These spy photos of Audi’s next-generation A5 Cabriolet show an evolutionary styling change, and that’s a good thing—the current Audi A5 still looks sharp even late in its life cycle. Along with its revised lines, the next Audi A5 Cabriolet will also use new underpinnings and engines shared with the new 2017 Audi A4 sedan.
As we saw in spy shots of the A5 Coupe, the most notable departure for the new Audi A5 Cabrio is its reshaped front end that features Audi’s new “singleframe” corporate grille flanked by more angular headlights. A strong character line reminiscent of the current A5 runs along the side of the car, with gentle curves around the front and rear haunches. Around back, the taillights are a bit slimmer than before, and a cloth softtop remains as the only foldable roof option.
Underneath this familiar shape is the new MLBEvo platform that’s found in many other Audi products like the new A4 and the Q7 SUV. The new A5 should lose weight compared to its predecessor thanks to a greater use of aluminum, despite its slightly larger size—a report from Autocar also says that the A5’s wheelbase will be stretched for better interior room.
In the U.S., the Audi A5 Coupe and Cabrio should share the A4 sedan’s base powerplant, a 2.0-liter turbo-four with 252 hp, paired with standard front-wheel drive or optional Quattro all-wheel drive. The high-performance S5 will most likely adopt the S4’s 354-hp turbocharged V-6, though the current S5’s manual transmission option will disappear, sadly. An even more powerful Audi RS 5 is also in the cards, and will be powered by a twin-turbo V-6 with around 500 hp, according to Autocar.
The Audi A5 will first debut in coupe form in late 2016 or early 2017, with the Cabriolet and other variants to follow. Stay tuned for more info on Audi’s new two-door models as we learn more in the coming months.
