SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.
Pics by audi@motorpics
Everyone knows that cabriolets are girly, right? Well, I have an inconsistency for you; the Audi A5 2,0T FSI, with or without the Multitronic (CVT) ‘box fitted to our recent test car, is butch. It’s butch in the way you get down into it, almost to the floor, in the way you wear it rather than sit in it, in the way you adjust the driver’s seat without the aid of any electronic doodads, the way it rides so firmly you’d better not be wearing dentures, the way in which steering inputs are all deliberate and with a strong self-centring action – no one-fingered twirling of the wheel - in the way it corners on rails and the way it makes your pulses pound.
It’s not for girls; for strong, independent women who know what they want and grab with both hands, yes, but frilly oh-silly-me girls with stars in their eyes, no. It’s not for regular ferrying of big hulking brutes in the back seat either. Knee space is limited and headroom with the soft top in position is definitely not sufficient for six-footers. Getting in and out of the back is a science; butt in, and feet out, first seems to work quite well. Either that, or keep your driver and passengers on the medium side.
It’s also not blessed with masses of luggage space. The boot is long and shallow, with the upper third occupied by the compartment the roof folds away into. The makers’ literature says you can fit two golf bags in there, so what more do you need? This thing was never intended as a family car after all. It’s an inter-city road burner for politically incorrect retrosexuals and the women who like them that way.
The Multitronic CVT fitted to the A5 is one of the better of its breed, changing ratios swiftly and without fuss and reacting almost intuitively to driver demands. Manual override, to eight virtual gears, is by the usual route of sliding the stick slightly left and shifting back and forth or by means of paddles behind the steering wheel. A “sport” position, selected by dragging the stick all the way back, sharpens throttle response and holds on to lower gears just that little bit longer for maximum response. A word of advice: don’t use this feature for the very first time while in traffic. You might just scare yourself.
Out on the freeway at 120 km/h the rev counter hovers just under 2 000 rpm, nicely in the torque band that starts at 1 500 and keeps pulling like a locomotive all the way up to 4 200 rpm. There’s enough in reserve for getting past trucks, intercity busses and the hoi polloi in their little boxes, then. Nice, you say, but how is it at that speed with the top off? Pretty good, Bruce; there’s very little buffeting and you can still hear the six-CD stereo or carry on a conversation. And a quick pat with the fingertips should restore your hairstyle afterwards. For the picky, Audi supplies a cover for the back seat area that cuts down on turbulence even further.
I won’t go into the technical stuff. All you really need to know is in the accompanying box and the boring details can be summed up easily; it’s an Audi. That means all the necessary technological wizardry is included. Questions? Get a pamphlet from your dealer.
Like most cabriolets, the A5 is unashamedly gorgeous with curves made for polishing every Sunday and for just plain ogling at any other time. In its behaviour it may be mannish to a fault but its body, especially with the top down, is all woman– a contradiction in terms indeed.
The numbers
Price: R493 500
Engine: 1 984 cc inline four cylinder DOHC 16-valve with exhaust turbocharger
Power: 155 kW between 4 300 and 6 000 rpm
Torque: 350 Nm between 1 500 and 4 200 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8 seconds
Maximum speed: 233 km/h
Fuel usage: about 9,0 l/100 km
Tank: 65 litres
Emissions class: EU 5
Maintenance plan: 5 years/100 000 km
Music: 6-CD/Radio with auxiliary input
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
Comments?
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Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of www.quickpic.co.za
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8