I’ll admit it–ever since I saw the “Break the Cycle” A5 commercial I’ve been smitten. Though only in the states a short time, the A5 is turning heads with its great styling, both inside and out. Join correspondent Steve Hammes as he tests the 2010 Audi A5 2.0T with the new (for the 2010 A5) base engine offering. Compared to the A5 3.62L version that costs $12,000 more and gives you an average of four mpg less, the 2.0T will seem like a steal.

Our tester came with the 2.0Li4 turbocharged direct injection engine. While the 211 horsepower and 253 pound feet of torque seems a bit weak compared to the 3.2L V6 option, the A5 2.0T does 0-60 in the same 6.4 seconds as the larger engine option. With the smaller engine paired to a six-speed manual transmission, you get surprisingly good fuel economy, with 22 mpg city and 30 mpg highway. With German engineering taking care of business behind the scenes, Audi offers three trim levels to round out the package: Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige.

So now you know the key info for the ’10 A5 except for one: the price. The A5 starts at a reasonable price for a luxury vehicle with a base MSRP of $37,375. With numerous add-ons like the premium plus trim level, the sport package, and various other goodies, our tester topped out at $44,675.

The A5, Audi’s AWD sports coupe based on the A4 sedan, was the perfect way to end 2008. With its sexy styling, new Modular Longitudinal Platform (MLP), and Audi technology under the hood, it was hard to resist. We tested the 6-speed automatic option with paddle shifters paired to the entry level V6 that produced 265 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 243 lb-ft of torque at 3,250 rpm. While you will be putting premium gas in to power the Audi A5, don’t worry about the bill too much because you’ll be getting a respectable 27 mpg highway and 18 mpg city.

The base price for the A5 starts around $41,200 but even with our $3k+ S-line trim package that added great interior touches like brushed aluminum inserts and black headliner, navigation, a sunroof, and other goodies, the price was still a moderate $52,140.