A5 Sportback, because that’s precisely what it is, just without the Sportback appellation, as there’s no A4 sedan from which to differentiate it. We always preferred the looks and added liftback practicality of the A5 Sportback anyway, so no big loss. This combined effort makes sense given the rapid expansion in nameplates as Audi fills out the electric half of its portfolio.
Audi’s compact car hasn’t gone e-tron yet, however. This latest A5 and its S5 performance partner are built on what may be the brand’s final internal-combustion architecture, dubbed Premium Platform Combustion. In addition to being bigger than the outgoing A5 Sportback in every dimension, this new A5 has new looks wrapped around updated tech and a familiar yet slightly improved powertrain.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Type | Front-engine, AWD, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback |
An A5 That Looks Kind of Like an A4
In profile, the A5 looks like the average between a sedan and a Sportback—call it an A4.5—as it’s not obvious that its raked rear glass is attached to a hatch instead of terminating ahead of a traditional sedan trunk. Its surfaces appear a little more chiseled than those of the old A4 and A5, and flush door-release pockets add to the muscular sleekness. Audi’s busy lighting department came up with available DRLs and OLED taillights that feature eight lighting signatures that an owner can choose from for an extra bit of personalization.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Turbocharged & intercooled DOHC inline-4 |
| Displacement | 121 in³ / 1984 cm³ |
| Block / Head Material | Iron block / Aluminum head |
| Fuel System | Direct fuel injection |
| Power | 268 hp @ 6500 rpm |
| Torque | 295 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm |
Another light innovation is found inside, where six dimmable liquid-crystal panels are available through a glass roof with Variable Light Control. The A5 has an intriguing stripe mode that switches the pattern between blocks of opaque and clear glass, even though the opaque-to-clear treatment is not new. Other than getting a noncontinuous tan, we couldn’t think of a great use case for this. We anticipate that the function that resembles a conventional sunshade will be used more frequently.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Wheelbase | 113.8 in |
| Length | 190.1 in |
| Width | 73.2 in |
| Height | 57.0 in |
| Passenger Volume F/R | 55 / 43 ft³ |
| Cargo Volume F/R | 37 / 23 ft³ |
| Curb Weight (Est.) | 4150 lb |
Your eye is likely to be drawn to the A5’s wall of screens, which Audi calls Digital Stage. It consists of an 11.9-inch gauge display (Audi still calls this Virtual Cockpit) that sits next to a 14.5-inch center touchscreen. An available 10.9-inch passenger display lets your co-pilot mess with audio and navigation and features an active filter that blocks the driver from seeing video content when the vehicle is in motion. We appreciate the subtle curve to the center display, which makes its farthest edge easier to reach. If that’s not enough to look at, a color head-up display is optional.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| 0–60 mph | 5.2 sec |
| 0–100 mph | 13.3 sec |
| 1/4-Mile | 13.9 sec |
| Top Speed | 130 mph |
The A5 is again equipped with a progressive steering system that tightens up the ratio as you wind on lock. Audi now mounts the rack directly to the unibody for more direct feedback, which we liked, but the system is still lacking in overall feel, something we found with the new S5, as well as these cars’ Q5 and SQ5 crossover platform-mates.
Aside from the numb steering, attacking corners in the A5 doesn’t uncover any major faults. The passive dampers in the A5 keeps the body level enough and mostly free of big perturbations that we didn’t miss the adaptive setup that’s offered on the S5. The tune is definitely more on the comfort side, but you still feel the occasional road imperfection and have enough sense of what the car is doing to push it. In fact, this car feels just a little less nose-heavy than previous A4s and A5s, imparting more of a sporty flair than before.
| Type | MPG |
|---|---|
| Combined | 26 mpg |
| City | 22 mpg |
| Highway | 31 mpg |
With all of these improvements, Audi is making it slightly confusing to shop for a new 2025 A5. These non-Sportback models are being sold alongside A5s and S5s from the previous generation that are also labeled as 2025s. The truly new model is once again offered in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trims. The entry price is $50,995 for the Premium, which is just slightly higher than the outgoing 2025 A5 Sportback’s. The upshot is that you won’t have to explain what Sportback means to your friends when they happily plop down in the back seat.
