Video: 2009 Audi A5

Today, we're gonna find out if it really does compete with them in performance, as well as in looks. If you're shopping in the segment and looks are important to you, the A5 is gonna win you over. It's definitely sleeker than a BMW 3 Series, it's definitely more sophisticated than an Infiniti G37, and it all starts with this front end. People are gonna notice it from far away, whether it's due to this big, bold grill right here, it's Audi's trademark grill, or even these daytime led running lights which actually work at night too. They come straight from the R8 supercar from Audi. Those are really nice features. Even standard 18 inch wheels look slick on this car. You don't need to upgrade to nineteens if you don't want to, eighteens do just fine. Don't let the looks for you, A5 only comes with one engine choice. It's a 3.2 liter V6 with 265 horsepower. That might sound like a lot of horsepower, but compared to BMW's 335 with 300 horsepower turbocharge engine and Infiniti's G37, which is packing 326 horsepower for 2009, the A5 doesn't come close. You can move up to an S5 Audi, which we detailed in another video, but the A5 is not sports car. The interior of the A5 is identical to the new Audi A4 sedan and wagon. And it's been updated for this year, it's a new model. So the cockpit is laid out a little differently, it's definitely driver oriented. Although it doesn't kind of pivot to the driver, but you can tell here it's all one piece and ends at the passenger, so you know they're talking to the driver. If you've been in a German luxury car lately, you know they have some wild entertainment systems and they use some funky mechanisms to control them. BMW has an iDrive, Mercedes has a command system, Audi has the MMI, multimedia interface, and it's right here in the center of the dash. It has two knobs, one for volume, one for the controls, a bunch of quick shortcut buttons that you can see on the screen up here. They kind of correlate to different things, depending on what screen you're on. Works really simply, it's intuitive. It's the one I find the least trouble with. A cool feature that comes standard in the A5 is a glass roof. Now, it doesn't slide like a moon or if it just pops open to let air in, but it's still a big glass opening so you kinda have the sky above you. Gives you an open air feeling, even though it's closed off. And it does come standard. Although at 40,000 and up starting prices, standard doesn't mean quite so much. On most days, the backseat of the A5 is only gonna be used to carry your briefcase or your messenger bag depending on your style. But, if you do wanna bring along more than one passenger, there is enough room back here, they'll fit okay. There are cutouts on the back of the front seats, so knees will fit just fine like mine do. But there isn't a lot of headroom. I'm 5'10" and my head is touching the roof. So, if you're six foot or taller, you're not gonna wanna ride back here. You'll also can only bring two people, there's no middle seat so you can't squeeze that third person back here. All of the controls to get back in and out are very easy to use. If you want to impress a date, the A5 is a perfect car. It's gorgeous outside, it's luxurious inside. But, if you want performance thrills, you better look elsewhere. <v Man >For additional information on this car or any other go to Cars.com and our blog KickingTires.