Audi A5 review

Is the Audi A5 a good car?

The new Audi A5 replaces the A4 saloon and Avant, as well as the old A5 cars, and is bigger and better finished inside than any of the models it replaces, but also much more expensive. The experience behind the wheel won’t tempt keener drivers, but the A5 doubles down on being a high-quality, solid and sensible car with a smart new look and better legroom (although not headroom) for rear passengers. It’s also more practical than the old A4, thanks to that hatchback tailgate. 

It’s a shame efficiency doesn’t make a big leap in the petrol cars, at least until the plug-in hybrids join the range, but to a large extent the new A5 is a case of new name, same strengths and weaknesses.  

How much does the Audi A5 cost?

You’re going to have to bear with us for a second, because while the car you see here is the replacement for the Audi A4 saloon, it’s also very much not the new Audi A4 saloon. 

That starts with the name, which is now A5. The change is to differentiate between Audi’s EVs and internal combustion-engined cars; all ICE models will now have odd numbers, so the A4 needed to become A5. Which also means the old A5 models – the Sportback and Coupé – are gone forever, and the A5 is now only available as a saloon or an estate. 

To make things more complicated, the saloon is actually a hatchback, and is very similar to the old A5 Sportback. So if you’re in the market for an A4 saloon, the A5 is your only option. The A4 name, which has been around since it replaced the Audi 80 in 1994, will disappear for a couple of years until an electric compact executive saloon is revealed. 

Admittedly, the A4 has diminished in importance in Audi’s range in recent years, as the move to SUVs has eaten into the popularity of saloons and estates. Even with the discontinued Coupé, Sportback and Cabrio A5, the A4/A5 models were no better than the sixth-biggest sellers in Audi’s UK line-up.

The new car comes with a choice of two 2.0-litre petrol engines, with 148bhp or 201bhp, or a 201bhp diesel, the latter the only regular A5 available with a choice of front or quattro all-wheel drive. There’s also a hot 362bhp S5, and in the future a range-topping plug-in hybrid RS 5 will be added. 

All A5s get a seven-speed S tronic gearbox, while the diesel is the first TDI to get hybrid tech. The MHEV+ system can run the car in electric-only mode for very short distances, and Audi says this improves official emissions by up to 10g/km. The two petrol cars have claimed economy figures of up to 42.8mpg, depending on spec, while the diesel returns up to 58.9mpg. The price gap between the 201bhp petrol engine and the identically powered diesel unit is more than £4,000.

A pair of plug-in hybrids will add interesting new alternatives not offered on the old A4 when they join the line-up early in 2025, complete with a range of more than 60 miles on battery power.

The A5 has grown in size and is larger than the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé, the car’s most logical rival. Prices have also increased. The 201bhp petrol, in the favoured S line trim, costs more than £46,000, while the same engine and trim in the old A4 was less than £42k. Now, for that price, you’ll only be able to afford a Sport-spec A5 with the lower-power petrol engine. A 2.0 TDI quattro Edition 1 is in excess of £55,000.

Yes you get a bigger car – around 70mm longer, 24mm taller and 13mm wider – a step up on what was already a nice cabin, and a lift in standard kit, but it’s still quite a price hike. 

Audi claims to have worked on the handling characteristics of what was previously a pretty sensible and borderline forgettable driving experience in the old A4. Where a BMW 3 Series is more fun and a Mercedes C-Class more comfortable, the A4 has always occupied the middle ground between them. 

And to a large extent nothing has changed. While our drive through the French mountains wasn’t wholly representative of a life likely to be mainly spent on British motorways, early indications are that the car will continue to be the centre ground between those two premium German rivals.

The A5 isn’t completely adept at soaking up bumps and ripples, although the cars available to us had 19-inch or 20-inch wheels and the sports suspension that is standard on the higher two trim levels. The Sport model, with its 18-inch wheels, is likely to be the sweet spot for ride comfort. 

Claims to have sharpened the steering haven’t translated in a game-changing way, and while the A5 is responsive to inputs, there’s not the weight or feel you get from sportier exec saloons in corners or at roundabouts. Yet it does weight up in longer bends thanks to Audi’s progressive steering tech. 

The 201bhp petrol performs adequately without feeling particularly punchy, and both petrol and diesel engines are refined and quiet on the move. But brake-pedal feel isn’t so good on the diesel, due to the hybrid system, which gives it a less progressive and more grabby tendency. 

