Audi S5 Sportback

WE SAY: WITH DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS LOOKS AND IMMENSE FIREPOWER IN TOW, THIS CAN’T GO WRONG. OR, CAN IT?

- Girish Karkera

The guy who designed the first A5 now designs shoes… for ladies. But that is taking nothing away from what Walter de Silva did with the first-gen car. It was a return for Audi in the coupe-sedan category after almost a decade and didn’t do too bad on the looks and sales front. Especially after the facelift. Which was when India also got the S5 version of the car. Well, a conventional sedan still found more takers here and a sportback niche with a coupe-like rear was possibly asking for too much in a conservative market.

Well, things have changed. Audi itself has gotten bolder with bringing niche models in – the A3 Cabriolet being one such case. So, this time with the new-gen car, it not only has the S5 for sale in India but also the regular A5 Sportback (see box) and the A5 Cabriolet (in a future issue) versions.

The A5 is based on the same platform as the A4, which also is the same that we have seen in most big Audis that have been launched in the recent past, but with alterations, of course. Compared to an A4, the A5 is marginally longer but narrower and sits lower. Especially so in the S5 with its newly-developed sports suspension. The wheelbase is longer so you get a little more knee- and legroom but this is difficult to notice thanks to the sloping roof which makes the cabin feel more cramped that it actually is. Of course, on the outside, the sloping rear roof is appreciated more thanks to what it does for the profile.