2025 Audi S5 First Drive Review: Converging On Luxury Sports Sedan Perfection

The archetypal sedan is dying, pushed by a push in direction of crossovers and SUVs; however even with a push in direction of high-riding mass-market fashions, some manufacturers are combating to maintain the sedan alive. Audi is one in every of them, and on a current journey to Good within the south of France, DrivingOnRoad was afforded an opportunity to check the brand new Audi S5 Sedan (because it’s named in Europe) on the international media launch earlier than it makes landfall within the US late subsequent yr.

The importance of this mannequin is twofold: on the one hand, that is the primary of a number of new combustion-powered vehicles to be primarily based on Audi’s new Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) structure, whereas on the opposite, that is the official sounding of the dying knell for the combustion-powered Audi A4, which can grow to be an EV in its subsequent incarnation.

First Drive occasions present our preliminary impressions of a car in a restricted setting beneath restricted time constraints. The Audi S5 pushed was the European specification mannequin, together with a number of options not coming to the US like a gentle hybrid system. As such, this First Drive is just indicative of what to anticipate. Regulate DrivingOnRoad for our complete Take a look at Drive evaluate which can observe as quickly because the S5 arrives stateside.

What Is It: Changing The Audi S4 Sedan, Persevering with The S5 Sportback Lineage

Audi is renaming its lineup, with even-numbered names representing EVs and odd numbers turning into combustion derivatives, so regardless of being known as an S5, Audi’s bigwigs in Germany declare this can be a direct substitute for the S4 and due to this fact a rival to the Mercedes-AMG C43 and BMW M340i. And it appears it at first look, till you notice the normal three-box sedan form really hides a trunk lid that opens precisely just like the previous S5 Sportback, revealing a cavernous trunk with fold-flat rear seats that provide you with SUV-like practicality. This, then, is a convergence of two mannequin strains – the S4 Sedan and the S5 Sportback – and whereas in Europe, this will probably be labeled the S5 Sedan, within the US, it would merely be named the S5, owing to there solely being one physique model current within the US market. Nevertheless, whichever mannequin you see this as a substitute for, the S4 as we all know it would quickly disappear.

This new S5 is the primary mannequin primarily based on the PPC structure, which is an evolution of the MLBevo platform imbued with an all-new digital structure shared throughout Audi’s and Porsche’s newest electrical choices.

Design: Redefining The Archetypal Sedan Design

The practicality of the previous S5 Sportback was laborious to dispute, however the sloped roofline at all times seemed awkward and hunchbacked. The brand new automotive adopts a much more conventional three-box sedan structure that makes this seem extra ‘regular’ – one of many few instances regular is greatest, for my part. This can be a large automotive, larger than the fashions it replaces in virtually each dimension, however because of correct proportions, it would not look cumbersome or ungainly.

The proportions are spot on, with an extended hood, brief rear finish, and daring design components like an enormous grille, and accentuated air curtain guides on the entrance bumper. Giant wheels, 20 inches in diameter on the Ascari Blue automotive I drove, assist issues look smaller than they’re, and assist in an total cohesive design. And, reward be, there are actual exhausts!

There is a saying that good design is unremarkable, and that is the case right here; it appears engaging however is uncluttered and unfussed by pointless components. It isn’t fairly the minimalism of the first-gen S5, but it surely’s equally as engaging. However two components stood out. The primary was the most recent incarnation of Audi’s OLED head- and taillights, replete with eight programmable designs that may theoretically change whereas in movement, however because of US laws will solely change each time you flip the automotive on and off once more. As a consequence of US legislation, we can’t even get the gorgeous ‘glowing’ impact of the taillights, or the automated change to vivid, strong taillights if somebody approaches the rear of the automotive too rapidly.

I digress, as that subject is one thing for a dialogue of its personal. The second factor I actually appreciated was the door handles, that are flush cavities with a capacitive launch button inside. They felt nice, and as a primary handshake with the automotive, they made a robust introduction.

Inside: Positively Cavernous The place It Issues

Cabin house is a relative idea, depending on the scale of the particular person sitting inside. However for me, at six ft tall and a buck eighty, there was greater than sufficient room each within the entrance and rear seats for me to comfortably sit behind myself with knee and headroom to spare. The trunk is arguably the place the practicality is at its greatest, although, because the Sportback-style trunk means 15.7* cubic ft of house can rework into 45.9* cubic ft once you fold the rear seats. It is merely cavernous, and an enormous boon for the sedan phase, which regularly has its lack of practicality used in opposition to it by consumers attempting to justify buying a crossover as a substitute.

