Audi has announced new details regarding their upcoming BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo competitor, the A5 Sportback.
Designed to be as “emotional and elegant as a coupe, as comfortable as a sedan, and as practical as an Avant”, the A5 Sportback is essentially a five-door coupe. Although the teaser video only shows an artist stretching the A5 Sportback’s design, Audi states that the new model features a large rear hatch, a graceful tapering roofline which is 36 mm (1.4″) lower than the A4 Sedan’s, and four frameless doors with “dynamic window styling”.
Performance options include a newly developed ESP system with an electronic differential lock for improved steering response, Audi drive select, adaptive shock absorbers, and dynamic steering with continuously variable assistance.
Look for the new A5 to start arriving in European showrooms this September with a base price of €36,050.
Caught testing close to the manufacturer’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, with virtually no camouflage, the prototype follows recent Audi form by being disguised as a racer.
However, the distinctive single windscreen wiper, quick-release bonnet pins and adjustable front spoiler won’t make it on to the production version. These racy additions are simply Audi’s attempt to give spy photographers the slip.
As our exclusive picture shows, the much anticipated newcomer will feature a wider track than the standard A3 and has enlarged wheelarches to accommodate the beefier alloys.
The car is being developed by Audi’s Sport division - the team responsible for the barnstorming S4 and RS4 - and is scheduled to make its debut in show-rooms late next year.
Throw out your copy of WardsAuto “Interior of the Year” awards. The Audi A5 with the S Line seats is four-wheeled Hammer time: the world’s best automotive interior. Nobody can touch the way this cabin looks, works, feels and smells. OK, when you use the Audi A5’s thumbwheel to scroll through your iPod tunes, if you don’t select a new tune within the allotted time, the menu reverts to the song playing, which could be six clicks back. Other than that, I can’t think of anything wrong with the A5’s cabin. Yes, even the dreaded MMI mouse thingie has won me over. If you want a reason to admire/buy/worship/savor the Audi A5 3.2 Quattro, there you go. Otherwise, well, I have issues. For example . .
The Audi A5 has been hailed as a design masterpiece in various quarters. Arguing the point is pointless; if an enthusiast loves a car’s sheet metal, nothing a reviewer can say will alter the machine’s aesthetic appeal. So here are my two bits: the A5 lacks the minimalist classicism that elevated its predecessors to art. The A5’s gangsta greenhouse is too fly for a white guy, the swage line is too swoopy AND too angular, the flame surfacing is forced and I will never forgive Audi for NOT modifying their Billy The Big Mouth Bass maw for U.S. license plates. Admittedly, the A5 is drop dead sexy from the rear. But I’ve never been much of an ass man. So there you go.
Speaking of go, our Quattro press car was motivated by a 3.2-liter six. Ingolstadt’s mill delivers max power (265 hp) at a lofty 6500 rpm. But there’s plenty of shove (243 lb·ft) on the down low (3250–5000 rpm). In fact, the direct injection six-pot feels like two engines in one. It’s a torquey beast that wants to shift early; the dashboard display actually tells you to change gears. At the same time, there are professional sewing machines that aren’t as smooth as this engine at wide open throttle. You can rev the beJesus out of the A5’s powerplant, [potentially] accelerating the 3737 pound two-door from zero to sixty in just 5.8 seconds. The question is: why would you?
Audi only recently unveiled its stunning new TT-RS model, but as the company stated earlier this week it has no plans of cutting down on development of new models. This is good news for the legions of Audi fans who have long been waiting for the company to stick its ‘RS’ performance badge to the back of an A3 hatch.
Speaking with Dutch website Autovisie, Audi development boss Michael Dick said a new RS3 fitted with the five-cylinder turbocharged engine from the TT-RS was under serious consideration. When Dick speaks about development, however, there isn’t really much for Audi to do but tune up the handling and aerodynamics of the hatch and shoehorn the new engine under its hood.
Output would likely be the same 340hp (250kW) and 332lb-ft (450Nm) found in the TT-RS, which should be enough to propel a RS3 hatch from 0-100km/h in around five seconds. However, there’s a chance that Audi may water down the potency of the engine in the RS3 so it doesn’t step on the toes of the TT-RS.
With the premium hot hatch segment remaining fairly sparse these days, an RS3 model from Audi would give the company bragging rights against rivals like the BMW 135i. But whether or not the Audi RS3 ever comes to fruition is still uncertain, with Dick giving no indication of when the car may - or may not be - produced.
Audi has confirmed to bring the Audi Q3 by 2011 during the Annual Press Conference. No technical details have been released yet, but the pictured Audi Cross Coupe quattro might give you a good hint.
