Photo: Vossen Wheels
The 2018 Audi S5 Sportback came out last summer and largely flew under the radar. It's not amazing in any way, but still, an excellent four-door coupe that you'd want to own.
What's a Sportback? Well, usually it's an Audi that has all the practicality of a four-door sedan merged with the styling of a coupe.
The funny thing is that you can also call it a hot hatch because it's hot and it's got a hatchback. Yes, unlike the S4, the cargo area opens right up so you can carry a bike more easily.
After Audi introduced the A7 Sportback round about 2010, it realized that the four-door coupe with a hatch was hugely successful, so it started offering a smaller version based on the A5. But the 2018 model is the first one in America.
You can have the A5 Sportback with a 2-liter turbo for $42,600 or the S5 Sportback from $54,400. Under the hood is a single-turbo 3.0-liter V6 sending 354 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque to a permanent all-wheel drive system. That's enough to accelerate to 62 mph in as little as 4.7 seconds. But unlike the A5, you also get an 8-speed automatic because the normal double-clutch can't handle the torque.
The S5 also has a different body kit with bigger air intakes, side skirts, a diffuser and the obligatory quad exhaust system. But this one has also been gifted by TAG Motorsport with additional carbon fiber mirror caps and a small trunk spoiler.
Then comes the work of Vossen Wheels, the famous Miami company. It shod the S5 with some of its new M-X2 forged alloys. These multi-spoke alloys were recently installed on a couple of AMG models too, so they're pretty versatile. For the S5, the new wheels measure 20x10.5 inches and have been painted Midnight Smoke for contrast with the white body. It's pretty clear that the suspension has also been lowered.
The funny thing is that you can also call it a hot hatch because it's hot and it's got a hatchback. Yes, unlike the S4, the cargo area opens right up so you can carry a bike more easily.
After Audi introduced the A7 Sportback round about 2010, it realized that the four-door coupe with a hatch was hugely successful, so it started offering a smaller version based on the A5. But the 2018 model is the first one in America.
You can have the A5 Sportback with a 2-liter turbo for $42,600 or the S5 Sportback from $54,400. Under the hood is a single-turbo 3.0-liter V6 sending 354 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque to a permanent all-wheel drive system. That's enough to accelerate to 62 mph in as little as 4.7 seconds. But unlike the A5, you also get an 8-speed automatic because the normal double-clutch can't handle the torque.
The S5 also has a different body kit with bigger air intakes, side skirts, a diffuser and the obligatory quad exhaust system. But this one has also been gifted by TAG Motorsport with additional carbon fiber mirror caps and a small trunk spoiler.
Then comes the work of Vossen Wheels, the famous Miami company. It shod the S5 with some of its new M-X2 forged alloys. These multi-spoke alloys were recently installed on a couple of AMG models too, so they're pretty versatile. For the S5, the new wheels measure 20x10.5 inches and have been painted Midnight Smoke for contrast with the white body. It's pretty clear that the suspension has also been lowered.
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