As it’s the year of the ‘staycation’, we opted to take a convertible with us, from Buckinghamshire through Lincolnshire and up to York for the week. Car of choice? The Audi A5 Cabrio.
Looks
Finished in the dark Daytona grey pearl paint with the merlot roof, this A5 looked gorgeous; satin chrome trim picks out the windscreen and glass. There’s maybe a bit too much of it at the front with the new lower fog surrounds; they’re somewhat large and angry compared to the svelte lines over the rest of the A5.
It sits nicely on the large 20” alloys, the whole car looking equally stunning whether the roof is up or down. It was certainly a head-turner.
Drive
Now, this is a lot of money for a car powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine making just 201 BHP, but don’t let that fool you as the balance between economy and pace is pretty much bang on. Over 550 miles, we saw a comfortable 38 MPG with the A5 Cabrio being driven in ‘Eco’ for the majority of that.
After all, this was a road trip staycation, so outright pace wasn’t a priority; savouring the views and taking our time was the name of the game.
0-62 comes up in 7.5 seconds, so roughly in line with warm hatchbacks. With the A5 transforming into a totally different machine when everything is set to ‘Sport’. The DSG livens up, and the throttle response becomes pin sharp. It’s plenty of go for a car this size, don’t think about going for any fewer horses, though.
Handling is on the firmer side; there’s a limited amount of body roll but pushing hard through some country roads shows it’s just as capable at some spirited driving as it is munching the miles sedately.
You can switch between the different suspension settings thanks to the standard ‘Comfort Dynamic suspension’, so in Sport, you’ll notice the ride becomes firmer. But, at the same time, Comfort does a great job at soaking up most of the rougher sections of tarmac beneath you.
Interior
Luggage space is a superb 370 litres, although this does get eaten into if you have the roof down. There’s a storage compartment in the top of the boot that flaps down when you want to drop the roof.
If you have the boot crammed, this can’t happen; thankfully, there’s a switch in the boot to manually lower this box; you can then pack all your gear around it; still allowing you to lower the roof while on the move.
Quality inside is top-notch, as you’d expect of an Audi at this price point. The inlaid wood is a bit of a marmite thing; there’s no option to swap that out for brushed aluminium or gloss black either.
Virtual Cockpit Plus gives you complete control over what’s displayed on the dials; there are a plethora of different views, including the sat-nav. It’s an incredibly slick setup and gives the A5 that modern feel. There’s also the large standard fit nav screen, which is all touch controlled. Menus are well laid out, and it doesn’t take too much digging to get to the right thing.
However, it does look a bit ‘stick on’ the way it sprouts from the dash, a little like an afterthought. But it’s par for the course on most cars these days.
Sport seats come as standard, but I still ended up aching after a long drive no matter the amount of adjusting and fiddling. They’re perfectly fine for a short journey but did seem to lack support for the lower back even with the movable lumbar.
Fitting the £360 optional wind deflector is a breeze; it unfolds then slots into two holes just behind the front seats. With it up, there’s little to no wind buffeting around you when the roof is down. It also stops things on the back seats from departing on their merry way – as to why it’s not standard, who knows?
Noise with the roof up is barely different to a coupe, you’ll hear some of those sharper frequencies a little more, like road noise, but on the whole, it was never intrusive.
Audi A5 Cabriolet Conclusion
Currently, few cabriolets are on the market; in fact, I can only think of the VW T-Roc and a smattering of BMW’s and Merc’s – not all having the storage and long legs to be a great tourer either.
Audi’s A5 ticks every box for a drop-top, equip it with the frugal 2.0-litre turbo engine, and you have an economical tourer with enough luggage capacity for a week away.
