Audi A5 Avant
The latest iteration of Audi’s BMW 3 Series challenger gets a new name and more space for occupants inside On sale December Price from £43,850
Lawrence Cheung lawrence.cheung@haymarket.com
WHEN ERIC CANTONA decided to retire from football at the age of 30, many felt that his career was coming to a premature end. It seems like the Audi A4 executive car has hung up its boots early, too – 30 years after it first went on sale – but it’s not actually going anywhere.
You see, Audi is undergoing a big renaming exercise, under which its new generation of combustion-engined cars will be badged using odd numbers, leaving those running on pure electric power assigned with an even number. A new fully electric A4 will, then, eventually arrive, but the A4 saloon we’ve become familiar with has effectively been replaced by the A5 Sportback, and the estate version of the A4 is now the A5 Avant. Are you still with us?
At least the confusing double-digit badging that denoted the engine hierarchy has been dropped. At launch, the entry-level engine is the TFSI 150 – a 2.0-litre petrol producing 148bhp for a 0-62mph time of 9.8sec. There’s also a 201bhp TFSI 204 version that does the same in 7.8sec (about the same as aBMW 320i Touring). A diesel TDI 204 is available with the same power output, and it dishes out plenty of low-end grunt for easy motorway overtaking; its 7.7sec 0-62mph time is similar to that of a Mercedes-Benz C220d Estate. This engine is also available with Audi’s quattro four-wheel drive system, which improves traction in all weathers and cuts the 0-62mph time to 6.9sec.