The new Audi A5 family is officially complete. The Audi A5 Cabriolet has been revealed ahead of its public debut at the LA Motor Show and a UK release date in 2017. We’ve already got to grips with the new A5 Coupe and Sportback 5-door now the open top version is here in A5 and sporty S5 guises.
The design of the elegant convertible follows predictable Audi themes with the strong shoulder line and steeply raked rear window line lifted from the Coupe along with Audi’s trademark grille and the latest signature LED headlamps. Short overhands from and rear produce a sporty stance while maximising space in the 4-seat interior. At 4,673mm long, the new Audi A5 Cabriolet is 47mm longer than the previous model.
The soft-top acoustic roof can fold automatically at the pull of one switch in 15-seconds. If the heaven’s open it’ll take 18 seconds to close but either operation can be performed at speeds of unto 31mph. Rollover hoops and side airbags with automatically extending aluminium profiles have been developed for the convertible to boost safety.
Audi A5 Cabriolet: chassis and engines
The Cabriolet borrows the latest five-link independent suspension system from the A5 Coupe with adaptive dampers available as an option to be incorporated into the Drive Select system. The same electromechanical power steering set-up is also carried over.
Changes are made over the coupe to compensate for the lack of rigidity that results from loping off the fixed roof. Reinforced sills and additional bracing struts in the body are said to help retain the sporty drive. This A5 Cabriolet is actually around 40kg lighter than the old car with the front-wheel-drive 2.0 TDi 190 tipping the scales at 1,690kg.
Speaking of engines, there are four set to be available from launch. The 252bhp 2.0 TFSI is the only petrol unit in the standard range but those looking for extra performance can step up to the S5 Cabriolet with its 3.0-litre TFSI unit packing 354bhp. It’s capable of a hat losing 0-62mph sprint of 5.1s.
On the diesel side, there’s a 2.0-litre TDi with 190bhp or a 3.0-litre TDI with 218bhp. Audi says all of the A5 Cabriolet’s engines offer 17% more power while using 22% less fuel than the units in the old car. As usual, there are front wheel-drive and quattro all-wheel-drive models with the S5 getting quattro and an 8-speed tiptronc gearbox as standard.
Audi A5 Cabriolet interior
The A5 Cabriolet is a bigger car in this generation and the extra length can be felt in the cabin where shoulder room in the front is up by 26mm and rear knee room is extended by 18mm.
The boot has a decent capacity of 380 litres with the hood down while the rear seat can split 50:50 and fold down to increase capacity further. An automatic tailgate is now fitted as standard on the car.
The design treatment inside will be familiar to A4 and A5 Coupe owners as will Audi’s impressive standards of fit and finish. The Audi MMI infotainment system comes as standard with an 7-inch monitor that can be upgraded to an 8.3” unit and Audi’s TFT virtual cockpit display can replace the analogue instruments with the 12.3-inch screen.
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