Audi A5 Coupé review:
2.0 TFSI quattro S line S tronic
by David Finlay (8 December 2011)
I must admit that I thought it was a bit early for Audi to be updating the A5 until it dawned on me that, in Coupé form at least, it's been around for four years. Four years! How time flies, as I believe someone said once.
There are quite a few changes to the A5 for the 2012 model year, the most important involving reducing the CO2 emissions and improving the offical fuel economy of the range by modifying some engines and replacing others. You can now, for example, buy a two-litre diesel A5 which can achieve just over 60mpg on the official EU test cycle, emitting 122g/km of carbon dioxide in the process, while the range-topping S5's 4.2-litre V8 has been discontinued in favour of a more efficient supercharged three-litre V6.
The model reviewed here, however, is in the eye of the hurricane, where nothing much happens. Its two-litre TFSI turbo petrol engine used to produce 208bhp, and it still does. It hasn't been altered at all.
And I have to say that it doesn't feel as if it needed to be. It's smooth, it's quiet and it produces as much power as I want it to. A diesel version, though more expensive to buy, would be cheaper to run, but its extra weight would unbalance the chassis; in TFSI form the A5 feels superbly balanced.
That, and the fact that the major controls are pleasantly firm and more or less equally weighted, makes this A5 very enjoyable to drive. It is no kind of sports car - it doesn't react nearly quickly enough to be called that, despite the sportier suspension fitted as standard to S line models - but it should appeal to many enthusiastic motorists.
It's probably better on the S line's standard 18" wheels than on the optional 20s with scary 265/30 tyres fitted to the test car. Those made the ride a festival of jiggles, though in fairness it wasn't as uncomfortable as such low-profile rubber would suggest. Still, I wouldn't pay the extra £1270 required just because it made the car look snarlier.
Despite the complete lack of changes to its engine, the 2.0 TFSI does share some new-for-2012 interior and exterior features with all other A5s, though there's not much to get too excited about here.
One thing Audi doesn't mention is a change in the position of the foot rest, which for too long on A4s as well as A5s has been so far away that it's difficult to reach without extending your left leg as far as it will go. I didn't think that was so much of a problem with this car - perhaps I was imagining it, or feeling unusually tolerant.
I definitely wasn't imagining the extremely limited rear-seat room (nobody could possibly sit behind me when I'm driving this car), but I suppose nobody would ever buy an A5 with a view to transporting more than two people on a regular basis, and it may well be that some A5s are sold on to their second owners without anyone having ever sat in the back at all.
Add new comment