As buyers crave more and more individuality in their vehicles, extra niches are being created to satisfy them.

Here is one such car - the Audi A5 Sportback. Take one sporty coupe, stretch its wheelbase and increase the size of its boot and hey presto.

So is it the ultimate car for the person who doesn't want to sacrifice style and speed but craves space and practicality?

New looks

While some of the sexy coke-bottle shape of the Coupe's rear haunches has been lost, the Sportback certainly hasn't been hit with the ugly stick.

The sloping rear D-pillars have been inspired by the gorgeous Audi 100  Coupe S from 1969 (see slide show).

Viewed squarely from the side, its silhouette is not dissimilar to the Maserati Quattroporte - itself a four-door with a rakish roofline.

From the front and rear, it is of course pure Audi , with a strong grille and piercing LED daytime running lights and tail lights.

Spacious interior

The A5 Sportback is 86mm longer than the A5 Coupe it's based on, while its front and rear axles are 59mm further apart.

Its cabin has been stretched backwards and features a very long hatchback, giving easy access to the sizeable boot.

While it's no estate, the 480 litres of luggage space matches the Audi A4 Saloon, and beats the Coupe's boot by 25 litres.

Fold the rear seats down and space increases to an impressive 980 litres, beating the Coupe by a significant 151 litres.

It's not the deepest boot, but its length ensures there is plenty of room for suitcases stacked flat, rather than vertically.

Thanks to the stretched wheelbase, rear legroom is very good, and headroom is fine too. The Sportback is strictly a four-seater though, with a central armrest between rear passengers and no central seatbelt.

Great stability

As well as freeing up room in the cabin, the added length of the Sportback has also made it even more stable on the motorway.

The suspension feels softer than the Coupe's, and it rides more calmly - the trade-off being a greater tendency to feel vague over a tricky piece of tarmac.

Serious drivers will want to consider Audi Drive Select, which brings adaptive dampers and the choice between 'Comfort', 'Auto' and 'Dynamic' suspension settings.

This system should firm up body control, and also features the sport differential we first tested in the Audi S4, sending torque to the outside rear wheel in a corner - literally pushing you around the bend.

It's available initially as an option for the 3.0 TDI and 3.2 FSI.

Excellent engines

A strong engine line-up sees the 2-litre turbocharged petrol and diesel included as economy focussed models, while the 3-litre diesel and 3.2-litre petrol unleash the Sportback's full performance potential.

And, it's not like the 2-litre engines are slow - the 168bhp diesel reaching 62mph in 8.7 seconds, while the 208bhp petrol takes only 6.6 seconds.

They average 54.3mpg and 38.2mpg respectively, while emitting 137 and 172g/km of CO2.

The 3-litre TDI hits 62mph in only 6.1 seconds, with the 3.2 FSI actually taking half-a-second longer, and only equalling the 2-litre turbocharged petrol.

They return 42.8mpg and 30.4mpg, while emitting 174 and 216g/km of CO2.

It's hardly surprising sales of the 3.2 FSI are expected to be low as its performance can't make up for its obvious running cost penalties. On the road it might be a lovely engine - but it can't match the big diesel.

If you can afford the price premium, the 3.0 TDI is the pick of the lot thanks to its effortless grunt and superb refinement. Coupled with the excellent seven-speed S tronic gearbox it's a great cruiser (just below 2,000rpm in top gear at 70mph) and fast across country.

View this video review of the standard Audi A5 3-litre TDI Quattro from New Car Net:

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