To say that the roads were wet is something of a mild understatement, and to say that it is unusual to test drive a powerful car on Maltese roads in the wet makes it almost a 'first'.
However, some few years ago I was lucky enough to have an exhaustive and exhausting run on very wet roads in rural Gloucestershire in a four-wheel-Drive Audi A3, and as the surfaces of the secondary roads I used were, like ours, pure limestone, I knew that this 3.0-litre turbo diesel A5 with its permanent 4WD would be great fun and handle with impeccable good manners on even the wettest roads. I was neither surprised, nor disappointed.
This absolutely magnificent, mouth-watering two-door coupe develops a reasonable 228 bhp from 4,000-4,400 rpm, but an outstanding amount of pure 'grunt' - torque - 500 NM from 1,500-3,000 rpm. In the real world, this translates into getting this fire-eater to 100 km/h in only 5.9 seconds, and with 4WD maximum acceleration was used time and again in very wet conditions.
I sacrificed straightforward motoring and embarked on a series of stop-start blasts. Not because I really wanted the thrill, but because 'Noddy' and all his and her pals were out and about doing their stately 35km/h on our narrow, single-lane highways, oblivious to the fact that the Audi was simply itching to be given a little bit of her 'head,' even in the wet.
As a result, time and again flat out acceleration was used through first and second gears, with a bit of a blister in third before grinding to a halt once more, except for the much-loved Zebbiegh road, where speed was eased back at 90+, and fifth gear was used in a somewhat perfunctory manner for a few seconds. Frankly, sixth could easily have been used as well as this diesel 'mill' is the sort of power-plant that eats up the miles, even in the higher gears, without accelerating unduly, and the massively torquey engine is quite at home pulling in a high gear from low speeds.
The particular car I took out was the local 'show car' with 19-inch wheels, tyres with very low, 35 per cent profiles, and optional sports suspension. Obviously this set-up is ideal for our newly surfaced roads, but any pot-hole visited at anything above a crawl will result in a lot of expense, probably a broken tyre and wheel as well.
As this car is not a 'boulevard cruiser' but a most serious, high-speed machine, most local owners will opt for less dramatic 17- inch wheels and rubber, and still have a scintillating drive.
Audi are now making a concerted attack on the competition, and as residual prices are also creeping ever higher, it must only be a matter of time before the two class leaders, BMW and Mercedes, are well and truly unseated by, dare we say, one of the A5 models, or the yet-to-be-launched A4.
It has to be a matter of very personal preference which of the 'big three' are the mount chosen, and I have no hesitation in saying that with the 500Nm of torque available in the A5 and its six-speed manual gearbox aligned to permanent four-wheel-drive, this car must surely be the first choice for more and more people who need speed, safety, comfort and refinement, without the excitement of having a powerful rear-wheel drive vehicle, where even with all the modern anti-skid refinements the rear end may still unhesitatingly attempt to overtake the front under somewhat severe conditions.
Wet stops from our legal maximum were, as usual, completed at Ta' Qali: foot hard as possible on the brakes, hands off the steering wheel.
Superb, no slip, slide or grab - just immense stopping power in the wet, with all the anti-skid electronics working overtime. For good measure, full lock turns were completed in first gear on the Millennium
Stadium car park, but as these were too tame, full-lock second gear turns at even higher speeds were completed on the old section of the main runway.
Before setting out, the paint finish and panel fit were examined, the enormous boot investigated, with the easy to reach spare wheel, and the two release catches that allow the rear seat backs to flatten, to carry even more 'goodies'. Perfection is the name of the game.
All seats were immensely comfortable, seat restraints and air-bags state-of the-art. The list of electronic aids to safety as good as it gets, and in general I felt entirely pampered as I examined and then enjoyed what Audi have offered their obviously discriminating owners or potential owners.
At a glance• Displacement: 2,967cc with four valves per cylinder.
• Maximum BHP 228 at 4,000-4,400rpm.
• Torque: 500 Nm from 1,500-3,000 rpm.
• Quattro, permanent all-wheel drive; six-speed manual transmission.
• Unladen weight 1610kgs.
• Top speed: 250km/h.
• 0-100km/h: 5.9 seconds.
• Combined fuel consumption: 7.2 litres/100 kms.
• Dimensions: length 4,625mm, width 1,981 mm to the outer edge of the mirrors, with their inbuilt flashing indicators (1,854 mm is the actual width of the metal-work), height 1,372mm.
