Audi last week announced the launch of the new A5 and S5 cabriolet completing the A5 family line up, just two months after the launch of the Audi A5 and S5 Sportback. The engines from their hard top counterparts have been imported wholesale. As with most convertibles some structural rigidity has been lost as a result of taking off the roof. Additional struts and reinforced sills have been added to cater for this loss. This makes the convertibles heavier than their hard top counterparts but still up to 40kg lighter than their predecessors.
The audi S5 comes equiped with the same six cylinder engine from the sportback delivering a similar 260kw of power and 500 nm of torque. This enables it to power through to 100kph from a stand still in 5.1 seconds. 0.4 seconds slower than the sportback. It also comes as standard with quattro all wheel drive and Audi’s 8 speed tiptronic gearbox as standard.
From launch there will be an initial choice of three engines. A 2.0 TFSI petrol engine producing 185kw of power and two diesel engines. One 2.0 litre TDI and a 3.0 litre TDI producing 140 kw and 160 kw of power respectively. A six speed manual gearbox will be available as standard across the range. A seven speed dual clutch transmission and Audi’s 8 speed tiptronic gearbox will also be available as options.
As with the sport back the 3.0 TDI comes with quattro all wheel drive as standard but will be available as an option on the other variants which have front wheel drive as standard.
The new Audi A5 and S5 cabriolet will be on sale from March next year.
