| the hood, but on top it's an undeniably pretty car. We saw the S5, with
its V8 engine and manual transmission, earlier this season. But Kiwi customers
can also now put the regular A5 on their shopping lists.
Why
the wait? While the S5 and A5 have been available in Europe from the outset,
the local Audi people have been waiting for automatic transmissions to
be available in the lower-level models.
At $109,900, the 3.2 V6 is the least expensive model in the A5 line-up
It lives up to Audi's claim that it's a "touring coupe", being
big, refined and quick.
The 195kW/330Nm direct-injection petrol engine revs in an quiet manner
and quattro four-wheel-drive removes any doubt about the car's ability
to cope on slippery roads.
The A5 is not a sports coupe. It has Audi's Drive Select system, which
allows you to configure the engine, steering assistance, gearbox and adaptive
suspension in any one of three modes. And the A5 is based on a new Audi
platform that pushes the engine further back within the wheelbase for
better handling balance.
But it's still not a car to drive hard, at least not in the way you would
with a BMW 3-series coupe.
If looks and ease of use count for anything (they should in a coupe),
then the A5 could be the car for you. But the V6 petrol isn't the one
to have - not when the 3.0-litre TDI turbo diesel version is just $1000
more, quicker to 100km/h and has 500Nm of torque. It's the perfect engine
for a car of like A5.
Our A5 test car also sported something not usually experienced in an
Audi - a rattle in the driver's side door. Let's hope they're not taking
this Italian thing too seriously. |
