Malaysian roads with the right car is always enjoyable

You've probably read about our recent fuel economy challenge with the Audi A3 to Ipoh and back to Kuala Lumpur. But that was just half of the story. Audi organised quite an interesting, multi-faceted drive that was made up of an economy challenge with the A3, and a photography challenge with the new A5.

A fuel economy challenge isn't a fuel economy test; it is a challenge to push everything to the limits to wring out maximum efficiency, and that honestly isn't a fun exercise. With the A5, however, we got to properly enjoy the drive - the only challenge was to figure out where to get our photo.

Compared to the A4 Sedan that it replaces, the A5 Sedan looks longer and sleeker

A sleek new machine

The new Audi A5 Sedan looks exceptionally stylish, but the glow up's even more impressive when you compare it against the car that it is supposed to replace - the Audi A4. It's a little confusing, but the A4 got renamed to A5 for this generation due to a temporary change in naming convention.

The new face and tail-end feature slim and sharp head and taillights respectively, with the latter reminiscent of the e-tron GT's

Not only has the car grown, it also has a sleeker silhouette, partly thanks to the liftback rear-end. Both the head and taillights are slim and sharply designed, with the wraparound taillights reminiscent of the e-tron GT's.

Having designed such a handsome-looking sedan, it isn't surprising that the brand has chosen it to be the subject of the photography challenge on this drive.

Great car, perfect roads

While we spent the night at St Regis in Kuala Lumpur, we had the keys to the A5, and could head out to get some photos. Getting a nice photo of the A5 for the challenge was supposed to be the 'main quest', but a 'side quest' was tugging at our heartstrings…

With an adequately powered machine in our hands, and being an hour away from Malaysia's famous mountaintop resort, we decided to head up to Genting Highlands to get some photos of the car.

The Karak Expressway has two-lane and three-lane segments, but it is generally a wide sweeping road with flowy, cambered bends

In case you didn't already know, driving enthusiasts love the curvy roads that lead to Genting Highlands. The typical route starts with the famous Karak Expressway right after you leave the Kuala Lumpur city area. This segment of the Karak Expressway is a two to three-lane wide, 15km sweeping road with cambered bends that leads to the foot of Genting Highlands. Next up, is a 20-odd km twisty ascent up to the 1,865m mountain top.

As a result, the journey from Kuala Lumpur to Genting Highlands is a good mix of expressway driving that allows one to experience the high-speed performance and comfort of a car, as well as its ability to handle tight, twisty bends and the steep inclines - quite the perfect route to enjoy a car thoroughly.

With 201bhp and 340Nm of torque on tap, the A5 is an effortless cruiser on the expressways

Not just a looker

Sending 201bhp and 340Nm of torque to the front wheels, the A5 is a fair bit more powerful than the A4 that it replaces - it is capable of completing the century sprint in 7.8 seconds and continues to reach a top speed of 248km/h. While it's no Audi RS machine, there’s enough power to break the speed limits of the expressway effortlessly.

The drive up to Genting Highlands was smooth and enjoyable; the car also looks right at home at the hotel lobby

Naturally, the drive to Genting Highlands was smooth and comfortable - thanks to the stout 2.0-litre engine, cruising along at expressway speeds was a non-affair. The insulation and ride quality of the A5 also stood out - its suspension was clearly on the softer and comfort-oriented side, but the cabin insulation was surprisingly good for a car of its segment.

Tuned on the softer side, the suspension on the A5 works exceptionally well on the bumpy and uneven B-roads; yep, that's me trying to get a moving shot of the A5 for the photography challenge

The suspension fared well on the twisty roads as well. While the suspension could be stiffer to offer even better body control, the A5 was confidence-inspiring, stable and easy to drive on the twisty roads.

We also drove on a section of twisty B-roads known as 'Ulu Yam' earlier in the day, where the A5 performed really well. Yes, the weight of the car can surely be felt as we made our way through the successive tight bends, but with its soft suspension, the car managed to soak up the bumps and ruts on the uneven road surfaces.

You see, the B-roads are never smooth and perfect, far from it. Unlike the well-maintained expressways, these small roads that snake through the small towns are heavily used and less-maintained. Potholes and cracks on the tarmac along with damaged guardrails aren't out of the ordinary, so you’ll actually want to be driving something that isn’t too stiffly sprung on these roads.

I'll never get sick of road trips in Malaysia, especially with the right cars

Unlike driving in Singapore, Malaysia presents a good variety of roads with different sights and scenes to take in as you drive. I've done quite a few road trips in Malaysia till date, and I've got to say that with the right car, it's always enjoyable.

Long drives with great sights and scenes - I'll never get sick of road trips in Malaysia, but it's always better with the right cars, like these Audis

The A5 is not only effortless and comfortable to drive on the expressway, but also proper fun on the curvy roads. With its premium and well-equipped cabin, driving for long hours is much more enjoyable as well.

And I sure am appreciative of how Audi has organised this drive. By splitting the drive into the A3 economy challenge and the A5 photography challenge, all participants got a well-rounded experience with the brand's cars. Above all, I was so relieved that I didn't have to continue driving without air-conditioning for the rest of the trip. And while we did not win the photography challenge, we thoroughly enjoyed our drive up to Genting Highlands and back.