In a nutshell: AUDI Q5 Sportback
- Audi unveils new ‘coupe’ version of premium Q5 SUV.
- The ‘Sportback’ will include TDI, TFSI, plug-in hybrid TFSI e and SQ5 variants.
- Sport, S line, Vorsprung and Edition One specification options at UK launch.
- Digital cabin with touch-screen MMI, MMI Navigation and Audi Virtual Cockpit as standard.
- Prices still to be confirmed.
Audi has revealed a new coupe-style ‘Sportback’ version of its best-selling, mid-size Q5 SUV.
And according to the firm, this is all about creating ‘substance with even more style’.
On the one hand you’ve got properly family-friendly utility and a great level of technology.
Now you can add a silhouette akin to ‘purebred sports cars’ to the winning mix.
It’s also likely to do battle with the similarly-styled Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe - with the Mercedes priced from £45,255 and the Audi expected to cost something similar when it officially goes on sale early next year.
Andrew Doyle, Director of Audi UK, says: “Form often carries as much weight as function for Audi customers, many of whom have been drawn to the brand by our longstanding commitment to combining design that innovates and inspires with fundamental everyday versatility and usability. In new Sportback form the ever popular Q5 makes a far more expressive statement visually, but remains impressively fit for whatever life throws at it. Like the Q3 and e-tron Sportbacks it really is a best-of-both-worlds proposition.”
Changes to the exterior over the existing Q5 include a sweeping new shoulder line which tapers down to the rear, as well as a sloping rear window.
Cars specced to ‘S line’ levels and above also enjoy an even sportier rear bumper as well as new side air intakes.
At 4.69 metres in length, the Q5 Sportback is seven millimetres longer than its sister model. Its height and width are identical, but it’s more aerodynamic.
Inside you get Audi’s new ‘MIB 3’ infotainment system with a 10.1 inch display. This renders the old rotary controller ‘obsolete’, according to Audi, which might not please all owners.
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The Audi Virtual Cockpit plus, with its panoramic 12.3-inch display, is standard for all versions of the Q5 Sportback, and it’s fully connected to the outside world.
And despite the new shape, it’s still practical.
You get a 510 litre boot - larger than the one in the GLC Coupe - while Vorsprung versions offer a sliding rear bench seat with a 40:20:40 configuration which can boost boot space to 570 litres.
You’ve got three engines to choose from.
There’s a 2.0 litre four-cylinder TDI - the ‘40 TDI’, as well as a 2.0 litre TFSI - the ‘40 TFSI’ - each with 204 PS and which also feature mild-hybrid technology to improve fuel-economy.
With the more potent SQ5 Sportback, meanwhile, you’ll enjoy a 347PS twin-turbo V6 TDI.
The four-cylinder engines are combined with a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission, while the V6 TDI in the SQ5 Sportback works with an eight-speed tiptronic.
All versions are shored up by quattro all-wheel-drive, with some featuring an on demand system that can disengage the rear axle in everyday driving conditions for maximum efficiency, and reconnect it predictively within fractions of a second when required.
A plug-in hybrid version will also follow, Audi has confirmed.
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