There remain a few among us who decline to go to the store wearing sweatpants or to dine out in T-shirts and ball caps. People who comb their hair before answering the doorbell, even when they know it’s just another vinyl-siding peddler. For such people—call them the nattily dressed—cars such as the Audi A5 are created. Designer Walter de’Silva, an Italian who is impossible to imagine wearing athletic shorts to the office, once called the Audi A5 that debuted in 2008 the most beautiful car he’d crafted during his tenure at Audi. He was hardly alone in this regard for his own work, since he was subsequently promoted to head of design for the entire Volkswagen Group.
De’Silva retired last November (replaced by former Porsche styling boss Michael Mauer) but not before he had, presumably, at least tacitly approved the design for the all-new A5 coming for 2018. It reflects a not-fixing-what-ain’t-broke approach to styling, perhaps too much so, although it will ride on a new platform and use fresher drivetrain hardware.
Until the next A5 reaches the United States in the first half of 2017, though, dealers still have the original, de’Silva-designed A5. It has undergone a few upgrades and updates (LED lights and such), spawned a convertible that some find even more enticing, and now lacks the original’s V-6 engine, but your basic A5 coupe remains a beauty eight years after we first saw it. It’s like those blazers that the nattily dressed hang in cedar closets for decades because they’ll never go out of fashion. Audi needs the new one cut from the same cloth—but tailored with trendier lapels and sharply pressed creases to address the challenge posed by the also-well-designed BMW 4-series and Mercedes-Benz C-class coupe. This A5 still will look good in your driveway after the loan is paid off.
The A5 is the entry-level edition, leaving serious performance aspirations to the supercharged V-6–powered S5. (The V-8–powered, track-worthy RS5 is gone for now.) Those who can bypass bigger power and are simply looking for a handsome suit on wheels to wear for a night out will appreciate that the A5 starts at $41,425 and can stretch to $50,000 or so. But when Audi tells us the final production run of this model is subject to “limited availability,” we suspect the least expensive cars will be scarcest.
Strong Enough
The Volkswagen Group’s 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four as used in the A5 has been rated at 220 horsepower since 2014, or nine ponies more than it could boast in 2010 when it arrived as a lower-cost alternative to the original 3.2-liter V-6. Now the four-cylinder is the only engine in the A5. It mates to either a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission. We’ve always liked the manual model, but for this farewell road test we had the automatic. Make that the “most recent” automatic, since the A5’s past transmission offerings have included a traditional six-speed automatic (Tiptronic), Audi’s seven-speed dual-clutch automatic (S tronic), and even the unloved “six-speed” CVT (Multitronic) for a couple of years.
Modern turbocharged four-cylinders being what they are, this 2.0-liter more than suffices for daily duty and long road trips with a companion who likes to arrive in style. The automatic shifts as quickly and smoothly as it does in other Audis, which is to say it’s an excellent transmission if you must forgo our preferred three-pedal configuration. Our tests show the A5 can get to 60 mph from rest in 6.1 seconds, or 0.1 second quicker than did the 2010 manual edition with the original, lower power rating. That time was recorded using the new car’s integrated launch-control feature, which is cool if you find yourself at a local drag strip. Ordinary drivers are unlikely to find much use for it; our 7.5-second “rolling start” 5-to-60-mph time is indicative of everyday driving and is only 0.1 second behind the 241-hp Lexus RC but trails the BMW 428i xDrive by 1.1 second. Still, there’s plenty of torque at low rpm, and the short 30-to-50-mph and 50-to-70-mph passing times (only a tenth or two behind the BMW’s) mean drivers will feel confident in this car’s ability to merge onto a fast freeway or dart around slower traffic on the back roads.
Brakes tuned for autobahn duty remain one of the attributes that attract people to German-brand cars, and the A5 fully delivers on expectations, coming to a halt from 70 mph in only 149 feet and showing only slight fade over repeated use. Grippy Pirelli P Zero tires on 19-inch wheels help, too. They also contribute to the A5’s outstanding skidpad figure of 0.95 g (the 2010 managed a slightly lower 0.91 g). This is reflected in the real world with worry-free, even fun, trips around cloverleaf freeway ramps and on snaky two-lane roads. Both braking and cornering might be even better if Audi were to find a way to pare some of the A5’s 3713 pounds of curb weight—it’s partly the price one pays for the security of Quattro all-wheel drive, but the newer BMW is 33 pounds lighter in all-wheel-drive form. Audi says it will use more aluminum to shave mass for 2017 but, as in the new A4 (which did get lighter), the four-cylinder’s engine block will still be heavier cast iron.
Features and Options
Classic materials abound inside the cabin, too, where options include ash or walnut trim. The tested car, a Premium Plus model in Suzuka Gray metallic paint ($575), had the piano-black inlays that come with its S line Competition Plus package ($3250), which also brought the aforementioned 19-inch wheels and tires, a black headliner, a three-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel with shift paddles, high-gloss black exterior trim, a rear lip spoiler, and sport seats in leather with microsuede seating surfaces. It also has different bumpers than the base model. In this configuration it lands at the top of the A5 scale, where only the decklid badge distinguishes it visually from the S5, and the $52,400 as-tested price bumps right up on the entry price of that hotter performer. Contributors to that bottom line also included the $3150 Technology package (a 7.0-inch TFT color screen with navigation and MMI controller, parking assist with rear camera, Audi Side Assist lane-change aid, and Bluetooth) and the $950 Sport package (sport suspension with 0.8-inch-lower ride height, stiffer springs and dampers, and Audi Drive Select Controls). Aside from being down a heap of power, it also drove much like the delightful S5.
At this price, you’re nowhere near bespoke automotive tailoring. You’re still buying off the rack, but it’s designer-label garb. Opting for this outgoing model would mean settling for less power (the new A5 will use the A4’s 252-hp 2.0-liter), an aging layout for the handsomely trimmed cabin, and no access to the latest advanced safety technologies. Most of the latter features won’t come standard even on the new car, though, and for those who are likely to skip that section of the options list, the 2016 model offers a lot of rewards both as a driving machine and a piece of rolling sculpture. We’d not argue with anyone who chose the BMW or Mercedes alternatives, but the A5 still strikes our eye as a pretty thing to consider.
Specifications
Kevin A. Wilson has been writing about cars since 1986 for AutoWeek, Popular Mechanics, Road & Track, Automobile, and, since 2010, at Car and Driver. He also wrote that Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia entry on "Electric Cars" that you plagiarized in middle school—you're welcome.
