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By EWAN
KENNEDY
24 August 2009
Yet
another entrant in the convertible field has just reached the
Australian market. This one is from Audi and is the cabriolet
variant of the popular A5 coupe that had its world launch at the
Melbourne Motor Show in March 2007.
Interestingly, in a world where just about everyone is designing
folding hardtops for their convertibles, Audi has chosen to stick
with a soft-top for the A5 cabriolet. There are several reasons
for staying with the old-style folding fabric roof. Firstly, they
weigh less than solid roofs. Obviously the weight of the roof is
carried high in the car so any mass reduction there lowers the
centre of gravity when the top is up, and pulls weight off the
tail of the car when it's lowered.
A fabric roof can be raised and lowered more quickly than a metal
one. However, the latter are pretty quick these days, so the
different is all-but academic. More to the point, it takes up less
boot space when it's down, and Audi claims A5's boot is the
largest in the class.
Most importantly to our way of thinking, having a folding fabric
roof tells the world you are driving a convertible, even when the
top is in place. And let's face it most convertible tops are
closed much more often than they are open. We don’t know of any
shy and retiring types who have bought a convertible, so this
visibility is probably a big feature in the purchasing decision.
Audi Australia tells us that the potential for vandalism to a
soft-top isn't a concern to customers, but we are not sure if we
agree.
The Audi A5's roof can be raised and lowered at speeds up to 50
km/h. This is something we tried on several occasions – just for
the fun of it – while crawling along in a huge traffic jam north
of Brisbane for over an hour. It's also useful for the
aforementioned non-shy types to show off their Audi whilst driving
away from their favourite cafe or golf club.
The new Audi A5 cabriolet is a great looking vehicle with a low
sleek body that looks brilliant on the road. The tail treatment is
less bulky than most others in this class and the designers have
opted for long shoulders that run almost the full length of the
cabriolet to emphasise this fact. The successful Audi single-frame
radiator grille theme is complemented by stylish daytime running
lights that are on all the time the ignition is in operation.
Power comes from your choice between two petrol engines and a
turbo-diesel. One petrol engine is a turbocharged 2.0-litre
four-cylinder, the other a naturally aspirated 3.2-litre V6.
There's also a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel. Power outputs are 155,
195 and 176 kilowatts respectively.
As the turbo-diesel has a measured fuel consumption of just 6.8
litres per hundred kilometres, it benefits from a reduction in
Australian Luxury Car Tax (LCT) so, at $112,500 is priced under
the V6 petrol ($116,500). The four-cylinder A5 cabriolet carries a
price tag of $94,900. Dealer delivery and government charges have
to be added to these figures.
We test drove all three engines and the V6 petrol came away as our
favourite. It's silky smooth, responds quickly to throttle
pressures and is generally delightful to sit behind. The
turbo-diesel is smooth, but suffers from the inevitable throttle
lag (though it's better than many diesels) and is noisier than the
petrol. The latter is only really noticed when you have the top
open.
Measurements show the four-cylinder is not only the quickest in
its class, but also the most economical. Its official fuel number
is 7.8 litres per hundred kilometres, so it's well worth
considering.
All engines are connected to all four wheels through a seven-speed
dual-clutch S tronic transmission, with manual overrides. This
offers fast changes and when combined with the good torque output
the cars perform near their peak for most of the time.
An interesting feature is the use of a special heat-resistant
coating on the Milano leather seats. This is claimed to reduce the
temperature by as much as 20 degrees if the car is parked with the
roof down on a hot day. We didn’t get a chance to test this
during the press launch of the vehicle, but will report on it when
we carry out a week’s road test in the next couple of months.
All cars get alloy wheels, automatic xenon headlights, automatic
wipers, foglights front and rear, keyless entry, and cruise
control (adaptive cruise is a $2900 option). Additionally the V6
models have satellite navigation, an upmarket audio system with
MP3 capability, additional soundproofing in the folding roof to
reduce interior noise levels and sonar parking assistance.
We mentioned at the start of this article that the Audi A5 made
it's world debut at the 2007 Melbourne Show. In actual fact, the
sporting variant, the Audi S5, was the car unveiled there. The S5
versions of the cabriolet are on their way to Australia and are
scheduled for a November 2009 introduction. The A5s are on sale
now.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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