The 2018 Audi A5 and S5 Sportback were not new reveals at the LA Auto Show. Audi revealed the new Sportback at the Paris Motor Show, but we were still left on the edge of our seats waiting for it to be confirmed for the US market. Today we finally know that the Sportback will indeed make it to the US market in spring 2017. The Sportback was on our list of cars that we desperately want in the US, so now that list just became a little shorter. Pricing has not been announced, but we expect it to slot between the Coupe and Cabriolet.
Like these models, the A5 Sportback will come with a new version of Audi's 2.0-liter engine, now with 252 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch helping to get the car to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. The S5 comes with a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 with 354 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. In the reverse of the previous generation, the S5 now comes with an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic which gets it to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. We would honestly be happy with either engine, although we still wish that a manual was available anywhere in the A4/A5 line. Still, we have to be happy that Audi finally listened to our pleas for the Sportback.
We already like the idea of the four-door coupe, but the idea is made so much better when the car is also a hatchback. Audi did this with the A7, which had all of the practicality of a hatchback, but looks that American consumers actually wanted. The A5 and S5 Sportback have double the cargo space of their coupe counterparts, and that is what makes them so great. You get almost all of the great looks of the standard Coupe, and more cargo room than even the A4. More manufacturers need to find a way to build great looking cars that are technically hatchback in disguise. The BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, which is similar to the Sportback, now has some competition.