Going from the 148bhp to the 201bhp 2.0-litre petrol knocks a clear two seconds off the 0-62mph acceleration time, taking it down to 7.8 seconds, and adds 20mph to the lower-powered car’s 134mph top speed. The diesel, also with 201bhp, is 0.1 seconds quicker than the petrol from 0-62mph, and that sprint time drops below seven seconds with the better traction of the quattro diesel.

Read more about the engines, performance and drive of the Audi A5...

Efficiency for the petrol engines doesn’t improve on what BMW offers. Both versions of the 2.0-litre top out at an official 42.8mpg, and a best of 150g/km CO2 emissions for the 148bhp petrol, and 151g/km for the 201bhp. But those numbers rise with bigger wheels. 

The diesel offers up to 58.9mpg and a best of 125g/km, helped by its new MHEV+ tech. It’s better than most existing mild-hybrid systems, because it’s capable of powering the car independently. But unless you’re driving in Eco mode, it can be hard to coax the car into battery-only work.

Read more about the MPG, emissions and running costs of the Audi A5...

Interior quality has stepped up with the new A5. The cabin is dominated by a huge arching pair of joined screens - a 14.5-inch infotainment display and an 11.9-inch driver panel. The sports seats that are standard across the range are comfortable, if maybe lacking in a little bit of lateral support. 

Top-spec Edition 1 cars get a slightly bizarre third display mounted above the glovebox. This 10.9-inch touchscreen can show the passenger navigation, speed and trip computer displays, plus stream video content. It feels like something no-one has asked for, and isn’t as useful as it could be.

Front and rear passengers each get a pair of USB-C charging points, and up front, S line and Edition 1 cars get a posher squared-off steering wheel that feels smaller and nicer to use than the big round one on Sport models. 

It’s good to see a physical volume knob still present, and its value is emphasised by things such as the number of button presses it takes – at least three – to do something as simple as change the driving modes via the touchscreen. The system has Audi’s nice haptic touch, so there’s a little click feeling when you hit a command, but it’s still harder to use on the move than physical buttons.

Read more about the interior, design and technology of the Audi A5...

The front of the cabin features a pair of cup-holders, a wireless charging pad and a small under-arm stowage area, as well as average-sized door bins that do at least get the more premium touch of rubber lining to stop anything chucked in there from rattling around. Overall there’s space for bits and pieces up front, but the A5 doesn’t excel in this regard. 

That more sloping roofline compared with the old A4 saloon does have an impact for rear passengers. Legroom is good – a big increase in wheelbase over the old A4 means it’s very decent indeed – and even big feet will fit at least partially beneath the front seats to increase comfort. But it’s quite dark, and headroom isn’t as good as it would have been in a more traditional three-box design. Rear passengers also miss out on lining for their door bins, which seems a shame. 

The boot is long and flat with no lip, and the hatchback design means it’s easier to get big loads in than the ‘letterbox’ of the old A4 saloon. But it’s not very deep, and the numbers show that the 445-litre capacity is 15 litres less than in the old A4, and a further five litres behind the A5 Sportback, while BMW’s 3 Series saloon and 4 Series Gran Coupe are both more practical. And the capacity drops further for the four-wheel-drive diesel A5, to just 417 litres.

The boot does at least feature a couple of hooks, a 12V socket and a luggage net, but there’s no clever underfloor stowage. The rear seats fold to make a longer flat area of almost 1,300 litres, but the lever to drop the rear seats can’t be reached from the rear, unlike in the Avant, where it’s positioned in the boot. 

Calling the new A5 a saloon rather than hatchback, or even sportback, presumably absolves Audi of any requirement to fit a rear windscreen wiper, so you’ll be relying on airflow and gravity for rearward vision when it’s wet or cold.

Read more about the practicality, comfort and boot space of the Audi A5...

There are whole menus devoted to operating the driver-assistance systems in the new A5, with up to 18 present depending on spec. All cars get tech such as adaptive cruise control, 360-degree and rear-view cameras, the Park Assist Plus system, and intersection, turn and swerve-assist systems, as well as lane-departure warning and front emergency brake assist. 

Going up to the top-spec Edition 1 adds a top-view camera, lane-change assistant and the proactive passenger-protection system. Euro NCAP is yet to get its hands on the new A5, so we don’t have a crash test score as yet.

Read more about the reliability and safety of the Audi A5...