The previous decade or so has been a interval of giant development for Audi. Clearly central to this success has been Ingolstadt’s skill to prove SUVs in all sizes and lessons with a variety of drivetrains and at a stage of high quality consummate with its premium model positioning.
Amongst all of it, one mannequin specifically has stood out: the Q5. Launched in 2008, Audi’s second devoted SUV has commonly been amongst its three best-selling fashions. Even within the tough gross sales circumstances encountered final 12 months, it nonetheless managed to drag in additional than 130,000 gross sales worldwide.
Now, following the launch of the facelifted second-generation mannequin, a rakishly styled variant of the mid-sized SUV has arrived within the type of the brand new Q5 Sportback. Produced at Audi’s latest manufacturing plant, in Mexico, it has been conceived to tackle the likes of the BMW X4, Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupé and Vary Rover Velar in a market area of interest that continues to develop within the UK as an increasing number of consumers overlook conventional coupés in favour of style-led SUVs that supply extra commanding seating and higher on a regular basis practicality.
Audi isn’t any stranger right here, after all, with the Q3 Sportback, E-tron Sportback and Q8 all adhering to the identical method. Taking the lead from these three current SUVs, the Q5 Sportback borrows the entrance finish styling of its long-established sibling and mates it with a brand new liftback fashion rear finish that options a big, clamshell-style tailgate, giving it a distinctly extra rakish look.
There are some distinctive design touches, thoughts you, together with a brand new entrance grille with a honeycomb-style design and restyled tail-lights with differing OLED graphics relying on the tools line consumers select. Nonetheless, there’s no denying the general visible hyperlinks between it and the traditional Q5.
The packaging of the liftback provides a scant 7mm to the general size of the Q5, taking the Q5 Sportback as much as 4690mm. Regardless of its extra sporting strains, its width stays the identical, at 1893mm, however its top is decreased by as a lot as 62mm, at 1600mm.
Predictably, the similarities lengthen to the inside: the Q5 Sportback incorporates the identical dashboard, switchgear, trim components and seats because the facelifted Q5. It’s a positive driving setting, with nice readability to the devices, glorious ergonomics and the type of high quality supplies befitting the brand new mannequin’s premium positioning. It has misplaced out on house, although. The sloping nature of the roof reduces rear head room, whereas the angled tailgate robs 10 litres of boot house beneath the cargo cowl, lowering it to 510 litres when the adjustable split-folding rear seatbacks are set of their common place. After they’re folded down, there’s 1480 litres of bags room.
The Q5 Sportback is produced with a variety of petrol and diesel engine choices in each four-cylinder and V6 guise, all shared with the Q5, though not all will likely be obtainable in the beginning of UK deliveries in June.
Confirmed to this point is simply a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine with 201bhp, badged 40 TDI – the mannequin that’s anticipated to account of nearly all of British gross sales. Consistent with developments dropped at different latest new Audi fashions, it contains a new twin-dosing exhaust with two catalytic converters and an Adblue injection system which might be collectively claimed to dramatically cut back NOx emissions, making the automobile compliant with the EU6d emission laws that got here into pressure in the beginning of this 12 months.
