2022 Audi A5 Sportback – All You Need To Know

The 2022 Audi A5 Sportback offers the best of both worlds. Its fastback styling is seductive, but it hides a giant trunk that’s a boon for practical-minded buyers. A pair of turbocharged four-cylinder engines is offered, and all models come standard with Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system. Like its two-door and four-door corporate cousins, the A5 Sportback blends spry handling with an agreeable ride, making it a desirable option for enthusiast drivers.

The A5 Sportback’s cabin may lack the style and substance found in rivals such as the Mercedes-Benz C-class or the Genesis G70, but technophiles will be in paradise, as the car offers a cool digital gauge display, plenty of connectivity features, and a host of driver-assists.

Engine, Transmission, and Performance

For 2022, the A5 Sportback can be had with two turbocharged four-cylinder powertrains, both employing a 12-volt hybrid system. Models wearing the 40 badge provide 201 horsepower while the 45s pump out 261 horses. All-wheel drive is standard and all A5 Sportbacks come with a seven-speed automatic transmission. We haven’t tested either model yet, but the last-generation car with the more powerful engine managed a 5.0-second zero-to-60-mph result at our test track.

The 2022 Audi A5 Sportback is composed, confident, and easy to drive fast through corners; it’s everything a modern sport sedan should be. Its agility belies its comfort, too: Potholes and broken pavement do little to upset it, especially when it’s equipped with the optional adaptive suspension. The well-weighted steering feels natural in the driver’s hands, and the front tires respond immediately to inputs, making this Audi a joy to pilot on twisty tarmac.

Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG

The EPA estimates the 2022 Audi A5 Sportback will earn up to 25 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. However, we can’t evaluate its real-world mpg until we run it on our 75-mph highway fuel-economy route, which is part of our extensive testing regimen. While we haven’t tested a 2021 A5 Sportback on our real-world highway fuel-economy route, an older model we evaluated returned 34 mpg during that test. For more information about the A5 Sportback’s fuel economy, visit the EPA’s website.

Interior, Comfort, and Cargo

The A5 Sportback’s cabin isn’t as plush as some might expect from a luxury brand, but all of the materials are of high quality, the fit and finish is superb, and there are enough high-end features to distance it from mainstream sedans. Rear-seat passenger space isn’t as generous as in the Audi A4 sedan, but it’s spacious enough for two average-size adults—and for the slight sacrifice in rear headroom, you get the A5 Sportback’s sleek roofline, which is far sexier than that of its more angular and upright A4 sibling.

All 2022 Audi A5 Sportback models come well equipped with luxury necessities such as power front seats, leather upholstery, a panoramic sunroof, ambient interior lighting, and three-zone automatic climate control. A hatchback in disguise, the A5 Sportback’s sloping rear roofline hides a power-operated liftgate and a large cargo hold, making it far more practical than the Audi A4 sedan or the A5 coupe and convertible. It proved its mettle in our carry-on suitcase testing by accommodating 16 cases despite having a smallish cargo area according to the numbers. In fact, the Sportback beat all of its direct rivals in our real-world cargo test.