Audi A5 VS Toyota Supra
Audi A5
Likes
- Sharp looks
- Sophisticated cabin
- No shortage of equipment
Dislikes
- Drive experience can lack excitement
- Tight backseat in Coupe body style
- Three-year warranties are too short
Toyota Supra
Likes
- Wild styling
- Advanced safety tech
- Outstanding dynamics
Dislikes
- Limited visibility
- Not easy to drive in the city
- Hardly any cabin storage
Summary
Audi A5
Yes, yes, beauty is in the eye of beholder. But I challenge any eye to behold the refreshed Audi A5 and find it anything but beautiful.
In a world in which car design seems to be getting fussier and busier with every new model, the A5 remains a monument to simple lines and sophisticated shapes, both inside and out.
Looks are only part of the story, of course. So the big question is, does the rest of the package stand up? Or is the beauty only skin deep here?
Let's find out, shall we?
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Hybrid with Premium Unleaded |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.5L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Toyota Supra
Does the Toyota Supra call your name in the night? It calls mine. It whispers things. Tries to convince me that despite living in an apartment with my family only seven kilometres from the city it'd be perfect for us.
Of course, when it's daytime and I'm thinking straight I know a sports car in the city is impractical. But then I see one parked out the front of our flat and I start to entertain the idea of having one all over again – maybe it could work, it's not large, it has a boot, and it's a Toyota so it's probably reliable and not too pricey… Right?
Well as it happens the Toyota Supra parked outside my apartment was the car I was road testing for the week for this Urban Review. It was the base grade GR which lists for $84,900 and if you want to know what it's like to give into those voices and live with it, in the city, daily, I can tell you.
Read More:
Toyota Supra 2020 review: GTS| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 3.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Regular Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.7L/100km |
| Seating | 2 seats |
Verdict
Audi A57.5/10
Predictably stylish, predictably competent, predictably comfortable. In fact, that predictability is among its only downsides. In short, the updated A5 might not move the needle all that much, but it didn't need much moving in the first place.Â
Toyota Supra8/10
I think you can guess what I'm going to say: Yep, the Supra GT is great to drive, just not in the city.
That's why I've scored it this way.Â
If you live outside the city, even in the suburbs, daily driving will be fun and rewarding, but venture into the an urban environment and life behind the Supra's wheel will become frustrating.
If you live in the city, you'll have to be completely in love with the Supra to make it through the hard times in the urban landscape of car parks and traffic.
Still the Supra GT is great value, has a comfortable ride, looks awesome, and comes with excellent advanced safety tech.
So, if the Supra is calling your name in the night, keep all this in mind before you answer it.
Design
Audi A58/10
It's gorgeous, the A5. There's simply no disputing it. It's elegant, sophisticated, and above all, restrained. There's no look-at-me chintz here, just clean lines, sharp creases and a shapely figure.
Like its A4 sibling, the A5 has been tickled at the front, with a new-look grille, along with a new headlight cluster with redesigned DRLs, and Matrix LED headlights.Â
The four sharp bonnet creases that fan out from the grille lend the A5 a sense of speed, even when stationary, and we love the way the 19-inch alloys fill the wheel arches. It looks polished, premium and athletic.Â
Inside, Audi's interior treatment is on-point, from the figure-hugging leather seats to the material choices that span the dash. The big news in the cabin is the inclusion of Audi's new 10.1-inch touchscreen perched above the dash, which isn't just easier to use (in my opinion, at least), but also removes the traditional controls from the centre console.Â
It means Audi's already fuss-free cabin is even less cluttered, and it's definitely a change for the better.Â
Toyota Supra
Ever seen the movie Twins with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Well if the Z4 and Supra GT are twins under the skin then the latter is definitely the Arnie of the pair.
Okay, that's not fair. The BMW is pretty and sleeker than an otter, but the two look so different that from the outside you'd never know (if you didn't know) they are essentially the same car.
The Supra is like a mutant superhero with its enormous pumped up rear guards, the huge bulging bonnet, and the hungry looking grille with giant air intakes.
Some people don't like the headlights, but they're a hat tip to the previous-gen Supra and I'm a fan of them.
Then, there's the rear-end. You could stare at it for hours. The sinister tail-lights, the big 'duck tail' spoiler, the dual exhaust, and it's also from this angle that you can see the 'double-bubble' roof shape better.
The Supra lineage goes back to the 1967 Toyota 2000GT and if you Google that car you'll see how much of a stylistic homage this new car is to the original.
