Audi A5 Sportback review

If you’ve ever wanted to match the comfort and practicality of an executive car with the swooping style of a coupé, the Audi A5 Sportback is well worth looking at.

You see, the A5 Sportback has an excellent sibling to call on for help, because it’s based on the Audi A4. That means it's available with a range of smooth, efficient petrol and diesel engines (although sadly no plug-in hybrids).

It also has a very smart interior that was updated with a new infotainment suite as part of a midlife refresh. Plus, with two more doors than the regular Audi A5 Coupé, this Sportback model promises to be practical enough for family use too.

Sounds excellent, right? Well, before you rush out and bag yourself a new A5 Sportback, there are a few coupé alternatives to consider first. The obvious ones are the BMW 4 Series and the Mercedes C-Class Coupé which are both two-door coupés of a similar size.

The larger Mercedes CLS (also a coupé) has a starting price similar to the upper end of the A5 Sportback range. There’s also a leftfield choice – the VW Arteon – to consider.

Keep reading through this review to find out how the Audi A5 Sportback compares with all those rivals, and also how we rate it for performance, interior quality, running costs, boot size and more.

And remember, when you next get a new car of any make and model, you can make sure you get it for the best price by searching our free What Car? New Car Deals pages. They make it quick and simple to find the best new coupé car deals.

All the Audi A5 Sportback’s engines are 2.0-litres with varying power outputs, but you wouldn’t know any of that looking at their mysterious labelling. Let’s start with the diesels and our pick of the range: the 35 TDI. Feeding 161bhp to the front wheels, it has plenty of low-down punch and makes tootling around town easy.

It’ll sprint from 0-62mph in 8.4sec. If you’d like extra pace, the 40 TDI has 201bhp and gets the Audi quattro four-wheel-drive system. The additional pace is noticeable when overtaking on a motorway or if you put your foot down on a winding country road, but we don’t think the hike in price is enough to justify it.

What about the petrols? The entry-level 148bhp 35 TFSI (0-62mph in 9.1sec) needs to be worked fairly hard to build speed in a hurry. That's why we prefer the 201bhp 40 TFSI, which is the best option if you don't fancy a diesel. It provides a considerable performance boost over the 35 TFSI without pushing up running costs too much (0-62mph takes 7.2sec – about the same as the BMW 4 Series in 420i form).

If you’d like something with a little more power, there’s the four-wheel drive 261bhp 45 TFSI. Somewhat disappointingly, it doesn’t feel much quicker from behind the wheel, despite an official 0-62mph time of 5.6sec. There are two even quicker variants, which we've reviewed separately: the Audi S5 and the Audi RS5.

All versions of the A5 Sportback come with a seven-speed automatic gearbox. It changes gears pretty smartly and kicks down on the button, but there can be a bit of jerkiness at parking speeds, and a brief but noticeable pause almost every time you pull off. For keen drivers, taking control yourself using paddles behind the steering wheel is a good bet.

In other respects, this is a very slick machine. It insulates you extremely effectively from the world outside, with limited wind noise at 70mph and, if you avoid the biggest wheel options, hardly any road roar. The 4 Series is a little more hushed inside, but the A5 out-classes the Mercedes C-Class Coupé and VW Arteon in this regard.

That calmness extends to the engines, too. Whether you choose petrol or diesel, few other four-cylinder motors are as quiet.

The ride quality is another strength if you opt for our recommended Sport trim. Why that trim? Firstly, because it comes with the smallest alloy wheels – 18in – making it easier across bumps than the biggest 20in rims fitted to the Vorsprung trim. Secondly, it has Comfort Dynamic suspension, which is softer than the Sport suspension fitted to most other trims.

That said, Sport suspension isn’t exactly harsh. You notice some impacts over potholes and ridges in the road, but once you’re up to motorway speeds, the ride is settled for the most part, and it doesn’t thump alarmingly as the pricier Mercedes CLS is known to. 

The steering is well-weighted and precise, there’s minimal body lean and you’ll find that there’s a good amount of grip on offer, especially on quattro four-wheel drive models. Even so, it never really involves you quite as much as the 4 Series, which is arguably the best car in the class for driving thrills.

You won’t have many problems making yourself comfy in the Audi A5 Sportback thanks to the plentiful seat and steering wheel adjustments, including four-way electrically operated lumbar adjustment that comes as standard. The top-end Vorsprung trim adds an electrically operated driver's seat, and all trims come with a comfortable, adjustable central armrest.

It's not perfect, though. There's a bulge in the footwell by your left leg and the pedals are offset to the right. The bulge is quite pronounced, but you'll find that the BMW 4 Series and the Mercedes C-Class Coupé are not much better in that respect. The driving position in the VW Arteon is more aligned.

