Audi A5 Sportback

For Audi, no niche is too small. You want proof? How does an A5 Sportback sound? The car you see here will be in dealers by 2009. In addition to the existing Avant estate and Allroad crossover wagon range, the product planners from Ingolstadt are now probing where they can shoehorn in Sportback models - and the A5 is next to receive the sporty wagon treatment.

Originally, the A5 Sportback was a Shortback - a kind of Avant with a drastically reduced rear overhang. But it did not look right, and it deservedly got the chop. Instead, the designers under Wolfgang Egger created an absolutely stunning coupé-hatchback hybrid worthy of the Sportback designation and revealed in our latest artist's impression.

Audi A5 Sportback: a sleeker estate

The A5 Sportback will combine styling elements of the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER- wrapped up in a super-sleek roofline, frameless side windows and a big sloping tailgate. Integrated in the hatchback is a motorised extending air deflector, which adds a sporty touch and works wonders for the downforce at 100mph-plus. Perfect for autobahn storming or posing.

A well placed engineer from Ingolstadt told CAR Online: 'With the Avant and the Sportback, we can attack the 3-series Touring and the T-model C-class from two sides. For Audi, this should mean about 50 percent more combined volume, 25 percent higher conquest rates and a 15 percent increase in market share in the segment.'

The A5 isn't the only model to get the Sportback treatment that started on the A3. The next A3 in 2011 will again have a Sportback, there will be a Sportback version of the next A6 - which looks different enough to wear the A7 moniker - and there may yet be an A8 Sportback inspired by the Avantissimo show car

A5 in oh-nine

But first up is the A5 Sportback. Production starts in April 2009.

Unlike the A7, which is - like the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER - a four-door coupé with a conventional bootlid, the A5 Sportback combines Avant practicality with the aesthetics of an elegant saloon.

The new model shares the wheelbase and length of an - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, but it is as wide and low as the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Despite a variety of S-line packs, Audi has - somewhat surprisingly - backed off from the proposed S5 and RS5 versions of the Sportback. According to those in the know, that's because the Sportback will be priced aggressively to steal market share, rather than act as a low-volume halo product.

Audi A5 Sportback: the engine room

The familiar engine spectrum includes a more powerful 2.0-litre TFSI unit which delivers 211bhp and 258lb ft and an uprated 240bhp 3.0-litre V6 TDI which musters 368lb ft of torque. The modified dual-clutch S-tronic, which has seven instead of six forward ratios, will only be offered in conjunction with quattro all-wheel drive.

What´s so far missing from the A5 Sportback line-up are a hybrid version, a convincing answer to Efficient Dynamics and Fuel Efficiency concepts marketed by BMW and Mercedes, and the first iteration of the VW group's promising combined combustion system (CCS) engine. But it can only be a matter of time...


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