Audi A5 Sportback TFSI Quattro 2017 Review

The side profile of the A5 is one of the prettiest shapes on the road today, and it harks back to an era where long, sleek coupes ruled the roads. It doesn’t lose much in the translation to a five-door, either.

The extended roofline manages to look sleek and stylish without adding extra bulk to the A5's rear flanks, while the family similarity is obvious across the nose and the rear taillight array.

Our particular A5 is fitted with Audi's S-Line body kit, which adds deep side skirts and extra pieces on the front and rear bars. As a plus, the 19-inch turbine-style alloys set the car off just perfectly.

The A4 has been widely praised as having one of the nicest cabins in the luxury C-segment sedan class, and the A5 carries on that tradition. The devil is in the beautifully simple and elegant details, with Audi's active dash a real winner, along with the floating multimedia screen in the centre.

And if you're a fan of blocky LCD graphics on your dual-zone climate control system, you'll be disappointed; Audi really has worked through every detail.

The optional black wood inlay of our test example didn't suit all tastes and actually ended up looking a little bit fake, and the grey leather probably wouldn't be our first choice, either. But in the right colour scheme, the interior of the A5 looks absolutely fantastic.

Unfairly or not, most Audi A4 and A5 products are deemed as executive expresses, which means that a lot of emphasis is placed on the front-seat passengers, and in particular the driving position.

From behind the wheel, the A5 is a joy to use. It's got a fantastic driving position that's slung low in the car, a nice, thick-rimmed wheel, and plenty of space in which to do your work.

All the controls are logical, although the steering wheel is starting to get a little bit complex, and you really have to train yourself not to keep fiddling with the brilliant Active Dash display. Settle on your favourite view – ours is the large sat nav/small dials version - and then leave it alone.

The leather seats have supportive side bolsters and an extendable base, which is a great feature for taller occupants.

The storage arrangements are a little bit different in the A5, with a very long but shallow centre console bin hiding underneath a long, padded lid. It's easy to tuck a phone and a wallet away underneath, but it's not quite big enough to take a larger bag.

Audi has stashed a pair of USB controls at the very back of this compartment, which is a little bit of a pain if you keep your mobile phone in a holder that fits in one of the two cupholders towards the front of the dash.

In fact, aside from the regular glovebox, there's not a whole lot of storage in the front of the A5. There are bottle holders in each of the doors, but not much room for anything else.

There are bottle holders in each of the doors.

The rear seat can take three passengers, although it's best suited to take two. There are ISOFIX points on both the outside seats and cupholders in the pull-down centre armrest, as well as bottle holders in each of the two doors.

Overall, though, there's not a lot of space in the rear, especially for taller passengers. Even with the driving position set in a relatively average location, the knee room is quickly gobbled up and is saved only by the fact that the seats have deep sculpting on the backs for your legs.

Likewise, that gorgeous sweeping roofline does nothing for headroom if you've got taller passengers, and the rear door apertures are quite small.

On the flip side, the pseudo hatchback arrangement of the A5 yields a large cargo space, with 480 litres with the seats up (which is the same as the A4 sedan, incidentally), and an even larger 1300 litres with the 40/20/40 split-fold seats dropped down. The load space is also quite flat, and there are tie-down hooks to secure luggage, which is a nice touch.

A space-saver spare wheel nestles under the floor of the boot, and there's also a 12-volt charging point back in the cargo area. The A5 is far from your typical sedan, but unfortunately for rear-seat passengers it does pay the price for looking this good.

Our (to give it its long and quite formal name) A5 Sportback 2.0 TFSI Quattro S-Tronic Sport is powered by the more powerful of two 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines in the A4/A5 range. 

It makes 185kW and 370Nm, and it's backed by a seven-speed dual clutch transmission - known as an S-Tronic in Audi lingo - which is linked to Audi's latest version of its all-wheel drive system.

The combined fuel economy figure of the A5 quattro is rated at 6.5 litres per 100 kilometres, while our 320km test recorded a dash-indicated figure of 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres over mixed terrain.

The 1610kg A5 can crack 100km/h from a standstill in six seconds flat, and is electronically limited to 250km/h.

With its 63-litre fuel tank, it’ll cover approximately 970km before needing a top-up, which is impressive.

The A5 Sportback in TFSI quattro form costs $81,500 before on-roads and, as with most European premium products, the options list is long and detailed. Our test vehicle, for example, ends up costing just over $100,000 once everything is totted up. 

This includes an assistance package that adds adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go ability in traffic. It also has a traffic-jam assistant, active lane assist with AEB, collision-avoidance assist, high-beam assist and turn assist. All that is yours for an extra $2470.

The S-Line Sport package at $5900 adds the aforementioned body kit, 19-inch alloys, a different steering wheel and gear lever knob, as well as a Nappa leather interior.

The S-Line Sport package comes with 19-inch alloys.

It also offers a Technik package with Audi's Matrix LED headlights (pinched from the R8), LED daytime running lamps, and dynamic LED front and rear indicators, as well as a 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo and a head-up display that shows speed, navigation, and other info. This costs $5600.

The other major inclusion is adaptive suspension at $2210.

As standard, the Audi is fitted with everything that you'd expect in a premium sedan product, including automatic headlights and wipers, sat nav, dual-zone climate control with vents and controls for rear-seat passengers, electronic handbrake, the full digital dash that’s known as the Active Display, as well as seat memory and heated and folding side mirrors.

Audi's engineers hit a home run with the B9 platform, as we've seen from our previous tests of other A4 products. The car's basics give it a low, wide, and flat stance with excellent suspension action, terrific steering and a composed, compliant ride.

The drive mode select switch can pick from efficiency, comfort, auto, and dynamic, or be tuned in an individual mode, which allows you to pick from comfort, normal, or sport settings for gearbox, engine, suspension, and steering. It's hard to tell the difference, though, between the firm dynamic suspension setting and the comfort setting with the optional adaptive dampers.

Our favourite drive mode sees us dump everything into sport for a little bit of extra weight and feel under fingers and feet, and winding back the adaptive suspension to comfort mode to give even more ride comfort on longer trips.

The 2.0-litre turbo four is a very well-known quantity in the Volkswagen/Audi family, and it performs very well, even onboard a heavier car like the A5. Throttle response is excellent, and the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox is perfectly matched.

The all-wheel-drive system has also proven its worth over the years, and this latest version works in both everyday situations and when pushing on a bit.

The system sends 60 per cent of its traction to the rear as standard, and can send up to 85 per cent back there (or 70 per cent to the front) when it's most needed. The point of the A5, though, is not to push hard through corners, but to take the back way home knowing that you've got a forgiving, comfortable and  capable companion underneath you.

The A5 comes standard with forward-facing AEB with pedestrian detection as standard, along with rear-collision mitigation (a system which flashes the car’s hazard lights if it detects traffic behind the car isn’t paying attention), tyre-pressure monitors and eight airbags.

These basic features combine to give the A5 Sportback a maximum five-star ANCAP score.

The full gamut of driver aids can be added as part of a $2470 package.

Audi only offers a three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty with the A5, throwing in roadside assistance for the life of the warranty.

You can buy a three-year/45,000km service plan for $1620 at time of purchase.