise wall-to-wall good news, Audi’s foray into electro-mechanical steering assistance produces mixed results. They estimate it cuts 0.3L/100km off fuel consumption, but past that it doesn’t live up to its on-paper promise. What is otherwise a well-integrated powertrain/chassis package that tucks into corners with relish, but the steering feels dull, the weighting feels falsified at times and it leaves most of the business of centring to you. That said we didn’t get a chance to sample the dynamic steering package on the launch drive program, so there’s room to reserve judgment, albeit not much for a $2700 premium.

The most complete drive package, as we mentioned, is the 3.0 TDI. Mated to the S tronic DCT, it’s as quick off the mark as its petrol counterpart, but with loads of extra midrange punch. It neatly bridges the rather large gap between the super-frugal 2.0 TDI and the higher-strung S5.

For the S5 coupe’s 245kW blown 3.0 V6, the numbers spell out its priorities; particularly its love of revs, with its peak 440Nm available from 2900-5300rpm. Audi has tweaked the exhaust system to get a bit more rumble and roar. Arpeggiating up and down through the gears, it punctuates its beautiful contralto with blips and snorts at the behest of paddles and pedal. It’s a cracker of an engine with a knockout midrange wallop in dynamic drive mode that makes it a 200-before-you-know-it proposition. Kick it down at the wrong moment and you’ll bin your licence. Get away with it and you’ll find yourself doing it again and again until the inevitable happens.

Fortunately, all drivetrains nestle in a chassis well able to take everything it throws at it. Audi has brought its weight-loss obsession to bear with more aluminium below stairs, leaving it feeling more sure footed and helping out on fuel efficiency.

So the A5 doesn’t steer like a 3 Series – yet. And our cabrio wasn’t entirely free of scuttle shake, palpable around the centre of the chassis. Yet there’s plenty of fun to be had shunting any of these cars through the odd bend and making the most of a terrific collection of engines.

And if that’s not your bag, why not go with a crystal-finished vermilion paint job and climate-controlled sports seats in white and lime two-tone with tan contrast piping and piano black door trim…

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Audi A5 2012 Review

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