This is the new Audi A5 Sportback, the third model in the A5 range and an elegant five-door ‘coupé’.

Audi promises that the new car will 'run the spacious A4 Saloon close on rear head and leg room'. This is achieved via a longer wheelbase than the two-door, which also gives luggage space (480 litres) in the boot (rear seat in place) that almost matches an A4 Avant similarly configured.

In the UK, at launch, engines and running gear will be familiar to owners of more upmarket Audis: the company’s quattro 4wd is standard on all but the base-model four-cylinder 2.0 TDI manual. The latter has stop-start technology, while the automatic all-wheel-drive cars have the Audi S tronic twin-clutch transmission mated to either 2.0 TFSI and 3.2 FSI petrol engines, or the 3.0 TDI V6 diesel.

At extra cost, buyers can specify the ‘Audi drive select adaptive dynamics system’. This enables the 4wd transmission to not only transfer torque between the front and rear axles, but also between the rear wheels to reduce steering effort.

No doubt the company’s impressive petrol V8 and supercharged V6 engines will find their way into the new car in due course.

The A5 Sportback is a pure four-seater and will come with Audi’s customarily high standard of interior. Buyers will be able to choose from an extensive options list more familiar to S-badged, or A8, customers; extras such as adaptive cruise control, Audi side assist blind spot alert system, Audi lane departure warning system and a 505W Bang & Olufsen hi-fi.

In Great Britain, the A5 Sportback range will be priced from £25,440 to £36,220 and the 10-model range will reach customers in October.

Audi celebrated its centenary on July 16. The name is derived from the Latin translation of the German Horch, meaning ‘listen’. August Horch left his eponymous company in 1909 to found a second automobile manufacturing operation, also in Zwickau, Germany.

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Audi