Audi A5/RS5 Sportback: Lifting the game

Audi’s five-door, four-seater coupe is a standout for more than just its styling. 

Audi A5 40 TSFI/RS5 Sportback

Price: A5 $92,450 as tested; RS5 $157,900.

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, 140kW/320Nm, 3.0-litre twin turbocharged V6, 331kW/600Nm; seven-speed dual clutch, eight-speed automatic; FWD/AWD; combined economy 5.9/ 9.0 litres per 100km; CO2 136/206 g/km.

Vital statistics: 4673/4723mm long, 1846/1861mm wide, 1371/1360mm high, 2764/2766mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 465 litres,19/20-inch alloy wheels.

We like: RS5 is a fast and impressive car; styling has aged well; beautiful interior materials.

We don't like: A5 spec could be richer, Sportback shape is not for families.

 BY now we should be getting used to the feeling that the wholly fossil fuel-reliant cars entering the market right now might very well be the last of an ‘old’ breed.

 Electric in all its diverse formats is incoming and you can be positive about it, or hide your head in the sand, but either way the single biggest change in this industry since - well, since it began – seems a done deal.

And yet, that doesn’t mean you’ll wake up tomorrow and find petrol station forecourts chained off and growing weeds and everything moving being sustained off the mains. As quick as the change is racing in, there’s still time now – and potentially for quite a few years to come – to keep enjoying the tastes and sensations of what we’ve grown up with.

Spending time with Audi’s updated A5, tested in ‘mainstream’ 40 TSFI Sportback and more extreme RS5 formats, also presented as a breather from another trend.

THE RS5 (above) is a real stormer, but Audi offers enhancements that really lift the street image of the A5 (below).

There are now so many SUVs, some many formats and sizes, that it’s actually becoming rare to strike an orthodox car any more. But that’s definitely what the A5 is. It felt refreshing to be sitting this low down but also a little odd.

Who’s still into it? Well, apparently there’s been a bit of resurgence of interest now that Audi has stopped bothering with the three-door shell and now put all its engines and drivetrain choices into the five-door shell. It’s a slinky car, so not the very best choice if practicality is a priority; but doesn’t have to be, because that’s why Audi has the A4.

With this Sportback the boot space is fairly decent, but the rakish roofline of course eats into rear headroom and, also, when a tall person (hands up, here) is driving, legroom behind does rather suffer. It’s tolerable, but no more. It’s also really a four seater because the high transmission tunnel running down the centre of the car means the middle-rear seat is all but useless.

 Still, I really cannot imagine many buyers are choosing this car for full-out family consideration but Audi won’t imagine that’d be a problem; it’s why they also do a DNA-sharing A4. The ‘Five’ is more a driver with front-seat passenger kind of deal, though it does offer plenty of luggage room for weekend getaways: the boot will take 480 litres and it has a nice, wide opening, although there is quite a high lip to lift things over.

The car’s look is an enduring strength. For a design that dates back to 2015, it still looks quite fresh, and certainly desirable; tangibly sportier and sexier than the A4.

The sheer quality is also massively impressive. Audi has long been the king of cabin quality and even though it's true to say that some aspects have been bettered by competing marques, it is still a really swish place. The sense of quality is undeniable.

The A5 on test was an $83,500 car that could have passed for a $150k model, thanks to being loaded with around $9000 worth of extras. Those 19-inch Audi Sport alloy wheels, for $1200, really suit its style for starters. This one also had sports suspension with damping control ($2500), a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel ($750), a matrix headlights package that’ll set you back $2800, privacy glass for $1400, and an ambient lighting package $300. So, $92,450 all up. For making million dollar impression? Good value. 

Further, it also pretty good to drive. Markedly more decisive at RS level but still quite enjoyable in entry format, where even though dynamic assertiveness is less pronounced there’s delight in well-weighted steering. Suspension tune is pretty well sorted too; the RS is harder, of course, but even its comfy enough. 

A5 buyers are clearly performance chasers; surely that’s why the street race editions now dominate. Whereas once the RS car was the niche edition, now the entry version is more fitting of that designation.

Strictly speaking, the 40 is the only ‘A5’ here for Kiwis. The other choices are the $126,500 S5 and the $157,900 RS5, which carry a different expectation given they swap from a front-drive system to having the brand synonymous quattro and bump out the entry car’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol for a V6.

The S5’s is single turbo and makes 260kW, the RS5’s is twin turbo and generates 331kW. The A5 gets along with 140kW, which is okay, but you’re never in any doubt about it not being the biggest or sharpest knife in the drawer.