If you were wondering what the GR badge is all about, it refers to Gazoo Racing, Toyota's performance brand. The Supra's official name is the GR Supra.
The only outward difference in looks between the entry-grade GT which I tested and the GTS above it are the wheels. The GTS has bigger 19-inch rims and red brake calipers.
Inside both are almost identical, too, but it's in the cabin where you can spot all of the BMW bits and it confuses my brain big time.
The door handles, the switch gear and the media controller dial are the same as the Z4's. Meanwhile, the climate control systems and radio controls seem to be from a 2014 BMW 3 Series.
And although the media display and digital instrument cluster are different in their design to the Z4's it's easy to see they're the same, just repackaged.
I'm being a car nerd, but some of you will appreciate it. BMW bits or not, it's a great interior that's uber modern and stylish.
Now to get numbers nerdy. Let's look at the dimensions of the Supra. The length is 4379mm. That's the width of your pinky nail longer than a Toyota Corolla hatch. That's small. It's 60mm wider than a Corolla, though at 1854mm, and way lower at 1292mm tall. What does that mean for practicality? You're about to find out below.
Practicality
Audi A57/10
It very much depends on the model you've opted for, with the Coupe compromising backseat space for exterior style.Â
The Sportback is easily the most practical of the trio, what with its four doors, comfortable backseat and dimensions that stretch 4757mm in length, 1843mm in width and 1386mm in height, and its 480 litres of boot space.
The Coupe, then, is a two-door design, stretching 4697mm x 1846mm x 1371mm, with 450 litres of luggage space at the rear. It's long, the Coupe, but most of that space is absorbed by the front half of the cabin, wth the backseat reserved for kids.Â
Finally, the Cabriolet (which we're yet to test) stretches 4697mm x 1846mm x 1384mm, and will deliver the lowest luggage capacity of the lot, at 375 litres.
Elsewhere, though, the A5 range delivers two cupholders up front, with another two in the centre armrest that can deploy to divide the rear seat. Rear-seat riders also get air vents with their own temp controls, USB charge points (joining the two up front) and bottle holders in the doors.Â
For parents, you'll find a pair of ISOFIX attachment points in the backseat, too.Â
Toyota Supra
All Supras are two-seaters, and while this is a small car at less than 4.4m long leg-, head-, shoulder-, elbow and headroom are excellent.
I'm 191cm tall with a 2.0m wingspan and I fit into the cockpit of the Supra better than a Porsche Boxster and most other sports cars. That said, the seats are snug, well for me anyway, so if you're 'big-boned' like me you might find them a bit tight, too.
Just don't expect to fit many people in. That's right, you won't find a couple of tiny seats in the back. Actually, if you sit in the driver's seat and put your hand behind your chair you can feel the boot floor.
The boot has a hatch opening and a cargo capacity of 290 litres but you may be able to fit more into it than you think, as I found out after going to the supermarket to do a big weekly family COVID-19 grocery shop.
As I pushed my overloaded trolley back to the car I remembered I'd brought the Supra. Not sure how I forgot that, considering it was so tricky to park (see the driving section) but my new problem was working out how to get all the shopping bags in.
Take a look at the before and after photos. There was no way I thought the shopping would fit, but it did and without the bread getting squashed.
You can see in the rest of the photos that I even managed to fit the CarsGuide pram into the space, although you'll have to leave the baby at home because there are no anchor points or mounts for a child seat or capsule inside.
As for cabin storage, it's almost non-existent. The door pockets are only big enough for a phone and there's no centre console bin. But you do get two cupholders, a small glove box and a tray in front of the shifter which doubles as a wireless charger. There's also a 12V outlet and a USB port.
Coupes tend to have long doors, and if you've ever owned one you'd be well aware of the problems this causes in trying to open them in carparks. They can also be heavy and that makes opening them on steep hills a struggle, too.
The low height of the car could also see you having to leave the car on all fours if you're tall and not a flexible as you used to be, like me.
Price and features
Audi A58/10
The cheapest way into an A5 remains the Sportback or Coupe body styles, which will set you back $71,900 with the 40 TFSI engine choice. You can upgrade to the 45 TFSI quattro engine, but doing so will also up the entry point to $79,900. The Audi A5 Cabriolet sits atop the pile, costing $85,400 for the 40 TFSI, and $93,400 for the 45 TFSI quattro.
