1 Mar 2017
THE second-gen A5 Coupe hit the market in early 2017, followed by the Sportback five-door hatch from May of that year, bringing fewer variants and no manual transmission option, but with upgrades to equipment, performance, economy, space, practicality, safety, and value.
Almost nothing was shared with the B8 A5/S5 versions except the samey styling, though every panel was different inside and out. A slightly longer wheelbase and track also liberated more cabin space, especially out back.
Key changes include more aluminium for a 60kg weight cut, a stronger body, better panel gaps, a Virtual Cockpit multi-configurable digitised instrument panel, a larger boot, new five-link suspension front and back, and an electromechanical power steering system.
Engines in the A5 were mainly of the 2.0-litre four-cylinder/seven-speed ‘S tronic’ dual-clutch powertrain variety in petrol or diesel formats, producing between 140kW and 185kW of power, while the S5 used a fresh 260kW 3.0-litre V6 turbo petrol and eight-speed ‘Tiptronic’ torque-converter auto combo for a 4.7s 0-100km/h streak.
As before, only the base cars were front-drive, with quattro all-wheel drive underpinning the mid and high series models.
Finally, driver-assist tech also took a sizeable leap forward in the B9. Convertible models known as the Cabriolet arrived in the second half of 2017.
