First look: Stunning Audi A5 coupe breaks cover

AUDI’S scintillating new A5 and S5 coupe twins, revealed here in leaked official pictures for the first time an due on sale here earlier than expected in late 2007, will make simultaneous world public premieres at the Geneva and Melbourne motor shows in March.

In what will be an unprecedented coup for Audi Australia, GoAuto has learned the all-new Audi two-door will make a dramatic global debut at the Melbourne show on March 6 - the same day it’s unveiled at the Swiss auto show opening.

Melbourne show-goers will get Australian-first looks at the redesigned A6 Allroad Quattro and the next-generation S3 hot-hatch from opening day (March 2), before the all-new coupe makes its appearance four days later.

Audi AG had planned to reveal pictures and details of the stunning new coupe about a week prior to its world-first public airing in Geneva and Melbourne, but these marketing shots of both the A5 and its higher-performance S5 sibling – believed to have been leaked via a German rental-car company brochure yesterday – are a tantalizing preview of what’s in store.

Just as Audi’s first dedicated SUV, the Q7 launched here in October, is based on a new platform that’s midway between the A6 and A8 in size, the A5/S5 coupe’s underpinnings are shared with next year’s all-new Q5 compact SUV, which is sized somewhere between the A4 and A6.

Significantly larger than the second-generation two-seater TT Coupe launched here late last year, the four-seater A5 is Audi’s first full-sized coupe since the Audi 100.

Left: S5 (top) features a trademark grey grille and a more aggressive front bumper comprising a lower central alloy insert. A5 models (pictured elsewhere) appear almost as athletic.different grille and alloyNot only will the A5 finally give Audi a direct rival for BMW’s top-selling medium coupe, the two-door 3 Series, but with the all-new R8 super-coupe due on sale here around September, a late 2007 release will also mean Audi will have an answer for most of its German coupe rivals by the end of this year.

The larger new platform features a longer wheelbase than the current A4, and is expected to form the basis for not only the next-generation A4 sedan and wagon, but the redesigned A6 sedan and wagon as well as the larger A7 coupe.

All models will comprise engines that are mounted behind the front axle, which should make the A5/S5 the sharpest-handling and best-riding model ever produced by Audi – apart from the mid-engined R8.

Technologies like an electronic parking brake and MMI (Multi Media Interface) system, which is console-mounted (A6 and A8-style) in the S5 and dash-mounted in the A5, are also indicators of what to expect from the next A4’s interior.

While styling cues from both the TT and R8 are evident, the A5/S5 introduces a new coupe profile for Audi, via a flatter roofline and glasshouse that’s more sharply-tapered at the rear, as well as more subtle wheelarch blisters.

No official details have emerged from Audi, but expect the A5 range comprise a front-drive turbocharged four-cylinder entry-level variant, as well as quattro all-wheel drive-equipped TDI turbo-diesel 3.0-litre and FSI direct petrol-injection 3.2-litre V6 engine variants. CVT, DSG and manual transmissions will all be on the menu.

The S5 coupe will offer 4.2-litre V8 power, but in 2008 the range is expected to be joined by a range-topping RS5 flagship, powered by either a Valvelift-equipped version of the RS4’s 309kW 4.2-litre FSI V8 or a variation of the S6 and S8’s respective 320kW and 331kW 5.2-litre V10.

Further afield, A5/S5/RS5-badged convertible derivatives are expected to replace the current A4, S4 and RS4 Cabriolet models respectively.