*Based mostly on European specs, take a look at automotive outfitted with mild-hybrid system not coming to America, which can influence out there storage. US figures are to be decided previous to market launch.

Inside Know-how & Infotainment: Ahead Pondering However An Alternative Missed

No new premium automotive can launch with out the most recent expertise and a plethora of screens, together with one for the entrance passenger. Audi pulls off the latter higher than most, with a ten.9-inch display screen that integrates neatly into the design of the sprint and may be switched off fully or made to show an ornamental sample to keep away from trying like an eyesore. The core screens are angled in direction of the motive force – Audi emphasised the S5 being driver-focused this time round – comprising an 11.9-inch instrumentation display screen supported by the primary infotainment’s 14.5-inch touchscreen.

The most recent model of Audi’s Multi Media Interface (MMI) has native app performance so you possibly can obtain Spotify, YouTube, and even video games. My transient sojourn in Good afforded me a while to play with these programs as each driver and co-pilot, revealing some nice factors, but in addition a number of areas of concern. The MMI system’s UI is comparatively intuitive and responds rapidly to the touch inputs, together with pinch and swipe gestures. It additionally makes use of ChatGPT and voice instructions to allow you to management infotainment and local weather settings, but it surely did not like informal language and solely responded after I used extra inflexible descriptive instructions: “Hey Audi, set the motive force’s local weather management to 84 levels,” as a substitute of “Hey Audi, flip the temperature up.” Herein lies one other flaw: simply give me bodily buttons to regulate the local weather. On a couple of event, I needed to take my eyes off the highway to discover a primary perform on the 14.5-inch display screen. It was each infuriating and harmful.

The passenger display screen let me down considerably, because it largely mirrors the first MMI display screen, however with restricted performance. You may pull up a show to regulate the therapeutic massage seats; this display screen reveals the motive force’s seat in addition to the passenger’s, however do you assume I might set a therapeutic massage routine for the motive force? No. Likewise, I might join my Android machine by way of Bluetooth (wi-fi Android Auto and Apple CarPlay come customary) to the automotive, however there was no devoted Android Auto show for the passenger display screen via which I might use varied apps. If the passenger display screen goes to merely give me a watered-down model of the primary display screen’s features, then what is the level?

The one factor I did like was that after I opened up a YouTube video from the passenger aspect, my driving associate was unable to observe it; the display screen appeared clean to her when a video was enjoying, though when navigating menus, she might clearly see the whole lot I used to be doing. The Bang & Olufsen Premium Sound System was additionally notable, now that includes audio system within the headrest via which cellphone calls and navigation instructions are performed; it was initially disconcerting, but it surely rapidly made certain I by no means missed a command when driving round a rustic unfamiliar to me.

Efficiency: Punchy V6 Meets Twin-Clutch Swiftness

Underneath the hood of the S5, there’s evolution, not revolution. As a substitute of giving the newcomer a detuned model of the Porsche-derived 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 from the RS5, Audi’s caught with the three.0-liter V6 from the previous automotive with a number of updates. These embody variable turbine geometry (VTG) for the turbocharger, a swap to the Miller combustion cycle, and, in Europe no less than, a 48-volt gentle hybrid system. The US would not get the latter, although, with Audi officers citing two key causes for this:

1. American consumers will not be snug with the engine switching off at freeway speeds because the MHEV engages a ‘coasting’ perform
2. The cease/begin system and switchover between electrical propulsion and combustion drive at low speeds are too jerky

Whereas I really feel we won’t mollycoddle consumers and conceal progress for worry of change, the second level is fully legitimate. On a couple of event throughout my a number of hours driving the S5, the beginning/cease system jerked to life somewhat too harshly, and the system did not like once you slowed behind site visitors to virtually a halt solely to speed up right into a slip-lane; this resulted within the drivetrain bucking uncomfortably.

To work round this, the American-spec S5 will lose somewhat on the fuel mileage entrance and depend on a extra conventional begin/cease system that behaves smoother. Whereas we’ll have to attend to drive a US-spec mannequin to verify how large the advance is, what will not change is the seven-speed DCT we sampled. I discover it curious Audi did not use the 8-speed ZF computerized right here because it does in virtually each different longitudinal-platform mannequin, with Audi engineers telling me on the occasion that with the VTG and revised gas mapping, the DCT was higher suited to managing the torque the motor produces. Simply how a lot of the jerkiness I skilled at low speeds was all the way down to the gearbox and the way a lot was a results of the MHEV system stays to be seen.

