Bad:

Price and equipment

In front of the windscreen, the A5 Sportback shares the exterior style of its coupe and cabrio brethren. But it adds two rear doors and an extension to its wheelbase that makes it a tad longer than the A4 sedan.

Unlike the A4, however, the luggage area is accessed by a liftgate rather than a regular boot lid and there are four seats, rather than five. Like other four-door coupes, such as the Volkswagen Passat CC and the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the roof arcs sleekly, sacrificing some interior spaciousness.

There are two Sportback models, the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol TFSI and the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel TDI tested here. Both employ Audi’s dual-clutch S-tronic gearbox and permanent quattro all-wheel-drive system.

Pricing starts at $78,400 (plus on-road and dealer costs) for the 2.0 and climbs to $89,100 for the 3.0. Standard TDI equipment includes park assist front and rear, 18-inch alloys, keyless entry and start, three-zone climate control, Bluetooth, powered front seats and leather and wood trim. However, the 10-speaker audio has only a single CD player and the spare tyre is a space saver.

Under the bonnet

This is a slick, efficient engine with all the expected technical features. Audi says it develops 176kW and 500Nm, swallows just 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres (which means it qualifies for the luxury car tax exemption) and does 0-100km/h in 6.1 seconds.

Sounds good … except for the hint of diesel engine rattle when starting up. But once rolling, you only know it’s a diesel because of the tremendous low- to mid-range punch and truncated revving ability.

You hardly miss the latter, given the TDI combines with the S-tronic transmission to deliver fluid, strong progress.

Fuel economy on-test averaged an excellent 7.5L/100km.

How it drives

The A5 coupe and cabrio have looked the goods, while not quite delivering the drive experience. But the Sportback rides, handles and steers with the best balance of any A5. The quattro system was a particular asset in the heavy rain encountered during the test, providing confident grip.

The hatch body means there’s more tyre noise evident in the cabin than the coupe and at least as much as the cabrio.

Comfort and practicality

Up front, it’s normal, mid-spec Audi: logical layout, high-quality instrumentation, comfortable seating (optional $850 sports seats for the test car) and the intricacies of the MMI controller. It may reduce buttons but it’s still a struggle.

All the new stuff is behind the door pillar. The two rear-seat passengers have to compromise a little on headroom compared with an A4 because entry and exit is handicapped by both the shape of the roof and the small frameless doors. Vision is limited – again a form-over-function issue.

The boot is accessed by an easily managed tailgate. The load space is wide – but not deep – 480 litres expanding to 980 litres with the rear seats folded.

Safety

A high level of safety equipment includes front, side (front and rear) and curtain airbags, stability and traction control and xenon headlights.

While no A5 has been independently crash tested by NCAP, the structurally similar A4 nets the maximum five stars.

Overall verdict:

Four Star

Compromised. That’s the A5 Sportback – but in a nice way. It’s a decent compromise between the Teutonic functionality of the A4 and the sensual form of the A5 coupe and cabrio. And in this powerhouse 3.0 TDI version, it lacks nothing as a drive.

This a well-executed vehicle, the most convincing yet to wear the A5 badge (even if it is really an A4).

Nuts & Bolts