BUY, LEASE OR FINANCE AN AUDI A5 SPORTBACK FROM OSV: https://bit.ly/3knSyh7

When it comes to prestigiously-badged compact executive German cars, traditional thinking suggests that estates are fine but five-door hatchbacks aren't. Audi however, hasn't made it to the top of the pile by traditional thinking and their second generation A5 Sportback continues to turn such thinking on its head, with coupe styling married to a couple of rear passenger doors and hatchback practicality.

Market and Model

Pricing in the mainstream range sits in the £38,000 to £60,000 bracket, though of course, you'll pay a lot more than that for the sporting S5 and RS 5 variants. The premium if you want to switch from any given petrol variant to its diesel alternative is only around £600. All mainstream A5 Sportback models have to have 7-speed S tronic auto transmission as standard. Quattro 4WD is standard on the faster petrol and diesel derivatives. There are three mainstream trim levels - 'Sport', 'S line' and 'Vorsprung'.

Cost of Ownership

This A5 Sportback's new mild-hybrid diesel engine uses a 12-volt or 48-volt belt-driven alternator starter, a 0.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack and an energy recuperation system. Audi claims exemplary WLTP-rated fuel economy and efficiency, so let's look at that. The 40 TFSI manages up to 42.2mpg on the combined cycle and up to 153g/km of CO2. the 45 TFSI quattro delivers up to 36.7mpg and up to 174g/km. As for the diesels, well the 35 TDI returns up to 54.3mpg on the combined cycle and up to 136g/km of CO2. The 40 TDI quattro manages up to 48.7mpg and up to 153g/km.

So how has Audi managed this very decent showing? Well, it has a lot to do with a revised engine control unit which shuts off the combustion engine when coasting at speeds between 34mph and 99mph. The engine management system decides in every situation whether coasting, freewheeling or recuperation (the recovery of kinetic energy), is most efficient. It does this using information from the navigation system and the onboard sensors. The energy recovered by the water-cooled belt alternator starter during coasting and braking flows into the 48-volt storage unit or directly to the electrical consumers. When the driver presses the accelerator pedal again after a coasting phase or a stop, the water-cooled belt alternator starter restarts the combustion engine. The system does this as required by the driver's wishes and the situation, from very smoothly to very quickly. Start-stop operation begins at 13mph. When stopped, the engine restarts as soon as the car in front starts to move, even if the brake is depressed.

Of course, the driver will have to do his or her part. Helping here is the clever 'Predictive efficiency assist' system that could potentially improve your fuel economy by as much as 10%. It works with the Navigation package and analyses any given route, once set, to decide how the journey could be undertaken more efficiently, taking into account things like the speed limits, traffic signs, bends and roundabouts you'll be encountering along the way.

Summary

Audi has already proved with the A5 Sportback that there's room in the market for a mid-sized executive model with a fifth door and an added dose of charisma. Whether the people buying it are actually conquest customers is another issue entirely of course, but when you're offering cars to suit every conceivable market niche, you can never be quite sure of that.

What's certain is that this second generation model is, in this improved form, more sophisticated and eminently more desirable. Which makes it even harder to ignore if you're target market for this kind of contender. One thing's certain: here's another very desirable Audi.

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► Hatchback Reviews: https://bit.ly/3mKNAen
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► Saloon Reviews: https://bit.ly/37QrbrD
► City Car Reviews: https://bit.ly/3jDzBVI
► Estate Car Reviews: https://bit.ly/3kDflog
► Sports Car and Coupe Reviews: https://bit.ly/2TwkzXb
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