During the media launch for the 2018 Audi S5 Sportback, the company’s head of exteriors, Frank Lamberty, is introduced to me thusly: “He isn’t like other car designers. He doesn’t own salmon-colored pants. He doesn’t wear scarves outside the winter. He is just a humble guy.”

Lamberty is indeed very humble. He makes no mention of penning Audi’s all-conquering Le Mans prototypes, which he did, or the company’s DTM race cars, which he does. He’s too busy defending his conservative design edict; recent models, according to critics, are indistinguishable from their predecessors. Basically, some people think Audi’s lineup could use more colorful pants.

When it comes to the S5 Sportback, that point is moot. The previous generation never came to America, so buyers here will see the shape with fresh eyes. And they’ll go ape.

Audi

This toothsome new five-door variant is Lamberty’s rolling masterclass on proportions, packaging, and holistic design. Instead of futzing with the two-door S5 chassis, his team moved onto the four-door S4 platform, which added 2.4 inches to the wheelbase—the “right amount,” he says, for maximizing legroom without over-softening the bodylines. From there, he set to adapting the S5 coupe’s exterior to scale. That meant going lower, longer, and wider, then dropping the roofline 1.4 inches.

The resulting silhouette cuts into rear headroom, but pays massive dividends in utility. Rear seats folded, cargo volume increases to 35 cu-ft., more than twice that of the full-size, long-wheelbase Audi A8. Leave those seats up, and the Sportback can carry five occupants while still offering 21.8 cu-ft. under its power liftgate, roughly 40 percent more than S4 sedan. It is, in Jersey parlance, a proper three-body trunk.

Audi

Per usual, subtle changes (quad exhaust tips, honeycomb rear diffuser, unique 18-inch wheels, full LED headlights) differentiate the S model outside. Inside, it’s all tech on deck. The optional 12.3-inch TFT dash interface runs at 60 frames per seconds, rendering Google Earth navigation quickly and crisply; radar sensors, ultrasound, and 360-degree camera data offer a multitude of driver assists. The Sportback’s cockpit is essentially a straight port from the S4 sedan. That means a relatively simple layout, smallish flat-bottom steering wheel, Alcantara door panels, pops of contrast stitching, handsome dash inlays, dinky plastic paddle shifters, and gorgeous two-piece, diamond-quilted leather bucket seats.

The S5 Sportback also inherits the S4’s closed-deck, direct-injected, 3.0-liter V6. Technical highlights include a trick reverse-flow header, allowing a single twin-scroll turbo inside the 90-degree valley, pushing 20.1 psi to the effect of 353 hp. This is a stout, linear device, with 369 lb-ft from 1350 rpm and no perceivable lag, but lacks personality and doesn’t encourage involvement. Redline is a modest 6400 revs, and the noises, mostly booming exhaust baritone, get no richer or more complex as the tach climbs. While launch control delivers (60 mph in 4.5 seconds), the car can feel oddly lethargic around town.

Audi

This may have something to do with the gearbox, a conventional eight-speed automatic, sourced from ZF and tuned in-house. The base A5 Sportback, which delivers 252 hp and 273 lb-ft., gets a seven-speed dual-clutch and doesn’t suffer the same niggles. Engineers say that unit couldn’t handle the S’s added low-end grunt, hence the torque converter setup. You cannot have Audi’s lovely six-speed manual, apparently, because TT RS buyers are monsters.

“Remember, we brought the last generation of that car over to the U.S. as manual-only. Everybody was cheering… right up until they saw the acceleration numbers for the European TT RS, which had an automatic and paddles,” a product planner explained. “You would not believe the hate mail we got.”

Audi

Still, despite an uninspired powertrain, the S5 Sportback delivers. The electronic dampers are well-judged, even in the sportiest setting. Audi’s venerated quattro all-wheel drive system, employing a 40/60 front-rear power split via mechanical center differential, comes standard. On-throttle stability is excellent mid-corner, and the 245-section summer performance front tires, courtesy of Continental, offer huge turn-in bite. The steering isn’t much for feedback, but it’s direct enough and, mercifully, leaves off the silly artificial weight common to modern German racks.

Also, the brakes are tremendous. Audi estimates the S5 Sportback’s 60-0 mph stopping distance is “sub-110 feet,” on par with the last Porsche 911 Carrera 4S this magazine tested. That seems believable, and the robust front hardware (six-piston fixed calipers, 13.8-inch vented rotors) held up to repeated, back-to-back panic stops and considerable backroad pounding. These stoppers are circuit-ready.

Not that they’ll ever see a racetrack. That’s not what this car does. Audi knows its customers are more concerned with clean aesthetics, surefooted dynamics, and competent execution. The S5 Sportback is all that, add enough speed to match the BMW 440i Gran Coupe. Hardly groundbreaking, and not the brand’s most engaging drive. But as a grand touring proposition and, more importantly, a design exercise to initiate American buyers, this one’s a winner.

2018 Audi S5 Sportback

Price: $55,375 (base)

Powertrain: 3.0-liter turbo V6, 354 hp, 369 lb-ft; AWD, 8-speed auto

Weight: 3924 lbs (mfr claim)

EPA City/Highway: 21/30 MPG

Top speed: 155 mph (electronically limited)

On Sale: Now



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