Audi A5 Sportback Review

Audi is filling every niche and come April 2009 we’ll see the new A5 Sportback. This coupe-cum-hatchback will be stunning, sitting on the A4 Avant’s wheelbase but as low and as wide as an A5 coupe. Expect a super-sleek roofline, frameless side windows and a big sloping tailgate. Plus active-aero that will also appear on the new RS5 with an automatically extending tailgate air deflector.

‘With the Avant and the Sportback, we can attack the 3-series Touring and the C-class estate from two sides,’ says a well-placed engineer from Ingolstadt. ‘For Audi, this should mean about 50 percent more combined volume, 25 percent higher conquest rates and a 15 percent increase in market share in the segment.’ In other words, another variant spun off an exisiting platform.
So just what is the A5 Sportback?

Can I expect a hot version?
The product planners say no, because the Sportback will be priced to steal market share, rather than act as an S or RS halo car. But expect a familiar Audi engine line-up, including the latest 2.0-litre TFSI unit which delivers 211bhp and 258lb ft, and the 240bhp 3.0-litre V6 TDI which musters 369lb ft of torque.













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A5 Sportback reviews: suspension drama for Audi

The Audi A5 Sportback has “flawed suspension”, “unpolished underpinnings” and is “a firm stride in the wrong direction” according to three different reviews from three different publications. This is quite a surprise, bordering on the shocking, for what was expected to be a high quality, classy and stylish offering from Audi. The problem for the A5 Sportback seems to lie mostly in the suspension, and a little in the steering. Below we give you extracts from the reviews that highlight the problems encountered, but to give a little summary: apparently the steering is inaccurate, torque steer can occur with quick acceleration and the weight of the car suddenly kicks in halfway around a corner.

The biggest issue for the reviewers, though, is the suspension. Apparently extremely stiff, the suspension gives you the opportunity to feel every pot-hole, every unsealed surface and every bump in every road.

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BMW X1 scooped

You've seen the concept car... now feast your eyes on the best spy shots yet of the production ready machine!

Described as an SAV, BMW's new X1 hits showrooms in Autumn, and is actually based on the same chassis that underpins the BMW 3-Series. Despite being the smallest 4x4 in BMW’s stable, the five-seat model isn’t much smaller than the X3 – and is 108mm shorter than the X3.

Like that model, all X1s will come with BMW's xDrive four-wheel drive system, and petrol power will start with a 170bhp 2.0-litre unit called the xDrive20i. Flagship cars top out with a six-cylinder xDrive30i developing 272bhp.

The diminutive 4x4 crossover will also get diesel power, most likely starting with the 2.0-litre, 143bhp engine found in the 118d and including BMW’s planet-saving efficient dynamics programme. xDrive20d and xDrive 23d variants will also appear.

Prices will start at around £20,000 for the 2.0-litre version, rising up to £30,000 for a range-topping xDrive30i. A hot X1 tii is rumoured to be in the pipeline, too.



















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