2025 Audi A5 | MotorWeek Road Test

Motor Week is made possible by Auto Value and Bumper 2 Bumper and TireRack.com Audi likes to keep us on our toes. It wasn't enough that there were already coupe hatchback and convertible versions of the A5 to keep track of. Now there's an all-new A5, which is still a five-door hatchback, yet Audi calls it a sedan, designed to replace the A4 in their lineup. Are you still with me? Well, let's take a deep dive into this new A5 and sort it all out. With an all-new third-generation 2025 Audi A5 comes a new mission. No longer the sidekick of the A4 and A6, it now looks to combine its coupe-ish style with A4 sensibility and hold down the small sedan space in the lineup. So what was the A5 Sportback is now just the A5 and it's bigger in every dimension over last gen. And no matter what you call it, we love the flexibility and the accessibility of the hatch. It's got a nice wide opening and you can just fit things in it that you couldn't in four-door. It may look a little less sporty than the Sportback, but it's also a lot classier than the A4 with smoother body panels and less aggressiveness all around. I'm not sure what's wrong with normal door handles that we have to be getting rid of them, but add Audi to the list using electric switches. I mean, they do look pretty good, but in use, our staff has mixed opinions. Now, Americans don't traditionally buy a lot of hatchbacks unless you call them SUVs, but we'll buy just about anything if it looks cool enough. This Horizon Blue Metallic is not the most exciting of colors, but it speaks to Audi's philosophy of understated design. Now inside, that's a whole different story. In here, there is a rather tall housing with two huge screens. This one right here in front of me has all the driver info. It's what we used to call gauges. This one has all your usual multimedia info. There's even one over here on the dash for the passenger too. The sunroof has a digital shade, so by using the button up here, you can let all the light in. You can let just some light in in segments, and even though the roof doesn't physically open or close, the sequencing makes it look like it does. For the hearing senses, you can get 810 watts of 3D surround sound with up to 20 speakers, four of which are integrated into the front headrests. An active LED light bar runs along the base of the windshield, and there's a head-up display that's 85% bigger than last year. It's a lot of tech, but most of it is very intuitive to operate and practical too. And you're certainly aware of it all while you're driving. For example, here on the dash, we have a light bar that sort of serves as an internal indicator when your turn signals are active, and it'll also show certain safety things. It's actually pretty cool. What's trippy are the headrest speakers. When you have the navigation system active, it'll actually relay directions to you through the headrest. It sounds kind of cool in theory, and it is in practice, but sometimes it can also be a little jarring. Now, as for the head-up display, lots of information here and lots of really crisp animations, but even that can get a little distracting. Now, under the hood, no surprises there. We've got a 2-liter turbo 4. This Volkswagen family power plant continues to impress us. Here in the A5, that's 268 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque, which is a good place for this to be. It's not going to run out from underneath of you. It's certainly not unwieldy, but it's enough power to get you going with ease. You don't feel like you're stressing the engine out, and when the occasion for fun arises, it certainly obliges. If those numbers aren't high enough for you, the S5 uses Audi's V6 turbo for 362 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. But for most people, this 4 is enough, and it certainly got the job done at the track, getting to 60 in 5.9 seconds and through the quarter mile in 14.4 seconds at 99 miles per hour. Aside from a somewhat firm shift in a second, the launch in the A5 is relatively drama-free, and the same can be said for the traction. It hooks up with these, but with respectable numbers like that, it's plenty quick. Now, through our cone course, that's where you can find some extra drama. I've got the TCS in sport mode, and for the most part, this all-wheel drive system will keep you on line. But if you lift off that throttle, you can cop some serious oversteer, which to me is just a good time. Braking performance was solid, too, with straight and true stops from 60, averaging just 107 feet, and we experienced very little nosedive. Diving into those all-important government fuel economy ratings, they are 22 city, 31 highway, and 26 combined. Our average was right on at 26.3 miles per gallon of premium, and that's an average energy impact score with 11.4 barrels of oil consumption and 5.8 tons of CO2 emissions annually. A5 pricing starts with premium trim at $50,995. Next up is premium plus at $54,595. And our prestige test car tops the lineup at $57,445. Audi has always seemed to be more about impressing their owners than onlookers, but as the 2025 A5 has made a move from sidekick to the main attraction, it's gotten more appealing to both. The MotorWeek app, which includes our latest reviews and feature stories, is now available for mobile devices.