Which is presumably why Audi will very quickly remind how economical it can be, with a cited optimal fuel consumption of just 5.9L/100km for the combined cycle. RS acolytes won’t bother to ask how their one fares but, well, let’s just say it’s not anything as brilliant.

Mind you, the A5 should have an edge given that, above the fundamental four-cylinder advantages, it has an additional fuel-eking feature in the form of a mild hybrid system, whose core implementation is a belt alternator starter connected to the crankshaft. When a driver lifts off the throttle or brakes lightly the BAS can recover up to 5kW of power and feed it into a lithium-ion battery. When the car is operating in the 55-160kmh speed range, the vehicle can coast with the engine switched off and the lithium-ion battery then powers the electrical consumers. Audi says the MHEV system can reduce fuel consumption by up to 0.3 litres per 100 kilometres. 

The A5 provides an extensive suite of technology to enhance safety and comfort, with plenty of options to add if these don’t seem enough; it seems strange, though, that these cost extras include an active cruise control.

A5 interior presented as the epitome of high-tech smart … until the RS5 (below) showed up.

It’s standard on the RS5 but should also really be packaged to the entry model, as well. In respect to the operability of various functions, the A5 is the latest model to feel Audi's decision to drop the old MMI rotary controller for the infotainment and switch to a touchscreen. You get used to it easily enough but it’s challenging to work out how it delivers a comprehensively better operability.

Of enduring appeal is Audi’s ‘Virtual Cockpit’, which replaces the conventional dials with a full-LED display, ultra-high definition screen quality and iPhone-like configurability, to give a highly effective blend of technology and sophistication. 

Shifting to the RS5 required something of a change of mindset. It’s obviously even more capable of putting a smile on your face away from the main road. Just triggering the V6 into burbling idle is enough to remind that a far more potent engine lurks beneath this version’s creased clamshell bonnet. Seeing that there are now RS1 and RS2 drive buttons on the well-crafted, flat-bottom Alcantara steering wheel further raises the heart rate.

An ability to nail 100kmh from a standing start in just 3.9 seconds and reach 250kmh before the speed limiter is serious shove by any measure. But that’s just part of the RS recipe and because all that muscularity channels through the company's quattro all-wheel-drive transmission too, you at least know the power is being dispatched to all four wheels in the most efficient fashion.

For all that, yes, there will be occasions when it aches to deliver more than you might necessarily want it to, but at same token it is not so feral as to become the sort of car that you’d never want to allow to fall into inexperienced hands. It will comfortably cruise at 100kmh in top gear with the engine barely seeming to rise far beyond idle speed.

Naturally, there’s more. A lot more. This engine has less aural theatre than the old V8, but when the turbos spool up, the V6 really comes alive - there is a massive swell of torque that'll keep your head and back firmly against the quilted leather sports seat. Switch the drive mode to Dynamic and the transmission into manual and you’re driving a wholly different car.

The RS5 sports a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6, the A5 gets by quite nicely with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder.

The one constant whether driving easily or eagerly is the tremendous traction. Despite having such huge torque within 35 degrees of right ankle articulation, the quattro system can never seemingly be bested. It could potentially be a more exciting ride if it could be made to deliver a more rearward bias, but then it might risk becoming less manageable. As is, it stands as a hugely effective cross-country tool, enabling drivers of all skill levels to safely maintain a decent average clip in seemingly all conditions.

Picking the RS5 from lesser A5s hardly requires an onerous detective work; the car is seriously altered in a myriad of ways beyond it achieving the requisite badges. You can add more, of course, by buying into a carbon fibre styling pack, an RS sports exhaust system and having the brake callipers treated to a red paint finish. Matrix LED headlights also enhance the package and, of course, the after-dark illumination.

You would struggle to call even the RS5 an all-out ‘driver’s car’, but it – and the A5 – are nonetheless good to drive. You can cover ground at quite a lick in either.

The way things are going, it’s very likely the next generation of this car could be massively different to what we get now. Even though the RS edition received its V6 because the V8 it once had was just politically untenable, given how deeply Audi has immersed into making electric cars it would seem probable that, at the very least, a plug-in theme is not so much a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ for this line.

Audi Q3: Sharp and strong

Sportback styling adds extra zip to the Q3, though for full zap we’d always prefer the RS.

