Audi S5 Review

The Audi S5 sits at the top of the regular A5 range as the understated performance flagship, with both Saloon and Avant body styles offered for buyers with slightly different priorities. That's still the appeal here. The current Audi S5 isn't an outlandish performance car in the way some rivals are. It doesn’t pile on wings, vents and visual drama for the sake of it. Instead, it relies on the usual S-model cues: a more assertive front bumper, larger wheels, darker detailing and just enough subtle aggression to let interested buyers know what they are looking at.

That restraint suits the Audi S5 particularly well because the car’s real appeal isn't theatre, it's polish. The standard V6 petrol engine produces 367PS and 550Nm, which is enough to get the Saloon from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds. That makes it properly quick, but the bigger impression is how easy and smooth that performance feels. Rather than being a spiky, over-tense sports saloon (or estate), the Audi S5 is a premium express that can cover serious ground very quickly without ever making a fuss.

The rest of the package is pitched in the same way. The cabin is high quality and heavily digital, the standard equipment list is generous and the quattro all-wheel-drive system gives the car huge all-weather security. Adaptive dampers, Matrix LED headlights and adaptive cruise assist plus are all part of the standard appeal. Higher trims then build on that with more luxury and more display tech rather than radically changing the car’s character.

That means the Audi S5 makes most sense for buyers who want one car to do everything. It's fast enough to feel special, refined enough to swallow motorway miles and subtle enough not to feel overblown in daily use. The main caveat is price, because the current range sits firmly in premium territory and the Audi S5 is no bargain against key rivals. But if you like the idea of performance with understatement rather than performance with drama, this remains a very appealing formula in either body style.

There's only one engine in the current Audi S5 range, but the 3.0-litre TFSI V6, which produces 367PS and 550Nm, suits the Audi S5 perfectly because it delivers its performance in a smooth, cultured and very accessible way. It's quick enough to feel properly special, but it never feels strained or overdone.

For most buyers, the entry-level Black Edition trim is likely to be the sensible choice. It already gives you the core S5 experience, with the big performance hardware, Matrix LED headlights, adaptive cruise assist plus, quattro with sports differential and sport suspension. Vorsprung is the one to choose if you specifically want the extra display tech and luxury additions, but the basic dynamic and powertrain appeal is already there before you move up.

As for body style, the Saloon is the neater-looking option, but the Avant is the better fit if practicality matters at all. Mechanically, there's little to choose between them, so this is really a head-versus-heart decision rather than a performance one.

The Audi S5 Saloon currently starts at £66,655 in the UK. That already puts it well into premium performance-car territory, and moving up to Vorsprung pushes the price further into territory where buyers will start looking very closely at BMW and Mercedes-AMG alternatives. The S5 Avant sits above it in the range for buyers who want more carrying flexibility, with prices starting at £68,555.

That pricing tells you a lot about what the Audi S5 is trying to be. It's not a cut-price fast saloon or estate. It's positioned as a high-spec, high-finish performance flagship within the regular A5 range. The good news is that it feels expensive in the right places, especially in engine character, cabin quality and standard equipment. The less good news is that some rivals make a slightly stronger case if your priority is driver engagement rather than quiet polish.

The clearest rivals are the BMW M340i and the Mercedes-AMG C43. The BMW is the more obvious choice for buyers who care most about steering feel, balance and outright engagement, while the Mercedes-AMG leans harder into visual attitude and a more extrovert performance brief. The Audi S5 sits between them as the more discreet, more grown-up option. That will either be exactly why you want it or the reason you look elsewhere.

Within the range, the S5 Avant is the obvious step if you like the S5 formula but need more load space. The Saloon remains the cleaner-looking choice, but the Avant is the more practical one.

The Audi S5 is practical enough to work as an everyday car, which is a big part of the appeal. The driving position has a wide range of adjustment, the sports seats are supportive without being over-aggressive and rear-seat space is good enough for adults. That's true in both body styles, though the Avant is the better option if outright carrying ability matters.

In the S5 Saloon, boot space is 445 litres, which is useful rather than class-leading. It's enough for normal family life or a weekend away, but it does not dominate the class on outright luggage capacity. The bigger advantage is that the boot shape is clean and usable rather than awkward.

The S5 Avant makes a stronger case on practicality. Boot space is up to 448 litres, but the big advantage isn't the extra capacity on paper, it’s the wider opening, lower loading lip and more flexible load area. You also get split-folding rear seats and a power-operated tailgate, which make the Avant the easier car to live with if you regularly carry bulky luggage, a pushchair or dog kit. In other words, the Saloon is roomy enough, but the Avant is the version that makes the strongest case as an everyday fast family car.

Against rivals, the Audi S5 is competitive but not exceptional for outright luggage space. The BMW 3 Series Saloon offers 480 litres, while the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Saloon sits at 455 litres. In other words, the Audi S5 is close enough not to feel compromised, but it's not the luggage-space leader. That reinforces the broader character of the car: refined and polished first, outright practicality second.

