Audi A5 Sportback
Every now and again the motoring manufacturers come up with a new category of vehicles. In recent years, there has been SUV, or Sports Utility Vehicle. This seems to stand for 4x4 that should never be taken anywhere that looks like it may really be actually off road.
Now we have the era of the 5 door coupe. BMW has one, Merc has one and of course, not to be outdone Audi has its own design. The idea is saloon dressed in coupe clothing, or Coupe with four doors, or, never mind, I think you get the idea. The concept is this, spacious saloon, lower it to give it coupe looks, trim the doorframes with frameless glass, add a hatchback lift up thingy instead of a boot lid and voila, 5 door sports coupe.
The rear hatch becomes a necessity when you realise that the lowered profile leaves a bootlid about a school-ruler high by another deep. So the rear glass lifts to solve the issue, just as it does in a hatchback, problem solved. And there is a fair amount of space. In fact only a little less than in the A4 avant. Impressive that. And way better looking, if you don't go for that whole station wagon school run look. In the 3.0 TDi I had on test, the sport-bit was the thing to cover.
Do diesel and the whole saloon coupe thing up add up?
Well 500NM of torque is quite
a number, and the shove in the
back was once reserved for the
supercar league. Its 0-100 of
6.1 seconds was well into that
territory a mere few decades ago.
Now comes the surprising bit,
amazing Fuel consumption.Expect way better than my
average of around 8l/100km's if
you drive even vaguely frugally.
A relaxed, brisk drive. Not
heart stopping exhilaration, more
relentless pickup. Think more
intergalactic travel rather than
mountain pass carver. The A5 is
one good looking machine, and in
sportback it doesn't disappoint.
The interior is generic modern Audi, and I think that is a good thing. Understated, yet elegant and suitably high rent. The aluminium trim is particularly well done, with micro textures to keep it durable and avoid every fingerprint showing. This is a perfect poor man's Grand Tourer, if the poor man can get a little over 500k together, that is. On a recent trip between Cape Town and Knysna it was impeccable.
Excellent NVH, the car was quiet, the sound system good if not quite excellent, and about the only criticism was only having two cup holders and very little space to stow loose bits like sunglasses and snacks. Not that there is no space, in fact the space on offer would be plenty in a hatchback or other city dwelling passenger shell. But in an intercity cruiser, the A5's natural domain, it begins to fall short, and the rear seat becomes a vital storage area. Pity that, although I must admit that is about the only major criticism I can really level at it.
Looks, pace, presence, and diesel frugality. What more could one ask for? If you are in the market for a fast saloon to move four adults in, there isn't much better unless you spend a lot more money. Oh and they throw in their quattro drivetrain with that gorgeous twin clutch manual gearbox complete with paddle shifting and missing clutch pedal.
