welcome to the audi a5 sportback the kind of car you buy if you go into the showroom torn
between the four-door a4 saloon and two-door a5 coupe because this audi will have you believe is
the best of both worlds the original a5 sportback launched in 2009 and combined coupe styling at the
front and rear with a more practical saloon car wheelbase as such the latest a5 sportback gives
you an extra 60 millimeters between the front and rear wheels yet sleek design features such as
the sloping roofline and pillarless doors remain it's proved a popular niche segment and of course
audi isn't the only brand to offer this body style there's the bmw 4 series coupe which is
a direct rival and a similarly priced kia stinger but at the time of filming this a5 sportback is
around 4 000 pounds more than the equivalent a4 saloon so you've got to ask is it worth it
the a5 sportback is offered with a similar choice of engines to the a4 saloon with the
main difference being you can't get a manual gearbox on the former both 2-liter petrol
and diesels are available plus there's also the flagship s5 and rs5 sportback performance models
we'll start with the interior and surprise surprise it is very similar indeed to the a5 coupe
and the a4 saloon but then that's nothing to complain about because audi interiors are still
some of the best around and central to that is the material quality and the overall layout now you
have to look really really hard in this cabin to find some cheaper plastics there are some
underneath the seats but they're hidden out of sight and the important thing is is that all the
major touch points such as this brushed aluminium center console the piano black nice soft touch
materials they're all really premium feeling and good quality also the layout as i said you could
get in this car and instantly know exactly how to do most of the major functions which isn't the
case for every car on sale today nice dials for the climate control it's really obvious it's easy
to understand what to do there's the touch buttons here for all the heater settings we've also got
the steering wheel buttons which are nicely laid out and easy to get to it's just a really well
thought out cabin and that makes a big difference when you're spending this kind of money on a car
the infotainment system on the a5 sportback is the mmi navigation plus with mmi touch
and audi virtual cockpit and that's standard across all versions so you get the 10.1 inch
central touchscreen and you also get the 12.3 inch virtual cockpit which replaces traditional dials
now if you've had an audi before you'll note that the central dial which controls the
infotainment screen has gone and in its place is a small storage area if i'm not quite sure
maybe some mints or something but anyway it's gone and it's touch screen only now which i think is a
bit of a shame because on the move it was a really easy way to navigate the infotainment system but
no real matter because this is still an excellent infotainment system it's really
responsive the touchscreen for what it's worth is very good and it's just very simply laid out
it's loosely based on an android system so you've got the various tiles for your radio
media telephone navigation but all the graphics nice and crisp but up to date
and like the general layout of the cabin everything is where you'd expect it to be
the virtual cockpit hasn't actually changed that much since we first saw it on the mark
iii audi tt back in 2014 and again no bad thing because it's still one of the nicest digital
dashboard displays that you can get it's very clear there's no squinting to see various readouts
you can have the dials whatever size you like and there's also plenty of customization as well not
quite as much as you get on a mercedes but still enough for you to enjoy and have various screens
in front of you such as your phone your media or your navigation things i don't like about the
a5 sportback cabin i mean there's not really much to be honest with you but the drive select or the
drive mode selector where you can scroll between auto and individual efficiency comfort and dynamic
driving modes it's actually quite out the way and it's hard to operate when you're
trying to look straight ahead so it's a little bit hidden but there is a way sort of to get
around that because there is a shortcut button on the steering wheel here and you can map it
to a number of different functions including the drive mode select so that kind of gets around that
the other thing that i'm not so keen on is the driving position because while there's plenty
of adjustment in the steering wheel that's really nice there you can go up and down as well you do
feel if i sit up like i'm sitting quite high up i'm almost perched on top of the car and this is
the lowest position that this seat goes in i can only actually move it up and i'm not particularly
tall either so if you were actually quite tall i think you probably feel like you're in a bit
of an ungainly driving position but it's worth checking out because everyone is individual but
otherwise this is a lovely place to be standard equipment on the a5 sportback is impressive and
includes the aforementioned mmi navigation plus and virtual cockpit three zone climate control
front and rear parking sensors plus reversing camera voice recognition and led headlights
where it's not such a lovely place to sit is here in the back but before i go on i will apologize
for how dark it is in here and how brightly lit up i am but it's what we've got to work with
anyway knee room and foot room is fine i've got enough room there