Happily, all A5s get the S line style treatment, gifting each a sportier look, with a new-look grille and venting adding to the performance-spec style up front.Â
You also get 19-inch alloys, Audi drive select with five drive modes, three-zone climate (and neck-level heating in the Cabriolet), leather trim, matrix LED headlights, as well as tech-heavy interior highlighted by a new 10.1-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash that controls the cars key audio, navigation and driving settings.Â
Speaking of the Cabriolet, the three-layer acoustic roof opens in just 15 seconds at speeds of up to 50km/h, with a wind deflector also deployed to help with cabin ambience.
Audi's very cool Virtual Cockpit (a 12.3-inch digital display that replaces the traditional driver's binnacle) is also standard, as is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Audi says the new model offers 10x the computing power of the outgoing model, owing mostly to connected car features including live traffic, weather reports and fuel pricing, as well as the ability to remote unlock or lock you car from your phone, or pre-plan destinations and send them to the vehicle's nav.
Toyota Supra
Excuse the language but, gosh yes! See, a joint venture between Toyota and BMW resulted in the Supra and the Z4. Thing is, if you want the six-cylinder engine version of the BMW (the Z4 M40i) you'll need to hand over $128K, whereas the base-grade Supra GT tested here lists for $84,900.
Sure, the Supra isn't a convertible or as powerful as the Z4, and yes it's expensive for a Toyota, but the equipment list is extensive and much of it is BMW tech such as the digital instrument cluster and media screen – both 8.8-inches.
Standard too is sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, 10-speaker stereo, wireless charging, dual-zone climate control, paddle shifters, proximity key, LED headlights and taillights, rain-sensing wipers, heated folding wing mirrors and 18-inch alloy wheels.
The standard upholstery is leather, and the seats are heated and power adjustable.
Then there's all the safety equipment such as the reversing camera and advanced tech which you can read about below.
It's good value, especially when you compare it to the Z4 and also the entry-level Porsche 718 Cayman, which is $118,690. Nissan's 370Z is a traditional rival to the Supra and lists for about $50K.
But it's old – like, been-on-sale-since-2009-old, and having driven a manual one in peak hour traffic daily through the CBD I'd not recommend it as a great urban car.
If you're wondering where the Toyota 86 fits into all this think of the Supra as it's bigger, more powerful and way more expensive step-brother.
Under the bonnet
Audi A58/10
Two choices here, the slightly tongue-twisting 40 TFSI and  and 45 TFSI quattro, both of which make use of a 2.0-litre turbo engine tuned for different outputs.Â
The 40 will serve up 140kW and 320Nm, and pairs with a seven-speed S tronic automatic that shuffles that power to the front wheels. Audi reckons you'll see 100km/h in as little as 7.3 seconds.
The 45, on the other hand, will give you 183kW and 370Nm, pairing with the same auto gearbox, but this time sending power to all four wheels thanks to the quattro system. The 100km/h sprint drops to 5.8 seconds at its fastest.
Toyota Supra
Inside that long snout is a BMW 3.0-litre turbo-petrol in-line six-cylinder making 250kW/500Nm.
It's not an enormous amount of power but perfect for the Supra, because it isn't a muscle car or a supercar, but a sports car which is more about fun and handling than massive grunt.
Besides, the Supra weighs just 1495kg (about 100kg more than a Corolla hatch) and that mumbo (especially the 500Nm of torque) is plenty.
Is it fast? Well 0-100km/h in 4.3 seconds is a tenth of a second quicker than the fastest Porsche 718 Cayman sold in Australia, the GT4. So, yes.
The eight-speed (ZF-sourced) automatic transmission is smoother than smooth, but also slower than fast at changing gears.
Drive goes to the rear wheels and there's an electronic limited slip diff.
An outstanding engine matched perfectly to the car. But there's something you should know. Later in 2020 a more powerful Supra is coming. Keep your eye out for that.
Efficiency
Audi A57/10
Audi reckons the 40 TFSI engine will return 6.5L/100km on the combined cycle, and emit 148g/km of C02. The bigger engine increases fuel use to 7.1L/100km, but lowers the C02 output to 163g/km. Both those fuel numbers are taken from the Sportback.
Both engines also get a new 12V mild-hybrid system said to drop fuel use by up to 0.3L/100km.
Fun tank capacity is either 54 litres or 58 litres, depending on the model.
