2015 Audi S5 Sportback Quattro Review

It seems to be raining German performance cars recently and here is yet another one. The Audi S5 Sportback will soon make its debut in India replacing the Audi S4’s position as the entry-level performance car from the Ingolstadt manufacturer. Now although we did get a chance to spend the best part of three days with the Audi S5 Sportback, mostly sideways on ice and snow, but what better place to judge the agility and power of a car than that. So should you be considering one?

There is no denying the fact that the Audi S5 is a pretty car. In fact, it is one of the most balanced cars that we have seen in terms of design for a while now. There are places where it reminds us of the legendary Audi S2 from the early 90s with its swooping profile and low stance. On the front, the S5 combines the A5’s stylish front with the RS5’s aggressive one with its large black grille and large air intakes built into the bumper. The LED headlamps combined with the daytime running lights also look quite handsome.

The S5 Sportback also comes standard with 18-inch wheels, which gives a great stance to the car. That said, one cant really make out the potential of the S5 until you look a bit closer. The Audi S5 Sportback comes with the V6 T badges on the front fender, a subtle S5 badge on the front grille and of course the S5 badge on the bootlid. The bootlid also gets a prominent lip spoiler that makes the rear end look way more aggressive. The Audi S-spec quad exhaust with chrome exhaust tips too makes the rear end look planted and aggressive. That said, we would have liked to see a slightly more exterior design on the S5 Sportback, which would have helped it look a bit more attractive than it already is.

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The interior of the Audi S5 reflects what we have come to expect from present generation Audis. Although slightly bland and understated, the quality of the knobs and switches is second to none. Being the slightly sportier model, the Audi S5 sportback gets the large S-spec gear selector knob and a plethora of carbon fibre accent pieces across the dashboard and centre console. The Audi S5 also gets a new flat-bottomed steering wheel that exudes sportiness and a start-stop button on the centre console.

Although the Audi S5 Sportback is essentially a 4-door coupe, the amount of rear leg room is quite impressive even though the head room does suffer a tad. The front seats though are a whole different ballgame. The sports seats that the S5 Sportback comes with offers immense comfort bundled perfectly with a very high level of overall grip making spirited driving fun.

As expected out of a car of this level, the Audi S5 Sportback comes jammed pack with features both on the mechanical and interior front. The Audi MMI system is mated to a large screen that displays information such as the infotainment system and of course, satellite navigation. The Audi S5 also comes with a separate drive select button with adjustable parameters for the suspension, engine, gearbox, exhaust and the sport differential.

The Audi S5 Sportback will also probably come with a sunroof, a feature absent in the car we drove. The Audi S5 Sportback will also come with traction control and ESP, which will help to keep the power down.

Although we haven’t really put the Audi S5 Sportback through its paces the way we would have ideally liked to, one thing is for sure. The S5 is one of the most comfortable performance cars we have ever driven. In normal ‘comfort’ mode, the S5 feels more like a luxury saloon with almost no thumps or roughness passed over from the road. In ‘dynamic’ mode though the car does feel incredibly well planted and precise giving back the best feedback possible. As the Audi S5 Sportback is a 4-ddor coupe, the passengers sit quite low into the car which does affect visibility a little. The S5 is also a difficult car to look out the back off as the sloping roofline and smaller rear windscreen does hamper visibility. But, the S5 Sportback does make up that deficiency with the help of a rear camera.

The older S5 used to get a 4.2-litre V8 engine. The new generation Audi S5 Sportback, like with almost every other performance car in the world has downsized its engine size and turbocharged for better performance, fuel economy and of course emissions. The new 2015 Audi S5 Sportback comes with a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine with 338PS of peak power. The engine is capable enough to propel the S5 Sportback from 0-100kmph in only 4.9-seconds. The Audi S5’s drive select system also lets you adjust the performance of the engine and transmission combination making the S5 quite potent in Dynamic mode.

The Audi S5 Sportback also gets the 7-speed dual clutch gearbox with paddle shifters that allow instantaneous upshifts and downshifts to make the best of the V6 turbo engine. The S5 also comes with a setting that lets you adjust the exhaust note to a more aurally pleasing setting, which of course we completely approve of.

As we mentioned earlier, most of our time was spent driving on a frozen lake pushing the car into massive sideways powerslides around bends at the edge of grip. Of course, one does gauge the capabilities of a car while honing around in it and the S5 did not disappoint. The steering is pinpoint precise for what is essentially a electromechanical unit. The S5 Sportback we drove also had the sport differential as an additional extra and that does make a huge difference if you intend to drive the car to the limits it was intended for. Combined with the Quattro all-wheel-drive, the differential does a phenomenal job in making even the most ham-fisted driver look like a pro racecar driver. Braking too is taken care of by four large ventilated disc brakes and large Audi S-spec brake callipers.

The Audi S5 Sportback is a very sensible car for someone looking for a luxury performance car but also wants something extremely understated and comfortable. It is also more stylish that the Audi S4, which it will effectively replace here in India. The Audi S5 Sportback will also bring Audi back into the fray when it comes to the performance sedan segment especially since there are cars like the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG now available in India. The S5 Sportback will also eventually go up against cars like the BMW 4-Series GranCoupe in 435i spec if it ever makes it to India. All in all, this is certainly a car we are looking forward to driving in India soon.