Audi lifts lid on A5 cabriolet

Audi has lifted the lid on its new A5 cabriolet.

Order books in the UK open early in 2009, and the first cars should be delivered in the spring, with prices for the range running from just under £30,000 to about £42,000.

The new car is based on the A5 coupe and will replace the A4 cabriolet.

However, unlike many rivals, it has a folding soft-top rather than a metal roof.

Audi says it has chosen this system because it is much lighter and less complex than a folding hard top.

Fully electric in operation, it can lower in 15 seconds into a compartment that only reduces the boot's 380-litre capacity by 60 litres.

It will then raise again in 17 seconds, and both operations can take place when the car is moving at speeds of up to 31mph.

At first, the four-seat car will be available with three engines: the 211bhp turbocharged two-litre TFSI and 265bhp 3.2-litre V6 FSI petrol engines, plus the 240bhp three-litre V6 TDI diesel.

The petrol units are initially offered with front-wheel-drive, while the TDI is linked exclusively to the latest-generation quattro four-wheel-drive system.

More engines and more four-wheel drive versions will arrive in the course of 2009, including the range-topping S5.

This is expected to cost around £42,000 and will have its own unique, lower suspension set-up and a different look, including aluminium-look door mirrors and xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights.

Its engine is a supercharged V6 petrol unit with 333bhp that should give a 0-62mph time of 5.6 seconds, while standard features will include the S tronic twin-clutch transmission and four-wheel drive.