Remarkable: The 2010 Audi A5

The 2010 Audi A5 is one sharp looking Euro-car, with its sleek, smooth rectangular styling. The Audi A5 is definitely a strong competitor for BMW coupes with its superb strictly European lines. The Audi A5 is a car that says to the world I have class, but I don't live life in the right hand lane. With its low slung body styling and five spoke alloy wheels it's a car that seems more exotic then its $36,000 base price would suggest. The Audi A5 comes with two different motor sets for 2010; Either the A5 3.2 with a V6 that packs a whopping 265 horsepower or the commonly used 2.0 Turbo in the base Audi A5. The 2.0 turbo A5 produces 211 horsepower at 4300 rpm and an amazing 258ftlbs of torque from 1500 to 4200 rpm. This is due in part to a smaller turbo and Audi's variable exhaust valve timing technology. All wheel drive is a standard on the coupe Audi A5, but is however an option on the A5 cabriolet which is otherwise front wheel drive.

Both the Audi 3.2 A5 and the 2.0 turbo A5 are commendable in straight line acceleration at the drag strip. The Audi A5 3.2 rockets from nor to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, whereas the 2.0 turbo A5 musters it in a slightly slower 6.2 seconds. As for the quarter mile test results, both are equally impressive considering that the A5 weighs in at an astonishing 3,649 pounds. The 3.2 efficiently completes the quarter mile in 14.5 seconds at 98 mph and the 2.0 turbo A5 still jaunts down the track in 14.9 seconds at 94mph; not bad considering the power to weight ratio, no doubt the all wheel drive system has a role to play in these quick launches. As for the lateral G-force skip pad testing both cars performed appropriately with 0.90g and 0.91g ratings respectively. The lateral skid pad scores had definite regards to the all wheel drive system and 19 inch aluminum wheels wrapped in sticky 255 series summer rated Dunlop tires. This however was an upgraded option for the base Audi A5 2.0 turbo that consisted of a wheel and tire sport package as well as stiffer suspension. This sport package also includes shift paddles on Audi A5's equipped with a dual clutch six speed semi-automatic. The manual gear box is a better selection on the 2.0 turbo A5 as it offers 22mpg city and 30mpg highway as opposed to the automatic that yields 21 in the city and only 27 on the highway; acceleration will also be considerably hindered through the automatic slush box. So, for $36,000 clam shells you get European styling, all wheel drive, and decent performance. The Audi A5 is not a bad deal if you're in the market for a BMW competitor.

Source:
http://www.leftlanenews.com/audi-a5.html
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/09q4/2010_audi_a5_2.0t-short_take_road_test