Audi A5 review

The A5 drives with the maturity and predictability you would expect from this bread and butter car: Audi knows what it’s doing and was never going to mess this up too readily. Everything does what it’s supposed to – the diesel is a frugal cruiser, the petrol a flexible all-rounder (especially in its more powerful state of tune) and there’s the V6 petrol in the S5 if you want something spicier (but cajun spice rather than ground chilli powder).

Likewise the suspension has been tuned for a smooth ride, with more nibbly feedback coming through to the cabin the higher up the trim levels you go (big wheels and that). The damped sports suspension of our UK test car (lowered by 20mm) struggled with the constant assault of bumps and ruts, but gamely took the edge off throughout. Cruising speed is what the A5 prefers, wafting over undulations as the motorway miles tick serenely by.

The A5's grown up manners stem from that damping, which stops it from lolloping from side to side through turns. But it doesn't matter if it's a tight hairpin or a fast,  sweeping corner; the platform doesn't supply any sense of eagerness to egg you on. It's streets behind a 3 Series and Giulia in that respect.

Ah. No electric version?

Well, there's a plug-in hybrid coming soon that will pair the 2.0-litre TFSI petrol with an e-motor and offer electric range of around 60 miles. That sound you can hear is company car types whooping and cheering. And they have every right to be, because few cars are more suited to a regular schlep or 400 miles to Scotland and back.

The electric version of this car will look similar, but it'll be based on different underpinnings and (as discussed) badged as an A4. Because this is Audi's vision of simplicity now.

What are the engines like?

The 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engine on the A5 is an all-new unit from Audi, with two states of tune (148bhp and 201bhp). It gets on with its work with discretion, but that comes at the cost of having much discernible personality. You'll forgive it.

It benefits from fancy new turbo technology that Audi claims has benefits for fuel economy and emissions, and offers you plenty of overtaking shove in its more powerful form. Official fuel economy breaches 40mpg in both petrols, and on paper there's no penalty for choosing the boxier Avant.

Audi didn’t fit its fancy new ‘MHEV Plus’ tech to the petrol because it wanted to offer a cheap entry point for fleet buyers, but the diesel gets it. It has 48V electric tech with beefed up recuperation and a small lithium ion battery that allows extended start stop, very brief periods of electric running and what Audi calls ‘sailing’ along country roads. Sounds more premium than coasting.

That tech saves 10g/km CO2 on the diesel (it’s 149g/km), which is less smooth and refined than we’ve come to know in the past. But it'll do the business for motorway mile munchers. Audi's WLTP promise is 56.5mpg: we saw mid-forties on a stop-start B-road run, so we'd expect you to do better.