2018 Audi A5, S5 Sportback Models Heading to US

Audi of America has revealed that the 2018 A5 and S5 Sportbacks are coming to America.

President of Audi America Scott Keogh presented the four-door coupe that he said he personally worked on introducing to the American Market. Based on the A5 Coupe, the Sportback shares its four door layout and sloping roof line with the A7. Keogh describes the A5 Sportback as a bit of “forbidden fruit” from Europe, where it has already been revealed.

Like the A5 Coupe and Cabriolet models, the A5 Sportback features Audi’s 2.0-liter four cylinder engine that makes 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque, sending power to all four wheels through a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission. That’s good enough to get it to 60 mph in just 5.7 seconds.

2016 L.A. Auto Show Coverage

The S5, meanwhile, features a re-worked 3.0-liter TFSI V6 that produces 354 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. That, in concert with the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission shaves more than a second off the 0-60 time, getting it down to just 4.5 seconds. Both the A5 and S5 Sportback come standard with quattro all-wheel drive.

The Sportback is offered with the full suite of Audi infotainment and safety technology, including the much celebrated Audi virtual cockpit, as well as Audi pre sense to help you avoid collisions. Getting this forbidden fruit to America was actually difficult, said Keogh, who first saw the car ten years ago.

“Make America ready for this car,” his German bosses told him. Now that Audi of America has set 70 straight record sales months, and has proven that the market is ready for Sportbacks with the A7, Keogh says that the US is ready for this “very cool, very beautiful” car.

The S5 Sportback will hit showrooms in Spring of 2017.

A version of this story originally appeared on Fourtitude

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