RSQ3 (above) is a true stomper, but we also like the 45 TSFI Sportback styling

AUDI RS Q3/RS 45 TFSI Sportback

Prices: $111,900 (RS Q3), $114,900 (RS Q3 Sportback)

Powertrain and economy: 2.5-litre turbo-petrol five-cylinder, 294kW/480Nm, seven-speed dual clutch automatic, AWD, combined economy 8.8L/100km, CO2 202g/km; 45 TFSI 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder 169kW/350Nm, seven-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 7.7L/100km, CO2

Vital statistics: 4506mm long, 1851mm wide, 1571mm high, 2680mm wheelbase (RS Q3), 4507mm long, 1851mm wide, 1557mm high, 2680mm wheelbase, 20-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Spunky Sportback styling, well-specced, quality.

We don't like: Annoying auto stop/start, RS3 still beats Q3 version.

POWER doesn’t just express in kiloWatts – it can also show as killer looks.

In respect to that statement, then, I know exactly what question is formulating in the minds of Audi-philes smitten by the cars on test here today.

So, let’s fast track to the answer. Which is a ‘yes’. Yes, the RSQ3 also formats in the Sportback shape also under scrutiny, in a 45 TFSI guise.

And, yes, I’m also glad about that. As eye-catching as the original, more rounded styling continues to be, it’s still beaten by the newer, leaner and lower-roofed but still five-door look now also delivered for the second smallest SUV in the four-ringed circle.

Achieving the sharpest shape with the sharpest engine is a more premium buy-in. Audi adds bumps up the regular RS price by another $3000. That model, by the way, is defined as a wagon in Audi-speak. I don’t see quite see it, either. Then again, I’m still wondering why they just don’t call the Sportback what it emphatically is. A ‘coupe.’

Anyway, semantics. This new shape? Money well spent. Whatever the sportback gives away over the regular edition in respect to practicality – and it’s really not TOO much - it more than makes for with additional panache. There’s just something about a coupe, right? Which is what it is, even if this maker is reluctant to call it that. 

The wagon and co… sorry, ‘Sportwagon’ models are much of a muchness in styling detail, especially at the front. When viewed from that aspect it’s clear Ingoldstadt expects you to like large grilles. The new singleframe item is not horrendously large as in the latest BMW sense, but is still pretty big and, with the RS, it’s backed up by more vents in the bumper and under the leading-edge lip of the bonnet. Sad to say, some are fake.

Obviously, the RS interior is rather sportier than the 45’s – for starters, the latter misses out on the performance car’s high-backed, perforated leather bucket seats – but they don’t differ too hugely in terms of general ambience. 

It’s all highly digital in respect to the displays, which deliver as a big touchscreen angled towards the driver in the centre of the dash and a TFT screen in front of the driver that delivers all the instrumentation. With the RS, you get specific layouts set up to deliver lap times, cornering Gs, torque and power loadings and all the other stuff that will be useful when on the racetrack you’re never likely to visit. At least, not in your own car.

The flagship has a flat-bottom steering wheel, clad in Alcantara suede of course, and which has the RS button that allows you to easily flick it into the monster modes.

From the inside looking out, differences between the body styles are really only noticed by rear seat occupants and when you’re loading the boots.

Boot space in either better than you might expect. An extra 77mm in wheelbase and 100mm in overall length means this Q3 is space efficient enough to encroach on Q5 territory. Of course, the sportback is the more compromised - you’re giving away around 125 litres’ cargo space – and yet the shaping of the luggage space doesn’t seem too unfriendly. The 45mm-lower roofline means it concedes a small amount of headroom and rear-seat flexibility, but the sister ships are much of a muchness for overall occupant space.

 From the outside, the 45 gave a great support to the ‘looks can thrill’ concept. It didn’t look outrageously muscled, as the RS car obviously does, but just portrayed as being particularly sophisticated, in an impressively suave way. 

Mind, you, it had all the right ingredients: In addition the performance-themed S-Line bits and a spectacularly eye-catching Tango Red paintjob, this example was outfitted with an Audi Exclusive back styling package, had dark tinted glass and  the regular 19-inch rims were replaced with 20-inchers in a five-spoke design.

It looked extravagant and, assuredly, in altogether adding $6600 to the car’s regular $87,900 sticker, served as an excellent example of how to make an already fairly expensive front-drive two-litre car all the pricier. And yet, if you’re among those who can afford admission to this show, the premium might seem fair value, given how you’d seen how much attention the car received.

