Audi got a taste for Sportback models, so it’s expanding the nameplate to more of it models. The most recent one is the popular Q5. The new Q5 Sportback will appeal to customers who appreciate the innately family-friendly utility and sophisticated technology of the standard Q5 but also admire the expressive and distinctive design of more purebred sports cars. It will line up alongside its perennially popular SUV counterpart with a choice of Sport, S line, Vorsprung and Edition One specification options in the first half of 2021.
The new Q5 Sportback is underscored further in Vorsprung versions by rear lights featuring innovative digital OLED technology. The units each incorporate three organic light-emitting diodes, each of which is divided into six segments that can be controlled individually and configured differently. Customers can choose from three different rear light signatures at the point of order, all of which include a dynamic coming-and-leaving-home lighting sequence and an additional safety feature – if another vehicle approaches from the rear to within two metres of the stationary Q5 Sportback, all OLED segments illuminate as a proximity warning.
At 4.69 metres in length, the Q5 Sportback is seven millimetres longer than its sister model. Its height and width are identical, but its coefficient of drag is lower at 0.30. The long wheelbase of 2.82 metres facilitates ample room for five in the cabin, the focal point of which is the cleanly styled two-section dashboard with its freestanding 10.1-inch MMI display. As in the recently updated Q5 SUV, incorporation of the third generation modular infotainment system or MIB 3 has rendered the rotary MMI control dial obsolete and enabled the introduction of full touch-screen functionality for the monitor, as well as a greatly enhanced natural language voice control system.
The Audi Virtual Cockpit plus with its panoramic 12.3-inch display is standard for all versions in the UK, as are MMI Navigation Plus and Audi connect internet connectivity, meaning that when guiding the driver the Q5 Sportback can display high-resolution satellite images from Google Earth and use the swarm intelligence of the Audi fleet to deliver lane-by-lane information on traffic flow and traffic forecasts in real time, as well as providing alerts for upcoming hazards such as slippery roads and fog. Useful resources such as a news feed, weather and travel updates, local fuel pricing listings and an on-street parking assistant that gauges the likelihood of finding a space at a given location also form part of the Audi connect package.
The Q5 Sportback is set to launch in the UK with two powerful 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines – a TDI and a TFSI – each with 204PS and therefore identifiable by 40 TDI and 40 TFSI designations. The potent SQ5 Sportback with its 347PS twin-turbo V6 TDI will also form part of the first wave. Plug-in hybrid TFSIe variants with a choice of two outputs will follow later.
A set-up with adaptive damper control is also available for even keener tracking of the road surface, while an adaptive air suspension system that can vary the ride height of the bodyshell in five stages and by up to 60 millimetres features in Q5 Sportback Vorsprung models. The SQ5 Sportback and SQ5 Sportback Vorsprung are equipped with an S-specific version of this versatile system, which can even make loading easier by lowering the rear axle individually by 55 millimetres at the touch of a button in the luggage compartment.
