Audi A5 Sportback 2010 Review - International

Preview Drive

Not so much
>> Rear three-quarter visibility and turning circle not brilliant
>> Although it's the point of the car, it only has four seats
>> Five-seat Audi A4 is cheaper and almost as practical

Overall rating: 4.0/5.0
Engines and Drivetrain: 4.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 4.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 3.5/5.0

About our ratings

Five years ago Audi pledged that the key to the company's growth was a massive model expansion. It started by filling any gaps it perceived were in its line-up, such as the addition of its Q5 and Q7 softroaders. But with those big cracks filled Audi then went looking for new model niches, where there are either few or no rivals.

As far as automotive niches go, the A5 Sportback is a hairline fracture. This car is designed to fit between the Audi A4 sedan, the company's biggest selling model, and the highly-regarded A5 coupe.

It's for those who want something more sleek than an A4 sedan, but want more practicality than the A5 coupe. And so we have the A5 Sportback, a coupe-like, four-seater, four-door with a massive hatch to make it more practical.

The closest cars to it are sleek sedans such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS and Volkswagen Passat CC. Except they don't have a hatchback. So the A5 Sportback may be an answer to a question no-one has yet asked, but Audi could well be onto something.

The A5 Sportback shares much of its DNA with the A4 sedan and A5 coupe but there are some important differences.

For starters, there are the proportions of the car, obviously a key selling feature. The A5 Sportback is wider and lower than an A4 sedan. It looks much longer than it really is because of the low roofline (which is almost as low as the A5 coupe). Although it looks like there is some extra length between the front and rear wheels, the A5 Sportback is just 2mm longer than the A4 sedan, and just 8mm longer overall in the body. In layman's terms, this is bugger-all.

Apologies for boring you with numbers but it just goes to show how deceiving (or clever) good design can be.

The sloping rear roofline hasn't come at the expensive of much headroom either. There's just 5mm less headroom in the A5 Sportback compared to the A4 sedan according to Audi's tape measure.

Knee room is more than adequate but there is a word of warning: it's a four-seater only, whereas the A4 sedan can seat five if needed.

The A5 Sportback's party trick is the boot. The dimensions of the cargo floor area is similar to that of the A4 sedan and A5 coupe, however the hatch opening and split-fold seats make for a massive load space and greater volume. So here's a sleek, coupe-like car that can seat four adults in comfort and their luggage.

Audi reckons the A5 Sportback will appeal to those who want something a little more plush than the A4 sedan but not as big as the large A6 sedan. Time will tell.

As you might expect, the A5 Sportback has all the usual Audi attributes: good quality, clever and classy cabin layout, and secure handling. With constant all-wheel-drive there's no chance of getting out of shape. It might look cumbersome in corners but it is more than competent.

The only time things can become a little bit of a handful is during tight parking manouevres. The broad turning circle (largely because of the all-wheel-drive system) combined with restricted rear three-quarter visibility (because of the thick roof pillars) can make parking a bit of a chore. Rear sensors are at least standard and a rear camera is optional.

The 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine is willing enough to suit most tastes and needs. It gets on with the job without fuss or much effort – or for that matter much fuel. The seven-speed automated gearbox helps keep the engine revs low when cruising, and helps the car get up to speed more efficiently when moving from rest.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to justify the price premium for the larger capacity Audi engines when the smaller engines are so good. But Audi says there are plenty of customers who want more power. And that means, initially at least, they will have the choice of a 3.0-litre turbodiesel.

This TDI engine has V8 levels of grunt but with four-cylinder economy. It's a surprisingly smooth operator (from the inside at least) and has mountains of pulling power and yet is incredibly fuel efficient. I guess the only extra cost here is the up-front price premium for this variant, for the diesel uses the same or less fuel than its smaller petrol-engined counterpart.

We enjoyed our time with the A5 Sportback on a mix of country roads, urban crawling and high-speed autobahns.

After at first wondering where it fit in the scheme of things (and the Audi catalogue) it eventually started to make sense.

There's just one caveat: we'd like to reserve final judgment until we test it on local roads. The A5 Sportback was brilliant at handling high speed freeways but some of the cars sampled were uncomfortably firm over bumps at urban speeds [Ed: our Euro-based correspondent, Michael Taylor, reported the same concerns in his first drive of the A5 Sportback.

We'll bring you an update as soon as we drive it locally in early 2010.

Price Guide: The A5 Sportback is expected to be priced between the equivalent A4 sedan and A5 coupe models. For the 2.0-litre turbo petrol that means somewhere between $73,000 and $86,000 (we're guessing $79,900) and for the 3.0 turb diesel that means somewhere between $79,000 and $94,500 (we're guessing $89,900).

Engines: We tested the two that will initially be available locally: a 2.0-litre turbo petrol and 3.0-litre turbodiesel, both with Quattro all-wheel-drive and seven-speed automated twin-clutch S tronic gearboxes. Others to likely follow next year are a 3.2 V6 petrol and a smaller capacity turbodiesel (either 2.0 or 2.7).

Engines: 2.0-litre turbo petrol and 3.0 turbodiesel
Power: 155kW at 4300-6000rpm (2.0), 176kW at 4000-4400rpm (3.0)
Torque: 350Nm at 1500-4200rpm (2.0), 500Nm at 1500-3000rpm (3.0)
Consumption: 7.5L/100km (2.0), 6.6L/100km (3.0)
Emissions: 174g/km (2.0), 174g/km (3.0)
On sale: in Australia Q1 2010.

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