A FINER FIVE(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 63

This Audi A5 is the Ingolstadt maker's new offering to the mid-sized executive market that used to be served by saloon and Avant versions of its long-running A4 model line. It's luxurious, well engineered but, unlike its rear-driven premium rivals, still front-driven in its most affordable forms. If you like the Audi brand and want a car of this kind, you'll be tempted.

Background word count: 236

Time to get used to a new kind of Audi A4. For a start, it's not called that any more, Audi having rebadged this model range 'A5' in line with its new policy of keeping even-numbered monikers for its EVs. The next change is that there's no longer the saloon body shape that used to define the A4 model line, abandoned in favour of the kind of sleek five-door shape that Ingolstadt previously marketed in this segment as the A5 Sportback. That old model's also gone of course, as have the other two body shapes that previously wore an old generation 'A5' badge, the Coupe and the Cabriolet (models that disappointingly, aren't being replaced). We do still get is an estate body style in this segment, an 'A5'-badged Avant model now selling alongside the new five-door. Aside from the new bodywork, much might seem familiar here if you previously had some sort of A4 on your driveway. Even maybe the evolved look, which remains very 'Audi'. As before, the core engines are 2.0 TFSI and 2.0 TDI petrol and diesel units, mated to the usual Stronic dual clutch auto, with quattro 4WD if your chosen variant has more power. But as we're going to see, much else is different, making this a useful step forward to build on thirty years of A4 sales success dating all the way back to 1994. Let's take a closer look.