Four doors usually earns the Sportback tag in Audi speak, unless you’re talking Avant. What then would transform the svelte A5 coupe with its bulging bonnet and eclectic mix of swells and dips into a four-door that had definable Sportback DNA? A3-style wagon treatment surely wasn’t going to cut the mustard. So began a five-year gestation period for Audi’s clever design teams. Wheelbase was extended, and new swooping roofline inked in to create the new profile – along with a host of details to support the design, including a narrower roof spoiler.  Result? It’s as slippery as ever and retains the cab-back GT stance, but now has added practicality including massive bootspace courtesy of that clever new hatch. It doesn’t quite match the BMW 5 GT for ingenuity, though the overall shape is not as banana-ish as the Mercedes Benz CLS. With typical Audi precision, it hits the sweet spot between.

What recession?
Three A5 Sportback derivatives are on offer from lowly 1987cc turbocharged four-pot with front-wheel drive and seven-speed Multitronic, to a pair of burly bent sixes – 3.0-litre diesel 3.0 and 3.2-litre petrol – both with quattro and dual clutch S Tronic automated manual gearboxes. So why would I choose the 3.2 petrol, hang the fuel bill? Two reasons really, not least that I’m your traditional petrolhead prone to enjoying an engine note that sonorously crests the 6500rpm mark (as opposed to the TDI’s 4500) when stirred via the wheel-mounted paddles. For sublime cruising the diesel would swing the debate with its lower emissions and pump-evading fuel habits, but on the meandering roads of KwaZulu-Natal and the Cape’s mountain passes, it’s the 75-kg-lighter, planet-devouring 3.2 that gets the vote.

Our test car is finished in an enigmatic dark metallic which the Audi catalogue refers to Amethyst Grey, perhaps more aptly Dark Gray(pe). Each muscular arch is filled with 18-inch alloys, another catalogue option that will set you back anything from R8000 to R12 000, though frankly a necessity considering the dire 17-inchers on offer as standard. Ornate headlamps and rear clusters are de rigueur across the Audi range, so it’s no surprise that the units on this premium coupe-hatch are particularly intricate. For adaptive lighting expect to pay an extra R4900, and a further R1750 for high beam auto-dim. There’s more, of course.

High life inside
Climb aboard and it’s unmistakably ‘Audi’ in look, feel and arrangement. It even has that typical crisp, herbaceous Audi smell thanks to a half-acre of dark Valcona leather (R5900 option) covering the seats, headrest and door cards. The A5 is a low car, and with electrically adjustable seat configuring it’s easy to sink deep into the belly of this cosseting beast. Rake and reach is manually adjusted, enabling you to further fine tune your driving position.