Practical experience Audi A5 Sportback: is the ‘liftback’ also nice and practical?

The first generation Audi A5 started life as a coupe, followed two years later by a convertible and a more practical ‘five-door coupe’. That apparently left people wanting more, because the Sportback followed suit considerably faster with the second generation. The ‘Sportback’ can also be read as ‘Liftback’, because the car is equipped with a large tailgate hinged in the roof. That should make it not only elegant, but also quite practical.

Ease of use and seating comfort Audi A5

This is also evident in practice, as the owner of a 2019 A5 40 TFSI Sport reports. “The car is wonderfully spacious, and more spacious than the Volvo V60 Hybrid. It had a battery placard in the trunk, and the Audi is much more spacious despite the sloping roofline. A stroller, four sports bags, some loose items and a suitcase fit well in it!” The space on the back seat appears to be somewhat more limited. “A bit cramped in the back with a Maxi-Cosi base + high chair. This also really takes up a lot of space. When I ride as a co-driver, with the baby + base behind me, I (1.86 meters tall) sit with my legs against the glove compartment.” The driver of an A5 35 TFSI Sport is also pleased with the trunk. “I think the luggage compartment is well organized, I didn’t expect that. I think it will be a different story with hard suitcases, but with travel bags it all works fine.”

The chairs receive nothing but praise, regardless of the chosen ones. “The seating position is low and sporty,” writes the driver of a 2017 Sportback 2.0 TDI. “However, the sports seats fit like a glove, and the extendable seat is a godsend for someone like me (1.95 meters). There is also quite a bit of room for legs behind me. Despite the sloping roofline, someone of 1.85 meters can sit comfortably in the back.” There are more enthusiastic reactions about these seats. “The sports seats are comfortable and offer ideal support for the driver and co-driver, even for longer distances,” says a 35 TFSI driver. The owner of a similar car writes: “The sports seats are very comfortable. Usually on such a long ride you will experience some back pain at some point. Not at all now. A real plus. I didn’t expect that.” But the driver of an A5 Sportback Business Edition is also very pleased with the furniture. “The standard seats are really comfortable,” he says.

Infotainment and controls

Audi supplies the A5 Sportback with its own MMI system. The first years with the well-known rotary/push button, from the facelift at the end of 2019 with the new touch screen. About the ‘old’: “The operation of the multimedia via the MMI Plus controller with handwriting recognition for entering addresses works perfectly,” says the driver of a 2018 A5 Sportback. For another driver it was even a reason to opt for choose this car. “It takes some time to set everything up to your liking, but the combination of Google Maps, Streetview, voice control and the My Audi app is really perfect. You can simply send all the locations you want to to the car via Google Maps on your PC, and you can then immediately navigate to that destination in your MMI. The voice control also works well and is very easy to enter addresses. There is also the option to ‘write’ an address on the central controller, but this is very slow compared to the other input options.”

Audi A5 with still the MMI button.

The owner of a post-facelift A5 40 TFSI Pro Line is satisfied with the new touchscreen. “The car no longer has an MMI button. Due to the increase in the number of functions, this would also lead to a lot of clicking. Now you can quickly and easily swipe through the large screen. For better control while driving, it is best to hold the screen at the top and then click on the desired function with your thumb. In any case, it works perfectly for me.” The driver of a 2021 copy is less enthusiastic. “Yes it is. Like many with me (given the reviews and car tests), the new infotainment system is not really an improvement with all those touchscreens. Just give me the old system with the dial.”

Drivers are unanimous about the digital instruments, the ‘Virtual Cockpit’. The only shortcoming is that navigation via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto cannot be projected onto it.

Driving the A5 Sportback

Is a car with ‘Sport’ in the name actually sporty? Opinions differ on this. The driver of a 190 hp diesel certainly thinks so. “It is and remains a wonderful car to drive, especially in Dynamic mode on the highway and on Bundesstraßen, it is a real driver’s car and you can drive around corners very quickly,” he reports.

The driver of an A5 Sportback 40 TFSI S-line Edition discusses it in detail. “With the lowered S-line chassis the car looks really beautiful, but that obviously has a negative effect on comfort. As long as the asphalt is of good quality, it is fine to be on board, but as soon as the road surface is bad, the lack of comfort can be quite a problem. I personally like to feel what the car is doing, but I can imagine that there are many people who think differently about this.” And about the further driving experience: “The driving behavior is perfectly neutral and the steering is fairly direct. The car does not really invite you to drive hard, but it sits comfortably on the road and always follows orders well. As far as I’m concerned, the steering behavior could have been a little sharper, that would have suited the chassis better.”

It is an experience shared by the driver of a 190 hp 2.0 TFSI. “The steering remains in the ‘automatic’ position, direct and light under all circumstances, even under full load. It ensures easy steering and a feeling of lightness. The fairly hard suspension/damping combination also appears to be acceptable over long distances.”

One driver is less positive about the handling, and in particular the wind sensitivity of his 2019 Sportback 40 TFSI Sport. “I especially think it’s bad that the car gives little confidence on long turns at high speed. I have no idea if this is due to the variable steering, but if there is even a little wind you will feel it immediately. From a speed of 120 km/h you already notice that the car is sensitive to this.”

Opinions are divided about the DSG automatic transmission, with which the vast majority of A5s are equipped. You can say that it is mostly good, but several drivers say that it reacts nervously when starting off smoothly and is a bit slow when accelerating smoothly.

Maintenance, malfunctions and irritations

What is particularly striking when reading through the user reviews is the number of reports of high maintenance costs. “It’s time for the first major service at (almost) 60,000 km,” a 2.0 TFSI driver tells us. “The last period went without any problems and no defects were identified during the service. However, this does not mean that the costs are low. I can pay 1,100 euros. What is striking is the cost of the oil for the S tronic gearbox, which at 250 euros is close to the proverbial liquid gold.”

Another 2.0 driver may also show up for the 60,000 km service. “And that costs something: €1,200, because the S tronic oil etc. also had to be changed. Fortunately, the car is still under warranty with the company where I bought it: they will correct a thermostat and fix some minor points that were found at Audi Amsterdam. Work has already been scheduled.” He looks on the bright side: “The prospect is that I won’t be ready for another service for another 30,000 km. A much cheaper service, said Audi :). Unfortunately that turned out differently. This week the A5 was taken to Audi again for a long-life service. That would cost about €850, with some filters and brake fluid changes… until I got a call that a cooling water leak had been found and the thermostat and water pump needed to be replaced. With my back against the wall but I agreed and a total of two thousand euros lighter, I left the building…”

The owner of a used car will experience problems after 130,000 kilometers. This is how an expensive camera module breaks and a little later something goes wrong under the hood. “There were strange noises coming from under the hood. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that a tensioner pulley of the multi-belt had failed,” he reports. “For many cars this is a part costing a few tens of euros, but at Audi everything is gold, including a multi-belt tensioner. A part costing a few hundred euros and an hour of tinkering in the garage. I was very happy that this was also repaired under the warranty of the garage where I bought it…”

The Audi A5 Sportback is experienced by most drivers as a nice-driving car with sufficient ease of use and far-above-average seating comfort, and the MMI infotainment can also appeal to most users. However, in the technical field it makes major mistakes and regular maintenance is also quite expensive. In this case, being beautiful sometimes involves a little pain.