The Audi S5 Saloon measures 4,835mm long, 1,860mm wide and 1,444mm high. That places it firmly in the compact executive class, close to the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in overall footprint, while still giving it enough presence to feel like a proper long-distance express. The Avant occupies much the same space on the road, but trades a little visual sleekness for added versatility.

The Audi S5 has a much more digital cabin than older S5s, and that's one of the biggest generational changes. Matrix LED headlights with eight selectable light signatures are standard, as is adaptive cruise assist plus with steering intervention. Higher up the range, the car can add a 10.9-inch passenger display and Bang and Olufsen audio with headrest speakers.

The important point is how all this tech works in practice. The screen setup looks modern and feels suitably premium, but the Audi S5 is more touch-led than its predecessor, especially for climate functions. That'sn't ideal from an ergonomics point of view, even if the system is crisp and visually impressive. The saving grace is that Audi has not removed every useful shortcut: a volume dial remains, and drive-mode access is still straightforward, so the whole car does not feel as fiddly as some all-screen rivals.

The Audi S5 uses richer materials than lesser A5 models, and that comes through clearly. Nappa leather sports seats are standard, and the overall trim and upholstery choices do a good job of making the S5 feel like the premium flagship of the range rather than just a faster A5. It's not a wildly flamboyant cabin, but it's a very coherent one, and that suits the car’s broader theme of understated performance.

The current Audi S5 uses a 3.0-litre TFSI V6 petrol engine with mild-hybrid assistance. Output is 367PS and 550Nm, and both the Saloon and the Avant reach 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds. Those figures put the Audi S5 firmly into serious-performance territory, but they only tell part of the story, because the way the engine delivers that performance is at least as important as the numbers themselves.

What really elevates the Audi S5 is the character of the engine. It's smooth, rich and cultured rather than aggressive for the sake of it, which makes the car feel like a proper premium performance model rather than just a regular A5 with more power. There's ample shove throughout the rev range, and the V6 gives the Audi S5 a more expensive, more special feel than a lot of fast four-cylinder rivals can match. That matters, because buyers at this level are paying for the way a car feels as much as they are paying for outright pace.

Whichever body style you choose, the core performance story is broadly the same. The Saloon is fractionally cleaner-looking, but the Avant gives away very little in how it delivers its speed, which is why it makes such a convincing case as the more versatile S5.

This is where the Audi S5 really makes its case. The ride is firmer than on a regular A5, but the adaptive dampers do a good job of giving the car a wider range than you might expect from the standard 20-inch wheels. In Comfort mode, the Audi S5 settles down into a very composed, long-legged cruiser. In Sport, it tightens up just enough to feel sharper without becoming tiring.

The steering is clean and precise rather than especially chatty, and that sums the car up quite neatly. A BMW M340i still gives you more feedback and a little more involvement, but the Audi S5 has a sophisticated, effortless feel that suits its character better. The quattro system gives it enormous traction, and the sports differential on the rear axle adds a welcome dose of agility when you are driving with more intent. It's not wild or playful, but it's far from inert.

At speed, the Audi S5 is in its element. This is the kind of car that makes a long motorway run feel much shorter than it's, because everything about it's so calm and so well resolved. That's why the Audi S5’s dynamic appeal grows on you. It's not trying to be the loudest or most dramatic option in the class. It's trying to be the car you would most happily drive a very long way, very quickly, in complete comfort. That holds true whether you choose the Saloon or the Avant.

The current Audi A5 achieved a top five-star rating from independent safety organisation Euro NCAP rating in December 2024, and that's the safety result the S5 sits under as part of the same model line. Euro NCAP highlighted generally strong occupant protection, though rear-passenger chest protection in the full-width rigid barrier test was rated as marginal. Standard safety and driver-assistance kit includes adaptive cruise assist plus with steering intervention, Matrix LED headlights and Audi’s broader suite of active-safety systems. That gives the Audi S5 a strong current safety story to match its premium positioning.

Official combined fuel economy is 36.7mpg for the Saloon and slightly less at 36.0mpg for the Avant. In real life, the Audi S5 should get close enough to that on a steady run if you drive it sensibly, though it will inevitably fall away if you make regular use of the performance. The bigger 20-inch tyres and the cost of replacing them are worth factoring in as well, because this isn't a cheap-car consumables story even if servicing should remain more manageable than on an RS model.

The standard new-car warranty is three years or 60,000 miles. Audi’s current service-regime guidance for petrol and diesel cars splits between fixed and flexible schedules. On the fixed regime, oil service is every 9,300 miles or 12 months, with inspection service every two years or 18,600 miles. On the flexible regime, servicing can run to every two years or up to 18,600 miles, depending on use and engine requirements. Certain variants may still be fixed-regime only.

Insurance sits in high-performance premium-car territory, as you would expect. The S5 sits in insurance groups 44 to 45 (of 50), which isn't unusual for a car with this level of pace and list price, but it does mean running costs will be considerably above a regular A5.

The Audi S5 is expensive to tax after the first year because every current version sits well above the expensive-car threshold of £40,000. That means it attracts the expensive-car supplement in years two to six, adding £440 a year on top of the standard annual Vehicle Excise Duty rate during that period, bringing the total cost to £640 per year for those five years.