Audi S5 Sportback 2010 Review

Audi S5 Sportback

What we liked
>> Sportback styling
>> Supercharged V6 efficiency
>> Audi build integrity

Not so much
>> V8 coupe sounds better
>> No five-seat option
>> Needs sport diff to show its best

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.5/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 3.5/5.0

About our ratings

A niche specialist and proud of it... That's the official line from Audi and there's no better evidence than the A5 Sportback family. Claimed to combine the practicality of a wagon, the prestige of a sedan and the 'emotion' of a coupe, the four-place, five-door Sportback has been shoehorned into the German marque's range betwixt the A4 Sedan and Avant and the 'proper' two-door A5 coupe. And confounding pundits (like me!) it's found a market internationally, and if the number driving around the better heeled suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne is anything to go by, locally as well.

Now, there's a niche within the A5 Sportback niche. Specifically it's a performance variant -- the S5 Sportback. Combining the A5's packaging with a sports-tuned chassis and the supercharged V6 that also graces the S4 and S5 Cabriolet, the S5 Sportback is expected to make up around a third of S5 sales locally and better than 10 per cent of all Sportback volume.

If our first drive's anything to go by, it'll do that and then some...

In fact, properly optioned the S5 Sportback has leapfrogged the S5 Coupe as this writer's favourite 'big' Audi... Well, biggish at least.

It's the balance of performance, great looks and usable space that is the most endearing attribute of this car straight off. Though it must be said, we'd still love to see the option of a proper three-person rear bench (for more details on packaging follow one of the above links to our A5 local launch coverage), and the car is only at its very best when you pay particular attention to the build list and options... Choose well, however, and it's a cracker.

I should qualify from the outset that in terms of standard equipment the $129,300 S5 is no stripper. It's equipped commensurate to its pricetag.

Outside it's distinguished from lesser Sportbacks thanks to a more aggressive front bumper and matching racy rear diffuser. The grille gets big chrome accents that spell out 'S' in Audi-land and there's a new rear lip spoiler and four oval-shaped exhausts that shout performance. Added touches include mirrors that get alloy-look scalps.  Yep, riding on handsome five-spoke 18-inch alloys, even in the standard non-metallic solid colours it looks the biz.

Finished to Audi's usual standard there's all the normal mod-cons inside plus key features such as high-grade satnav with voice control, keyless entry and start, adaptive xenon headlights and a decent stereo. Bluetooth connectivity, iPod prep and park sensors are also on the list.

The cabin gets plenty of leather -- the standard trim set is a blend of alcantara (mock suede) and leather -- and the S-design-badged front seats are electrically adjustable. Special S style gauges jazz up the instrument panel and the sexy S5 logo appears whenever the car is started.

Mechanically the car is near-identical to the S4 so we won't go over chapter and verse here. Standard fitment is Audi's latest seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual gearbox and the supercharged V6 punches out the same 245kW/440Nm.

Key stats show a claimed 0-100km/h time of 5.4sec and gazetted fuel economy is a commendable 9.4L/100km. Even on out test drive (as rapid as it could be given Victoria's snow roads' attraction to the boys in blue) we bettered 10L/100km. Indeed, the only thing you miss from the V8-engined coupe version is the engine note. The blown V6 is brutally efficient but aurally it's not a patch on the eight.

What the S5 Sportback does miss out on is Audi's clever Drive Select adjustable steering/suspension system. Unless, of course, you bite the bullet and tick the option box. Hence our comments above.

In the S5 Sportback Drive Select adds an extra goodie -- the maker's new Sports Differential. Equipped with Quattro all-wheel drive as standard, the S5's driveline apportions drive 60:40 with a rearwards bias. In slippery conditions or hard driving, the system's smarts can push up to 85 per cent of drive rearwards (or 65 to the front) -- and none of this changes with the Sport Diff. However, operating only on the rear axle, Sport Diff transfers drive left or right across the rear axle to help quell understeer and make the car demonstrably sharper in the twisties.

Though priced at a not-inconsiderable $6900, the combination of the ability to tune the dampers and the Sport Diff livens up the S5 Sportback no end. Driven back-to-back with the 'standard' S5 Sportback it's a substantially better car to drive in anger so equipped. And Drive Select offers a bit more absorption on its Comfort setting than the standard car to boot.

The supercharged V6 has buckets of low-end torque and though the standard tyres aren't particularly grippy, such is the poise with Sport Diff et al that the S5 turns out to be seriously quick point-to-point.

We'd still like livelier, more communicative steering (a fault of most Audis, alas) but many, perhaps most, owners will find little else to fault.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi