Coupes with Four Doors: They’re Back!
The lensmen from CarBuzz have been flexing their photographic muscles to get the initial sights of the anticipated Audi A5 Sportback. This four-door coupe is derived from the two-door A5, whose basis is the four-door A4.
We still can’t make sense of the “cut all the things” approach to design, but Audi’s new naming structure should simplify the range. The news was initially just a rumor, but it was later confirmed by the carmaker’s CEO in an interview with Automotive News. Electric vehicles will be assigned even numbers, while odd numbers will be used for internal combustion engine (ICE) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). This strategy was first implemented on the updated e-tron, which was rechristened as the Q8 e-tron as part of its facelift.
Essentially, this could imply that the much-awaited A4 Avant seen by our lensmen earlier will also be labelled as an A5. Spy shots show us little specifics, except for a full-sized back lid – that’s quite a prominent feature of all cars with Sportback inscribed on them. The rest of the design is classic Audi – classy, graceful, vigorous and tasteful.
According to the Chief Executive of Audi, models which already exist will retain their designation until they have been electrified or retired. This open up a great chance for Audi to detach from utilizing the number 4, that will consequently only be implemented in electric vehicles such as the Q4 e-tron.
The A5 designation is to be joined with the previously established namespaces, comprising of allroad, Sportback, Coupe, and Convertible. Audi may choose to forego the coupe and convertible variations, as current customers have shown a lack of interest in these vehicle types lately. Mercedes-Benz has jettisoned several coupé and convertibles, favoring the development of one modern option called the CLE.
The inference that only the Avant (estate car) and Sportback have been spotted in public might mean that Audi may have been resigned to the discarding of convertibles and coupes.
As an off-count, the A5 and all its variants will more than likely be sold accompanied with a wide variety of engine choices. Audi is not developing any new internal combustion engines (ICE), but will still further enhance pre-existing powertrains. There is now a plug-in powertrain that utilizes the renowned 2.0L turbocharged four cylinder from the Volkswagen Group and this will potentially be the Default engine for the whole series, due to its flexibility.
We eagerly anticipate that Audi will fundamentally replace the aging turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 in the S4. Countless VAG products have thrown away this engine to adopt the 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged version that is already featured in the RS5 Coupe and Sportback. The smaller engine can adapt to match the power of the 3.0 and it also spins more freely and sounds substantially better than the elderly one. It’s no surprise why Porsche did the same with their Panamera.
It appears that the highly powerful 2.9-liter V6 (offering up to 444 horses and 442 lb-ft of torsion) may possibly need fine-tuning to stand its ground against modern adversaries such as the BMW M440i.
