Audi A5

Audi A5

Audi A5 interior

Audi A5 Top Car Images

Audi A5

Another month, another Audi. The Ingolstadt factory is busier than ever right now, belching out new models as fast as its conveyor belts can carry them. Audi sold over a million cars last year, and this A5 Sportback is the 33rd car to join the company's line-up. It's also the sixth to share the A4/A5 platform.

So what is the A5 Sportback, exactly? We will attempt to answer that as briefly as possible, but because it's complicated, it might take nearly a billion words.


Audi A5

Firstly, ignore the name because essentially what we have here is the first-ever A4 hatchback (the A4 has always been a saloon or estate until now). Audi will recoil in mock-shock at that allegation, and insist this is a blood member of the A5 coupe family. But there's no escaping the two extra doors at the back, and especially the third one hinged to the roof.


Audi A5

Confused? Not yet, you're not. Is it the swoopy roofline that messes things up, making this a hatch that dabbles in coupe-ness? Or is it a coupe that dabbles in hatch-ness? Or is it neither, as Audi might claim, because it thinks it's an entirely new type of car? If you disregard the hatch's shutline or just squint a little, it could be an A5 saloon, or, in other words, a lower, swoopier A4 saloon. Maybe the A5 saloon is coming next.


Audi A5

2010 Audi A5 and S5 Cabriolet: 25 High-Res Photos and Official Details

Audi has lifted the covers on the all-new A5 and S5 Cabriolet models (way) ahead of their worldwide debut at the Geneva Motorshow in March 2009. Scheduled to go on sale in Europe in Spring 2009 with the U.S. following in Fall of the same year, the A5/S5 Cabriolets will replace the long-lived, open-top variant of the A4. Even though most of the competition in the category like the BMW 3-Series Convertible, Infiniti G37 Convertible and Lexus IS 250C have opted for retractable hardtops, Audi has chosen a fully automatic classic fabric top that opens in 15 sec and closes in 17 sec.

At launch, the four-seater convertible will be offered with three gasoline and two diesel engines. These include the 2.7-litre and 3.0-litre V6 diesels with outputs of 190HP and 240HP respectively, two 2.0-litre TFSI petrol units with 180HP and 211HP and a 3.2-litre V6 FSI petrol with 265HP. Available power trains include a six-speed manual transmission, the continuously variable multitronic, and the dual-clutch seven-speed S tronic. In addition to front-wheel drive, Audi also offers quattro permanent all-wheel drive for the higher-power engine

As we have already informed you, the range-topping S5 Cabriolet will benefit from the S4's newly developed, supercharged, three-liter V6 engine which will also replace the current S5 Coupe's 4.2L V8 in 2009. The power output tops out at 333HP while the torque between 2,900 and 5,300 rpm remains constant at a hefty 440 Nm (324.53 lb-ft).

The 3.0 TSI V6 will be available with either a six-speed manual gearbox or the seven-speed dual clutch S-Tronic transmission. The S5 Cabriolet goes from standstill to 100 km/h (62mph) in 5.6 and accelerates up to a preset top speed of 250 km/h (155.34 mph). According to the German firm, the drop-top S5 achieves an average fuel consumption of 9.6 liters per 100 km (24.5 US mpg).

In Europe, where the A5 Cabriolet will be also be offered with an entry-level 1.8 TSI gasoline engine delivering 160HP, prices will start at �37,300. Delivery of the first A5 Cabriolet models will begin in the second quarter of 2009.

New Audi A5 Cabriolet to be Unveiled this week, S5 Gets 3.0 TFSI

Audi will publish the first official images and details off the new A5 Cabriolet and its S5 sibling by the end of the week, according to Carscoop sources. Unlike the BMW 3-Series Convertible, Infiniti G37 Convertible and the Lexus IS 250C, Audi continues to resist the trend toward retractable hard tops preferring to equip the A5 and S5 Cabriolets with a more traditional and less complicated/heavy, electric folding canvas roof.Power options for the A5 Cabriolet will remain the same as the Coupe offerings minus the 2.0 TDI. The range will include 2.7-litre and 3.0-litre V6 diesels with outputs of 190HP and 240HP, two 2.0-litre TFSI petrol units with 180HP and 211HP and a 3.2-litre V6 FSI petrol with 265HP.

Our sources have also confirmed that S5 Cabriolet will be offered from launch with the S4's brand-new 3.0-liter supercharged V6 petrol engine that pumps out 333HP and a hefty 440 Nm (324.53 lb-ft) of torque. Power will be channeled to all four-wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox or optionally, via Audi's new seven-speed dual-clutch S-Tronic transmission. In 2009, the same powertrain will also replace the current S5 Coupe's 354HP 4.2-liter V8 unit.

Both the A5 and S5 Cabriolets are expected to go on sale by spring 2009.