but headroom with that sloping roofline and if i sit up straight it is noticeably tighter than
it is in say an a4 saloon so you've got to bear that in mind when you're buying this car also
sitting in the middle seat there's enough space for someone to sit here but their legs are going
to have to go either side of this very very large central tunnel and that'll impinge on the space
for the outer rear seat passengers still there are some nice touches back here we've got the three
zone climate control so you've got your own kind of heated or cooled space there's also the dual
chargers for the usbs there's a 12-volt socket and this armrest has got a nice storage place
here for your coins or whatever and also very nifty fold-out cup holders which are a nice touch
the a5 sportback's hatchback style boot lid makes for a flexible load bay as does the
flat folding 40 20 40 split rear seats with them upright there's 480 liters of boot space
increasing to 1300 liters with them folded down both identical figures to the 4 series grand coupe
note however that the boot lip is quite large and there's no underfloor storage available
before we get on to the driving section here's three alternatives to the audi a5 sportback number
one the bmw 4 series grand coupe the most obvious rival to the audi this sleek looking bmw is due
an update soon but there's still plenty to be said for its excellent drive and efficient engines next
up is the vw arteon probably the best looking vw on sale today the arteon comes in as a stylish yet
exceptionally practical alternative last but not least is the kia stinger it may be a left field
option but you get the benefit of an excellent drive huge standard kit list and a seven year
warranty right driving what's the a5 sportback like on the road well if you're hoping that
it's going to be sportier than an a4 saloon then the truth is you're probably going to be
disappointed because they are by and large pretty much identical to drive but then that's probably
no bad thing as while the kia stinger and bmw 4 series grand coupe have their rear-wheel drive
platforms to thrill and entertain you the a5 sportback is more sensible more relaxed
it's still agile and it's got loads of grip and traction especially if you go for the optional
quattro all-wheel drive model but audi knows its customer base and it isn't about to scare it off
with something that's too lively in the corners now this is an s-line model with the stiffer
and lower s-line suspension and together with the standard fit 19-inch alloy wheels it does
mean that you feel the bumps and potholes especially at lower speeds it is quite firm
you can get adaptive dampers on the top spec vorssprung model but if you don't want to spend
all that money and you want a more comfortable ride then either drop down to the sport spec
car with the smaller wheels or get the sports spec suspension which is the comfort dynamic suspension
on the s-line model as a no-cost option because then you get all the niceties of the s-line looks
and the s-line wheels but you get more comfortable more appliance suspension and honestly you won't
lose anything from the driving experience at all it'll just be much comfier aside from that
refinement is excellent all round especially on this model which is the 40 tfsi petrol version
producing 190 horsepower or 204 horsepower in models built after september 2020 it's a strong
yet relatively economical engine that together with the seven speed s-tronic gearbox quietly
goes about its business in getting you from a to b it also gets a mild hybrid electrical system which
allows quicker restarts at traffic lights and shuts the engine down when coasting to save fuel
now it wasn't long ago that a two liter diesel would be the most common variant in this kind of
car but things have changed to the point where now this 40 tfsi 2 liter petrol is becoming more
and more common and although the long distance fuel economy and range aren't quite the same
as a diesel getting around 40 miles per gallon from this car at the moment you do have enough
low down torque so you don't have to rev the nuts off the thing to make any decent progress
sure i mean if you want it the power is there and you can take it right to its 6000 rpm red line and
it's pretty quick with naught at 62 miles an hour happening in just 7.2 seconds but you don't have
to do that and honestly this car feels more like a wafter in its personality it doesn't like to
be stretched that much and anyway this seven speed automatic gearbox is much better at doing the lazy
slushy changes than it is doing quickfire down changes going into a sharp corner
if you're looking to buy an audi a5 sportback but don't know which one to go
for then here are our top three choices for the cheapest one available it's the sport 35
tfsis tronic which comes in at just under 37 000 pounds and it's the same if you're
a company car driver too thanks to its 31 bik tax rating finally for performance fans
you'll want the 450 horsepower rs5 the audi a5 sportback is an excellent choice in the niche
category of medium-sized saloons come coupes it's got a great cabin swathes of up-to-date
tech and a drive that offers something different to its rear-wheel drive rivals
my only real reservation with this car is you'd have to really want the extra streamlined styling
to have one over an a4 saloon because the cabin is the same they drive pretty much the same
the a4 saloon is more practical and it's cheaper
so if you're thinking of getting one of these the a5 sportback
then really do have a close look at the a4 saloon because it could be a lot better suited to you
you