The 2018 Audi A5 Sportback is the best kind of compromise
[MUSIC]
This is the 2018 Audi A5 Sports Back.
Now you could call it a baby A7.
You could call it an A4 with a little more junk in the trunk.
Heck you could even call it Audi's answer to the BMW 4 series Grand Coupe.
But whatever you call it I'm calling it my favorite model in Audi's lineup.
[MUSIC]
So let's start with performance.
The A% Sportback is power by a two liter turbo charged engine.
It makes 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet.
Feet of torque.
Now, it's gonna put that through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission on its way to all wheels via the automaker's quattro all-wheel drive system.
Now, that's the only powertrain available to A5 Sportback drivers.
[INAUDIBLE] Fortunately it's the good one.
The quattro system, which is standard, there's no front wheel drive version of this car.
It uses a little bit of active distribution, a little torque vectoring, if you will, on the rear axle to really scoop the rear end of the car around in corners rather than Pushing and under steering through them like some all wheel drive systems we've tested.
That worked really well with the five link independent rear suspension at all four corners.
I mean, this is a fantastic handling car that just feels planted in most driving situations.
[MUSIC]
Transmission is pretty good in day to day driving.
But if you're gonna be driving a little bit more performance oriented driving I'd recommend you to drop it in it's sport mode or use this pedal shift to take it's logic out of the equation.
That way you can better take advantage of it's quick shifts And responsive paddle shift.
The engine feels fantastic as well.
If you told me it was bigger than a two liter, I'd probably believe you.
And I know it feels like I'm gushing over this power train, but it's a really good one.
And it feels like it punches a little bit above its weight class.
Now the engine note, the sound isn't my favorite.
It sounds a little artificial, a little video gamey.
Maybe a little motor sporty but I'm willing to forgive that given the performance of this car.
And this isn't the S5 sport back with the V6 or the RS5 sport back with the V8, this is the base two liter turbo charge power train and I think that as good as this is, it says a lot about the rest of the The A five sport back line up.
Then again, you could probably say all of that about the a four Sedan or the a five Coupes.
So, what is it that makes this car different?
Well, let's pull over and I'll show you.
[MUSIC]
Now the roofline's noticeably lower but this car has the same wheel base and over all length as the a four Sedan But what separates the cars mostly, is this rear power lift gate.
Now as you can see there is a bit more space back here for cargo but this is a significantly larger aperture than you would get with a sedan, which makes it easier to load bulkier items.
Especially if you put the rear seats down and remove this divider.
You can make a pretty serious Costco or IKEA run here, maybe even toss a bike back there.
Now there are tradeoffs to this body style.
The lower roof means that you lose about an inch and a half of head room on the second row, which is important if you like to ferry around taller passengers.
Also, the overall package is around 100 pounds heavier.
Not a whole lot, but it nears mentioning.
However, I feel like this is an excellent compromise between the spaciousness of a sedan, the slick roofline of a coupe, and the flexibility of the hatchback.
And since we're not gonna get the wagon here in the states, that kind of by default makes this my favorite of the A4, A5 platform.
Let's hit the road again.
[SOUND]
[BLANK_AUDIO]
Now the A5 Sportback borrows its Sportback from the larger A7, one of Audi's flagship luxury vehicles, and though this is kind of a smaller version of that car it still packs really big tech.
On the driver aid front, for example.
We have available driver aid features like lane keeping assisted steering, or adaptive cruise control that works in stop and go traffic.
None of that's equipped on this particular model, but even the base level of driver aid technology is pretty.
We've got proximity sensors all around, a rearview camera when reversing, and we've even got Audi's pre-sense collision system up front.
Even at the base level, this is a pretty good load out.
And we haven't even talked about the MMI technology in the dashboard or the virtual cockpit in front of me.
This is some of the best driver-aid technology in the industry in my opinion.
I've gone into detail in a separate video that you should definitely check out to see all of the Those cool features.
Overall I feel like this vehicle starts off with a solid platform of technology and performance.
And then it adds in the A5 Coupe's muscular good looks and the A4 Sedan's very comfortable cabin.
And it also brings something special to the table with it's sportback.
it's an unique vehicle and I think it's kinda in the Goldilocks point In the A4/A5 line-up.
And again you could probably say all of those things about the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe relative to the 3 Series and 4 Series Sedan and Coupe respectively.
However, the Audi has one more A up its sleeve and that's the price.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC]
Okay, so let's price this A7 junior.
The 2018 Audi A5 Sportback starts at 42,600 bucks.
Now as we have it equipped here at Premium Plus with options I'd recommend like the Tech Package, with a sweet spot in the line up at around 50 grand That's like three grand more than a similarly equipped Audi A4 sedan.
But the sport back gives you a little bit more utility with the lift back and I think that it's worth the cost straight off.
Consider also that it's a couple thousand dollars less expensive than the BMW 4 series grand coupe which it competes directly with and by the way, I really love that car as well but Given the choice between the two of them with the look here, the tech here and quadrilateral drive I'm gonna have to give the h to the army.
[MUSIC]
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