Advertisement
BBC TopGear
BBC TopGear
Advertisement feature
WELCOME TO HYUNDAI’S HAPPINESS MACHINE
View the latest news
Paris Motor Show

Can you tell this is the all-new Audi S5 Sportback?

Five-door A5 coupe-saloon thingy arrives for Paris show. TG more interested in 345hp S5 version

Published: 07 Sep 2016

Attention, family folk with an irrational phobia to boxy-shaped fast cars: Audi’s finished your alternative to the rather good S4 Avant. It’s the S5 Sportback, the five-door, hatchback version of Audi’s two-door coupe. 

And no, it’s not the most outlandish styling update ever to grace a motor show spotlight. The new A5 and S5 are very deja-vu in appearance, save for sharper lines down the side, headlights that have slightly invaded the bonnet and a grille big enough to shame an Australian beach party. Would you expect anything else?

Advertisement - Page continues below

Audi’s claiming an 85kg weight saving versus the original A5 Sportback, and has carved out a touch more cabin space: 17mm more cabin length, 11mm extra for your shoulders and a 24mm kneeroom extension. Oddly, the original A5 Sportback actually had minutely more headroom than the old A4 saloon, in fact. So the A4 was the less practical, more niche one. Weird. 

The Sportback keeps the S5 coupe’s 345bhp, 369lb ft turbocharged V6, equipped as standard with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive. Claimed performance is 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds and 155mph all out – identical numbers to the sleeker two-door S5. And you’re tugging along a 480-litre boot, don’t forget. 

The S5 Sportback’s likely to set you back an amount starting with a four, with the cheaper 2.0-litre petrol and diesel A5 versions snaring buyers from the BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe and Jaguar XE lower down the ranks. Just remember to point out to the neighbours you’ve bought the brand-new one.

Advertisement - Page continues below

Top Gear
Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

More from Top Gear

Loading
See more on Audi

Subscribe to the Top Gear Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, you agree to receive news, promotions and offers by email from Top Gear and BBC Studios. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

BBC TopGear

Try BBC Top Gear Magazine

subscribe