However, some few years ago I was lucky enough to have an exhaustive and exhausting run on very wet roads in rural Gloucestershire in a four-wheel-Drive Audi A3, and as the surfaces of the secondary roads I used were, like ours, pure limestone, I knew that this 3.0-litre turbo diesel A5 with its permanent 4WD would be great fun and handle with impeccable good manners on even the wettest roads. I was neither surprised, nor disappointed.
This absolutely magnificent, mouth-watering two-door coupe develops a reasonable 228 bhp from 4,000-4,400 rpm, but an outstanding amount of pure 'grunt' - torque - 500 NM from 1,500-3,000 rpm. In the real world, this translates into getting this fire-eater to 100 km/h in only 5.9 seconds, and with 4WD maximum acceleration was used time and again in very wet conditions.
I sacrificed straightforward motoring and embarked on a series of stop-start blasts. Not because I really wanted the thrill, but because 'Noddy' and all his and her pals were out and about doing their stately 35km/h on our narrow, single-lane highways, oblivious to the fact that the Audi was simply itching to be given a little bit of her 'head,' even in the wet.
As a result, time and again flat out acceleration was used through first and second gears, with a bit of a blister in third before grinding to a halt once more, except for the much-loved Zebbiegh road, where speed was eased back at 90+, and fifth gear was used in a somewhat perfunctory manner for a few seconds. Frankly, sixth could easily have been used as well as this diesel 'mill' is the sort of power-plant that eats up the miles, even in the higher gears, without accelerating unduly, and the massively torquey engine is quite at home pulling in a high gear from low speeds.
The particular car I took out was the local 'show car' with 19-inch wheels, tyres with very low, 35 per cent profiles, and optional sports suspension. Obviously this set-up is ideal for our newly surfaced roads, but any pot-hole visited at anything above a crawl will result in a lot of expense, probably a broken tyre and wheel as well.
As this car is not a 'boulevard cruiser' but a most serious, high-speed machine, most local owners will opt for less dramatic 17- inch wheels and rubber, and still have a scintillating drive.
Audi are now making a concerted attack on the competition, and as residual prices are also creeping ever higher, it must only be a matter of time before the two class leaders, BMW and Mercedes, are well and truly unseated by, dare we say, one of the A5 models, or the yet-to-be-launched A4.
It has to be a matter of very personal preference which of the 'big three' are the mount chosen, and I have no hesitation in saying that with the 500Nm of torque available in the A5 and its six-speed manual gearbox aligned to permanent four-wheel-drive, this car must surely be the first choice for more and more people who need speed, safety, comfort and refinement, without the excitement of having a powerful rear-wheel drive vehicle, where even with all the modern anti-skid refinements the rear end may still unhesitatingly attempt to overtake the front under somewhat severe conditions.
Wet stops from our legal maximum were, as usual, completed at Ta' Qali: foot hard as possible on the brakes, hands off the steering wheel.
Superb, no slip, slide or grab - just immense stopping power in the wet, with all the anti-skid electronics working overtime. For good measure, full lock turns were completed in first gear on the Millennium
Stadium car park, but as these were too tame, full-lock second gear turns at even higher speeds were completed on the old section of the main runway.
Before setting out, the paint finish and panel fit were examined, the enormous boot investigated, with the easy to reach spare wheel, and the two release catches that allow the rear seat backs to flatten, to carry even more 'goodies'. Perfection is the name of the game.
All seats were immensely comfortable, seat restraints and air-bags state-of the-art. The list of electronic aids to safety as good as it gets, and in general I felt entirely pampered as I examined and then enjoyed what Audi have offered their obviously discriminating owners or potential owners.
At a glance• Displacement: 2,967cc with four valves per cylinder.
• Maximum BHP 228 at 4,000-4,400rpm.
• Torque: 500 Nm from 1,500-3,000 rpm.
• Quattro, permanent all-wheel drive; six-speed manual transmission.
• Unladen weight 1610kgs.
• Top speed: 250km/h.
• 0-100km/h: 5.9 seconds.
• Combined fuel consumption: 7.2 litres/100 kms.
• Dimensions: length 4,625mm, width 1,981 mm to the outer edge of the mirrors, with their inbuilt flashing indicators (1,854 mm is the actual width of the metal-work), height 1,372mm.