All the same, as much as each will doubtless have their own enthusiast circle, it seems to me that the RSQ3 is the more alluring in, simply though being the edition that conceivably stands better chance of carrying itself higher, for longer, given that it simply leaves no stone unturned in its quest for performance bragging rights.

I wouldn’t like to get into debate about whether the most powerful Q3 is the best car that comes from the Renn Sport division – realistically, it is not – but equally it’s pretty hard to argue against the pedigree. 

Though the 2020 RS maintains its 2014-born predecessor’s basic elements – so a 2.5 litre five-cylinder, dual-clutch tranny, quattro – everything has been sharpened all the more, including that eponymous engine. Add in the additional RS-pure loadings of 21-inch alloys in anthracite black with diamond-turned finish and 255/35 tyres, RS sports suspension plus with adaptive damping, an RS sports exhaust system (with dual black-edged oval tailpipes) and every available assistance system in the Q3’s safety-tech cache. Well, it’s really very appealing. 

The engine gains an aluminium cylinder block and crankcase for an overall weight saving of 26kg, but it’s the improvements in outputs that more keenly appreciated; with 294kW and 480Nm the 2020 edition has 24kW and 15Nm more than the previous car to at last assume level-pegging with the RS3 hot hatch. 

Start up from cold, in Comfort mode, and it's distantly rumbly. Nice for the neighbourhood. Let it warm, switch up to Dynamic mode, stiffen up the dampers, put the gearbox in Sport and open up the taps in the sports exhaust … and, well, put it this way. Those modes, if used on the school run, would have the car in detention within minutes.

Restrict the full-out rudeness to special occasions and it’s a fairly decent accomplice. The engine in the less than full-out mode is quite driveable for every day mooching; it’ll happily burble along at a meander. But you don’t want to be heavy-footed on the urban beat.

Adjust all the settings to the other extremes and, yes, it’s a creature of the fright; top speed of 250kmh, 0-100kmh in 4.5 seconds and drawn to redlining the boomerang-shaped digital tacho at every opportunity. Keeping yourself from running it hard means having to resist the exhaust note, and that’s a challenge. Thanks to the 1-2-4-5-3 firing order, it is quite unlike anything else for sweetness of tone and snap-crackle. There's no direct connection between this engine and the original 1980s Audi Quattro five-cylinder unit, but the aural lineage is unmistakable.

All this horsepower, but does it have a chassis equally worthy of it being worthy of being in the big boys’ club? Well, it’s certainly eager to prove this, the RS refit delivering stiffer, lower springs compared to the 45 Sportback and faster, sharper but also heavier steering. You can get adaptive dampers and ceramic (front) brakes. So, yeah, straight away it’s a firmer, more resolved car than the 45. 

That doesn’t obviously make it better for every occasion. The RS recipe is rather between firm to outright chunky for urban driving and, yes, tyre-generated road noise is more obvious, even when measured against a Sportback on its optional, enlarged wheels and wide tyres. But, then, that’s the breaks with an RS.

The bonus comes on an entertaining road; which is where it really sets a high bar; sitting flat, composed and possessing endless grip and traction. Yes, the 45 will also shine in this condition, but not as brightly. The difference of one having a Haldex-based multi-clutch system, that can send as much as 100 percent of the power to the rear wheels, and the other having a more traditional viscous coupling differential is one factor. The degrees of separation in sheer shove … well, yes, that counts too.

So, within the family, it’s rightly the star. If consideration is broader, though, it’d still be challenging to recommend the RS Q3 over an RS3. As fast, capable and steadfast as the crossover is, it still hasn’t the same level of deftness and I’m not sure it will communicate quite as directly; understandably because, with the Q3, it’s all about having to keep higher-standing mass in check.

Still, it’s not as if Audi has created a one-dimensional character. The cleverness of the ‘RS mode’ button on the steering wheel avoids this. You can use it to configure the suspension’s drive-select set-up into two distinct arrangements. Perhaps lighter steering, cushier ride, less engine noise for everyday and more athletic settings for special times.

So much about this car, so little said about the ‘45’. Yeah, sorry about that. It’s that the lesser is unworthy of comment in respect to its performance. Everything’s okay there. But fair to say it’s a different kind of thing; that 2.0-litre engine is more about good manners and reasonable economy that presenting an absolute level of energy.

Both models drive with a real sense of quality but, notwithstanding that neither are really designed for anything that could be termed as ‘off-roading’ – regardless that there’s a mode to support just that - the ‘45’ feels more like an SUV for the urban dweller. Still, if you're looking for style and refinement it’s pretty handy in the city chic role.