Toyota Supra
Toyota says that if you were to stick to just urban driving the Supra GT should use no more than 6.5L/100km of petrol.
My own testing found that after 125.1km of mainly urban driving plus a trip to a national park to stretch its legs I needed 11.7 litres to top up the 52-litre tank.
That's 9.4L/100km. The official economy for a combination of open and urban use is 7.7L/100km. Not bad for a 340 horsepower sports car.
Driving
Audi A58/10
You'd describe the A5's drive experience as evolved, rather than revolutionary, but to be honest, in a vehicle this competent, that's no small thing.Â
The hybrid tech is unnoticeable, and so the A5 delivers an on-the-road feel that isn't far away at all from the car it replaces. None are truly fire-breathing, but it feels comfortable and sophisticated, the outside world largely banished from the interior (though the firm-ish ride can send road imperfections into the cabin).
Audi has done a stellar job of making the A5 feel connected to the road below it, and the world around it, without dialling down the comfort factor. The steering, light in its normal setting but firming up as you cycle through the drive modes, is direct, but not twitchy, the ride is firm, but not uncomfortable, the engine (at least, the 45 TFSI we drove on launch) is capable without being ridiculous.Â
The end result is a predictably competent drive experience, with the A5 delivering in the areas it should, largely before you even notice.Â
The only downside to all of that, though, is that the experience is so predictable, that there are few surprises, positive or negative, thrown in. It can leave you feeling slightly disconnected from the experience, rather than truly engaged.
Now, a disclaimer, we spent limited time in the A5 on launch, so we'll wait until we get it in the CarsGuide garage before making a final verdict. But I'd be surprised if we liked it any less over a longer period.
Toyota Supra
Go out into the street and sit on the road. Oh, and do it wearing your letter box on your head. That's how it feels to drive the Supra GT. Well it's more comfortable than sitting on bitumen but that's about how low you'll feel in the traffic and how much visibility you have through the mail slot of a windscreen.
Okay, it's not that bad but you are super low and visibility isn't terrific. Take a look at the view out of the cockpit in the images.
There will be some who will love this driving position because it offers such an engaging 'you're-a-part of-the-car' connection. And they'll gladly suffer a bit knowing that that's just the design of a classic sports car, and in return you get superb handling.
Then there will be others who loathe that low-letter-box feeling. They'll hate not being able to see ahead in the traffic, detest looking out their window and staring straight at the wheels of buses, and be anxious when parking because it's impossible to tell where the front of the car ends over that long bonnet.
My passion is hot rodding which means I love driving cars which are awful to drive, but even I became frustrated with the Supra daily in the city over a week where it rained nearly non-stop.
I remember being in a car park in torrential weather and me not being able to open the long driver's door enough to get in because somebody had parked close to me.
But then at the end of the week I took the Supra to a national park for a test drive and loved every corner, hill and straight in it. The steering is direct with plenty of feedback and the feel of those rear wheels just an arm's length away pushing you along is wonderful. This is a modern classic sports car for sure.
But is it an urban driver? Well the ride is surprisingly comfortable, and the engine is quiet and pretty docile with controllable predicable acceleration, but this is really a car wants to be free, on a nice twisty road away from the city and its traffic lights and parking lots.
Safety
Audi A57/10
Standard safety kit includes eight airbags, parking sensors front and rear, a 360-degree parking camera, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, rear cross-traffic alert, exit warning, and lane keep assist and lane change assist, along with a bevy of airbags, with the A5 range still wearing a five-star ANCAP safety rating.
Toyota Supra
The Supra hasn't been crash tested and awarded an ANCAP score yet. But the safety equipment on-board is impressive with urban-focused standard tech such as AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, front and rear parking sensors with clearance detection, blind spot warning, rear-end collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, speed limit recognition, and a reversing camera (with a clear picture).
Seven airbags, ABS with a brake fade and drying function and hill start assist complete the excellent standard equipment list.
As mentioned, there are no mounts or anchor points for child seats.
There isn't spare wheel, either. What you do get is a puncture repair kit. It's under the boot floor.
Ownership
Audi A57/10
All Audi's are covered by a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with servicing required every 12 months or 15,000km.
You can pre-pay your service costs for three or five years, which will set you back $1800 for three years or $2820 for five years.
Toyota Supra
The Supra GT is covered by Toyota's five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.
Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000km with the first four services capped at $385.
That's excellent value especially compared to the servicing and ownership costs of its BMW Z4 twin.