Audi A5 Cabriolet
There’s an Audi A5 for every occasion. For the style conscious there’s the Coupe, the Sportback is available for the family man, while the power hungry have the S5 or RS5 to choose from.
The final instalment of the A5 story is the cabriolet – suitable for boulevard cruising tan seekers. It’s the second-generation of Audi’s premium drop-top and over the model it replaces comes laden with more tech, features a more accomplished design and more powerful but more efficient engines.
The range starts at just under £35,000 and rises to around £50,000. UK buyers have a thing for convertibles (behind Germany we buy more of them than any other European country) so chances are the roof will be down come rain or shine. For that reason the model you should probably go for is the smoother and quieter 187bhp 2.0-litre TFSI petrol. But being British and being thrifty, most will spec the gruffer but more economical 187bhp 2.0-litre TDI diesel.
Roof up, the multi-layered fabric arrangement does a brilliant job of keeping everything quiet and refined at speed. But if attracting attention is your main aim, the roof can be operated on the move at speeds up to 31mph.
Dropping the roof obviously removes the barrier between you and the engine, so noise levels do increase slightly. However, you don’t need to worry about spoiling your expensive haircut, as there’s very little wind turbulence in the cabin.
The cabriolet also has a softer setup than the Coupe to compensate for the extra weight – engineers had to add strength to the body to account for the lack of a fixed roof. It means the A5 floats along the surface of the road in a calm and relaxed manner… as a premium convertible should.