The minimalist dashboard is simple and easy to use, with large buttons and knobs to control the temperature settings. All versions get the excellent Audi Virtual Cockpit system as standard. It replaces analogue dials with a configurable 12.3in digital display that’s supplemented by a head-up display on the Vorsprung trim.

The driver gets a great view out to the front and, despite the sloping roofline, the rear view isn't too bad. Every trim includes front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera as standard, upgraded to a 360-degree camera with the top Vorsprung trim. You can also opt for a front-facing camera, which is useful if your low driving position stops you from seeing where the front of the car ends.

Entry-level Sport trim gets LED headlights as standard, but above that you get impressive adaptive matrix LED headlights with laser technology. They're super bright and can be left on main beam without dazzling other road users, because they automatically shift their pattern.

The splendid MMI infotainment system comes with a 10.1in touchscreen. The graphics are sharp, the software is responsive and the menus are easy enough to flick through once you're used to them. We prefer the BMW iDrive system in the 4 Series though, because the physical rotary controller is less distracting to use while you're driving.

Standard kit includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, Amazon Alexa compatibility – meaning you can ask your car to do things by speaking to it naturally – built-in sat-nav, two USB sockets in the front plus two more in the rear, and an eight-speaker stereo. If you go for the Comfort and Sound Pack or  Vorsprung trim, you get a 755-watt B&O stereo with 19 speakers.

The interior is beautifully crafted. Harder plastics are few and far between, and nearly everything else has a plush soft-touch finish. Real metal trims matched with well-damped switches give it an upmarket ambience.

The Vorsprung trim replaces the aluminium with oak veneer and seat leather with softer Nappa that also covers the dashboard and centre console. Audi sets the standard for finish here, matching the 4 Series and knocking the C-Class Coupé into touch for robustness.

We doubt many six-footers will struggle for leg room in the front seats of the Audi A5 Sportback. They’re supportive and full of adjustability, with features including extendable thigh support and lumbar support, so finding your perfect driving position should be easy.

While the car sacrifices some headroom on the altar of coupé style compared with the Audi A4 saloon, we think you’d need to be a giant to notice. The reduced size is more apparent in the rear, but that’s an issue for most cars of this size in the coupé category.

That means that while leg room is fairly tight back there, it’s comparable with the BMW 4 Series. If you think that could be a problem, have a look at the VW Arteon – it's almost limo-like by comparison. Likewise, even passengers of average height will notice their hair brushing against the roof lining.

The boot is a good size, though, with enough room for seven carry-on suitcases, and the hatchback opening means loading larger items is a breeze (better than the A4 saloon, with its narrower aperture).

If you need even more room, the 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats drop to reveal a flat load bay. Again, the Arteon is more voluminous for luggage so it's worth considering if you need something roomier.

As a cash purchase, the Audi A5 Sportback is fairly closely priced to the equivalent BMW 4 Series and Mercedes C-Class Coupé. If you want to spend a little less, you’ll be able to pick up an equivalent VW Arteon for quite a bit less.

Oddly for an Audi the Sportback's resale values aren't that strong. It loses a similar percentage of its list price as the C-Class Coupé, while the 4 Series should hold on to more of its value after three years. Even the Arteon experiences slightly slower depreciation. 

At least the Sportback shouldn’t cost you much to run, regardless of which version you choose. In fact, it's one of the most fuel efficient cars of its kind, whether you choose a petrol or diesel. The 35 TDI, which is our pick, officially averages nearly 60mpg, and achieving something near to that in the real world is possible from our experience. 

Entry-level Sport models come with leather trim, heated front sports seats, keyless go, cruise control, 18in alloy wheels, a powered tailgate and three-zone climate control. With the LED headlights, all-round parking sensors and a rear-view camera, it's our pick.

The next step up, S Line, adds 19in wheels, privacy glass, part-leather and Alcantara seats and the sports suspension and adaptive matrix LED headlights. Opting for Black Edition gets you the same equipment but with 20in wheels and various styling tweaks.

Going for the top-of-the-range Vorsprung trim gives you even more equipment, including heated outer rear seats, a head-up display and park assist, which will parallel park the car for you. All those toys come with a hefty jump in price, though, so we can’t really recommend it.

The Audi A5 Coupé came in the middle of the coupés, convertibles and sports cars class in the 2022 What Car? Reliability Survey but was beaten by the 4 Series. As a brand, Audi came 21st out of 32 brands.

Safety systems are good, with six airbags and an effective automatic emergency braking (AEB) system as standard. It’s a shame you have to pay extra for blind-spot warning and lane-keeping assistance, but even so the A5 Sportback attained five stars out of five in its Euro NCAP test. That was in 2015, though, and since then the test has become harder to pass, so the 4 Series' five stars in 2019 is more impressive and should make it the safer car.

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