Audi S5

Step into the cabin of the Audi S5 Sportback, and you will be left impressed with the tweaks Audi has made for the cabin. The layout is the same as that of the A5 Sportback, while there are changes to the upholstery and trims to give it a sportier feel while retaining the basic essence of luxury in the cabin.

The Audi S5 Sportback comes with black cloth headlining, front door sill trims with aluminium inlays and illuminated with S logo, inlays in matt brushed aluminium, Nappa leather upholstery, and stainless steel pedals and footrest.

The car is also high on equipment, with it getting a full TFT Virtual Cockpit Plus instrument console, 10.1-inch pop-up touchscreen infotainment system, multi-coloured ambient lighting, three-zone automatic climate control, powered and pneumatically adjustable front S sport seats with massage and memory function. The cabin feels practical with a 40:20:40 split pattern for the rear seats, which are decently spacious. However, the sloping coupe roofline eats up a bit of headroom at the back.

As expected, the Audi S5 Sportback shares its basic design with the A5 Sportback, which itself is based on the two-door A5 Coupe. To make it look distinguished from the A5 Sportback, Audi has garnished the S5 Sportback with a range of sporty-looking bits, which make it look more appealing than the former.

At the front, the Audi S5 Sportback has got the same A5 lineup look with curved bonnet lines ending up in a wide-looking front fascia. The large hexagonal grille in the centre comes with a hexagonal mesh with a chrome-studded pattern, while the headlamps on the sides look angular and come with a Matrix LED arrangement with a unique looking pattern for the daytime running LEDs. One also has the option to go for a Laser light configuration for the headlamps. The Audi S5 Sportback gets S model bumpers with aggressive-looking air intakes with satin chrome surrounds, which also house the fog lamps within them.

The side profile of the Audi S5 Sportback is completely the same as that of the A5 Sportback, with a curved character line flowing across the length of the four-door coupe. However, what adds a special feel to the car here are ‘S Line’ badges, sportier alloy wheels with red calipers and aluminium finish for the door-mounted rearview mirrors and window surrounds.

At the back, the Audi S5 Sportback looks identical to the A5 Sportback, though with a couple of differentiators like a quad exhaust pipe setup with two outlets on either side and an aluminium finish for the rear diffuser. The curved design for the upper lip of the boot lid and LED tail lamps with tapered inner edges are shared with the A5 Sportback.

The Audi S5 Sportback is armed with a Quattro all-wheel-drive setup with self-locking differential and S Sport setup and damper control for the multi-link suspension at both the front and rear. This stiffens the ride quality of the S5 Sportback a bit but gives it an excellent athleticism to the car.

Powering the Audi S5 Sportback is a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine, which is positioned as a more powerful powertrain over the 2.0-litre mill of the A5 Sportback. Coupled with a more advanced 8-speed Tiptronic gearbox, the engine puts up 354 bhp of power and 500 Nm of torque. The car is capable of hitting a top speed of 250 kmph and a 0-100 kmph sprint in 4.8 seconds.

The Audi S5 Sportback has got a plethora of safety features onboard, including front, side, and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD, front and rear parking sensors, park assist with 360-degree cameras, active lane assist, Audi drive select with efficiency mode, cruise control, hold assist and tyre pressure monitoring system.

The Audi S5 Sportback has got the right amount of visual drama and boost in performance over the A5 Sportback, which truly justifies its premium over the latter.