In my last report I mentioned that I had achieved 58.8mpg on a 210-mile multi-road trip, comfortably exceeding Audi’s official 54.3mpg combined figure.

Since then, with my foot planted a little heavier on the accelerator, the A5 Sportback has achieved around 48-49mpg on average.

Eco driving is fine, but sometimes you want to enjoy a car’s sporting qualities, and the A5 has those in abundance.

Well-balanced handling and a joy on winding roads, the car’s 170bhp diesel engine provides plenty of grunt to satisfy most drivers.

The A5 Sportback sits between a hatchback A4 and a four-door A5 coupé.

I’ve seen questions asked over the wisdom of filling a niche between the two with a four-seat model but I’ve had no cause to complain.

The Sportback is now back with Audi after running almost 10,000 trouble-free miles. 

However, Fleet News, like many fleet operators, has potentially fallen foul of damage recharges.

The car was returned with three scuffed alloys, a small ding in the rear door and some fine scratches on the rear boot lid.

It has been used by several members of the editorial team, but the Fleet News fleet manager – i.e. me! – needs to implement tighter controls on vehicle inspections and damage reporting to ensure cars are returned clean.