Happenings

Audi Refreshes The A5

BY Burnpavement

More distinctive than ever, improved technical specifications lie under the new skin too.

The A5 family consisting of the Sportback, Coupé and Cabriolet have been given sharp new accents to the design. The upper corners of the single-frame grille in high-gloss black are beveled. The grille’s lateral bars and the Audi rings appear to be sculpted. The new bumper features pronounced air inlets with massive struts, revamped grilles and flat fog lights.

The headlights have also been updated. Their lower edge forms a wave; their interior has been restructured. With the optional xenon plus headlights, the LED daytime running lights form a narrow, homogenous clasp framing the headlight. Audi also offers the adaptive light system with dynamic cornering light and turning light. The rear lights have also been redesigned and are optionally available with continuous LED light strips. The bumper includes a number of additional design details.

The product improvement has added a millimetre to each of the exterior dimensions. The range of colours has been reshuffled and now comprises 16 choices. The fully automatic acoustic top of the A5 Cabriolet is available in four colours. The S line exterior package is available for those who appreciate an even more dynamic look.

The interior has been redesigned to make it more elegant with new steering wheels, including an option for a flattened ring, new steering column stalks and with narrow chrome clasps framing the control elements. The infotainment systems in the A5 have been significantly upgraded - all models now come with CD radio and eight speakers as standard, with MMI navigation and Bluetooth online car phone as optional equipment.

A button is used to directly adjust the optional seat heating and seat ventilation in three stages. Also updated were the ignition key, the selector lever for the automatic transmission, the button for the optional Audi drive select system and the controls of the high-efficiency air conditioning and multifunction steering wheel. All displays are now illuminated in white.

New paint covers the bezels on the instrument cluster and the centre console, and there is also a new selection of upholstery and inlays. The latter are available in Aluminium Trigon or in walnut or natural fine grain ash. Almost all of the interior colours are new. Fine Nappa leather replaces Valcona in the Sportback, and the armrests can also be covered in leather, if desired. The A5 Sportback is also now optionally available as a five-seater.

Another attractive option is the S line sport package. It drapes the interior in black and accentuates it with elegant applications. A sport suspension lowers the vehicle body by 10 millimetres and 18 inch wheels round out the package.

Onto engines: The completely redesigned 1.8 TFSI now makes 170 hp with tweaked thermal management, injection system, turbocharger and exhaust manifold integration. The output of the 2.0 TFSI remains unchanged at 211 hp. New to the Audi A5 line-up is the 3.0 TFSI, a supercharged V6 producing 272 hp. The top S5 models are now equipped with a 3.0 TFSI producing 333 hp. The S5 Coupé accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.9 seconds and has a top speed of 250 km/h.

The quattro models come with a manual transmission or the lightning-fast, seven-speed S tronic gearbox. The new models also feature the crown-gear centre differential with torque vectoring, which uses minor braking interventions to make the handling even more precise. If necessary, the car can direct up to 70 percent of power to the front axle or 85 percent to the rear.

Visual cues to the updated S models include new lights, modified body details and new crystal-effect paint finishes. Subtle changes can also be found in the interior. The most important technical updates for the Audi S5 are quattro drive with the crown-gear center differential and electromechanical power steering.

We will keep you updated as soon as we get the local pricing and availability!