Here is our list of 5 (Five) Best and Worst Things About The Upcoming 2018 Audi A5 Coupe.
BEST
1) Slippery style: Super refined but sporty style, with aerodynamics honed down to a slippery 0.25 coefficient of drag by Ottawa-born aerodynamicist Dr. Moni Islam, who holds degrees from Concordia in Montreal and the University of Toronto.
2) Whisper quiet: Also helped by those sleek aerodynamics, as well as the platform it shares with the A4 and pricier Q7, the A5 is whisper quiet and hugely refined when cruising at highway speeds, and even extra-legal highway speeds.
3) Power healthy for “base” model: Major power boost from the redone turbocharged 252 hp four-cylinder engine, as on the A4 sedan, with a healthy 293 lb-ft of torque, standard paddle shifters and quattro all-wheel drive that combine to power it to 100km/h in a claimed but believable 5.8 seconds.
4) Kicking sound: a brief burst to what I thought must be nearing full blast of the optional 3D Bang & Olufsen 19-speaker, 755-watt system was barely up to half way. Even though I warned my co-driver of the audio test, I couldn’t in good conscience push it past three-quarters, even though the sound was still pinpoint sharp.
5) Virtual wow factor: Audi’s flashy virtual cockpit is now available here, which first debuted on the TT, which trades in analog gauges for a super high resolution screen that uniquely bleeds the navigation system across much of the space in front of the driver.
Worst
1) Too similar-looking for some: a quick poll of attendees at the launch had a few thinking it looked a bit too much like the outgoing version, especially with the similar-looking five-spoke wheels on some test models – with a hint of ’17 Ford Fusion in its headlights especially.
2) Still tiny back seat: even with 23 more millimetres (0.9 inch) of knee room in the back, the plus-two seats back there are still very tight, and made slightly tougher to access with the automatically extending and retracting seatbelt arms, as Mercedes-Benz has used for a while on its big two-doors.
3) Lack of engine choice: the A5 will arrive with one turbo 2.0-litre four, and that’s it; though the sportier S5 benefits from an all-new turbocharged V6 engine, A5 drivers in North America won’t be offered any of the other four engines available in Europe (three diesels, one other gas). A plug-in offering would be a great option here.
4) Parking pain: Though A5 drivers would (likely) get used to the oddly placed Park button located on the lower left of the shifter, the auto-engaging parking brake that doesn’t automatically un-engage when going into Drive had multiple drivers cursing the combo of the two, even by the end of our half-day preview drive.
5) ‘Diesel-gate’ collateral damage? Though the emissions control defeat device scandal is most closely associated with parent company Volkswagen, Audi may still have a trust issue with consumers not impressed with the brand heavily pushing ‘clean diesels’ that were found to be anything but, and removed from the market for 2016 by government regulators in both Canada and the U.S.