Audi has lifted the veil on the second-generation A5 coupé (pictured in silver) at a media presentation held at its Ingolstadt headquarters in Germany.
On sale in the UK in November, the svelte new two-door holds few surprises. It flaunts a predictably evolutionary appearance that uses many of the stylistic elements established on its nine-year-old predecessor, albeit in a reinterpreted form that gives it a lower and more athletic look along with added precision and accuracy to its surfaces and shutlines.
Read about this year's Paris motor show here
Key exterior design details include a wider and lower-mounted single-frame grille, newly shaped headlights with complex LED daytime running light graphics and dynamic blinker function, a longer bonnet and larger wheelhouses with pronounced bulges similar to those that graced the manufacturer’s Ur-Quattro.
2017 Audi A5 Sportback and S5 Sportback shown at Paris motor show
Farther back, there is a more angular glasshouse graphic, a flatter roof, more prominent shoulders with a deep swage line running the length of the flanks, pillar doors with greater structure within their lower section and sharp new tail-lights featuring a new take on Audi’s traditional LED graphics.
Audi says it did not want to stray too far from the formula of the original A5, which sold a total of 330,000 units over its lifespan, but rather wanted to make the new model "more elegant and sharper looking".
Frank Lamberty, design boss for the ‘B9 family’ says that the philosophy when designing the second-generation A5 was to: "Make it better. Sharpen it, make it more sporty and more elegant. We had a strong message with the original A5, which we wanted to keep."
Read our Audi A5 3.0 TDI quattro 286 S line review here
Beyond its familiar appearance, the BMW 4 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-class Coupé rival adopts a brand new version of Audi’s MLB platform, providing it with wider tracks, a longer wheelbase and a similar increase in size to that of its recently introduced four-door sibling, the A4.
Up to 60kg lighter than predecessor
Audi is yet to provide details of the exterior dimensions. However, Ingolstadt officials revealed that additional high-strength steel and aluminium in the body has helped to trim kerb weight by as much as 60kg over the old model. Advancements in aerodynamics have also netted an impressive drag co-efficient of 0.25.
The interior adopts a similar look that that of the latest A4, with a layered dashboard helping to visually widen the cabin and high-quality materials providing a similarly premium impression as that of the old A5.
Join the debate
winniethewoo
Lol.
jer
Lol
Cheltenhamshire
Dodgy swage line
Osteopathica
Way too fussy
spanco
Its almost as boring as the
androo
Wow
bol
Jesus, they've pushed the boat out this time.
Asaka
Shame
Shame - I really liked the first one; the radiator on the new one looks like it is about to burst out through the front of the car, and the lines on the bonnet only accentuate this look. And all the creases and lines will age the car very quickly.
And the interior is ruined by the horrible stuck on tablet on the dash. If the designers are so keen to keep a smooth flow to the dashbaord top, why do they then blight it with this tacked-on afterthought. Either motorise it out of the dash as they do in the A6 or tuck it into the dash as BMW do; Anything but this carbuncle. It looks horrible in the Mercs, but I guess Audi didn't listen.
nettingham
Future-Proofing
It's a bit counter-intuitive, but I think this is about protecting the model with regard to future technology improvements. Screen resolution, size, thickness etc all change so fast at the moment.
By having the screen set out like this, they can start manufacturing and fitting a new and improved display as and when it becomes available. If your nav screen sits in a specific "window" within the dashboard you couldn't change it without significant re-design and re-tooling at the factory.
robhardyuk
Lol...
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