What was obvious was that the engine nonetheless depends closely on enhance, and beneath excessive throttle functions, you possibly can hear the turbos spool for what appears like an age earlier than the transmission abruptly kicks down and bumps you within the kidneys with a sudden thrust ahead. Even in sportier driving modes – and with the gearbox hanging onto a decrease ratio in S mode – there is a disparity between throttle inputs and the engine’s response. That is the place I really feel the ZF torque converter computerized may need made issues higher, bringing within the torque hit in a smoother vogue than the S5 at the moment delivers.

Driving Impressions: Extra Communicative, However Nonetheless A GT At Coronary heart

In my 13 years of listening to automakers wax lyrical concerning the updates made to a automotive from one era to the following, I’ve seldom heard Audi emphasize a connection to the motive force as being a precedence. However this time round, that was a key level. The most important change on this regard is the steering; it is nonetheless an electronically power-assisted steering (EPAS) setup, but it surely now options inflexible mounts on the steering rack which removes a lot of the vagueness and even transmits a good quantity of highway texture to the motive force via the wheel. It is a variable geometry rack, so the extra lock you wind on, the tighter it turns, and across the tight hairpins of southern France, the sizable Sportback did a exceptional job of constructing some tight turns. However regardless of this nimbleness, the automotive tends to really feel large. The excessive shoulder line (even when lifting the seats greater than I historically wish to) created a blind spot on the entrance passenger aspect that made tight right-hand turns trickier to navigate than I would have appreciated.

It isn’t simply the steering that is been stiffened, although. Stiffer axle bearings have been utilized, and on the rear axle, stiffer bushings and anti-roll bars are current. When requested in the event that they needed to soften different parts just like the dampers to compensate, Audi’s suspension engineers mentioned the suspension geometry was recalibrated in such a method that they did not must overcorrect with softer dampers. This might simply have resulted in a harsher, extra jarring journey, but it surely would not. As a substitute, there’s rather less lean, somewhat extra management of the physique when scything via twisting roads, and extra suggestions as to what the chassis is doing beneath you.

While you hit a bump, there is not any wincing, even on 20-inch wheels with low-profile rubber. Enlargement joints are handled swiftly and there is a suppleness to the way in which the S5 rides. You hear the highway greater than you’re feeling it, with a good quantity of tire noise from the rear of the automotive on tough highway surfaces however not one of the accompanying jitteriness via the physique itself.

Audi’s Days Of Understeer Are Over

So Audi’s acquired the sense of connection proper; this is likely one of the most communicative mainstream Audi fashions I’ve pushed in years. However how does it really deal with? In a phrase: solidly. The steering is one factor, however higher damaging camber dialed into the suspension supplies higher grip ranges and a extra progressive ramp-up to the bounds of adhesion. Audi additionally combines brake-based torque-vectoring with a torque-vectoring rear differential, the mixture of which was virtually imperceptible in the way in which it behaved. However what was noticeable was the sharpness with which the entrance of the S5 became corners and the immediacy with which it responded to inputs.

This can be a large automotive, and it by no means as soon as felt smaller than its 190 inches, but it surely nonetheless behaved remarkably competently via the twisty stuff. Audis have been perennially slated for his or her tendency to understeer beneath duress, even at seven-tenths, however there’s higher neutrality now than earlier than. This is not a automotive that likes to hustle at ten-tenths – it nonetheless feels too giant and ungainly for that – however as much as 80- or 90%, it is fairly blissful to get down and boogie a lot better than S-badged Audis of the previous. An RS model is incoming, and if the S5 is the platform from which Audi launches the brand new RS mannequin, it must be good.

Conclusion: Much less Sedan, Extra GT – A Profitable Mixture

In science, the speculation of convergent evolution is when a number of species independently evolve in direction of comparable options, like sharks and dolphins having an identical physique form regardless of having completely different evolutionary roots. With the brand new S5, convergent evolution has discovered its approach to the standard three-box sedan, making it extra fashionable and sensible because it strives to outlive the SUV revolution.

The packaging is on level, it appears pretty much as good as an S5 ought to, and there is a distinct enchancment in how the S5 drives. It is sharper and extra communicative than earlier than, however with a touch of restraint that paints it as extra of a grand tourer than a real sports activities sedan. It is a large plush brute that may crush miles in consolation, whether or not behind the wheel or within the passenger seat, however one which will probably be equally at residence on the college run.

This can be a totally spectacular package deal, however I nonetheless have hang-ups concerning the engine/gearbox mixture that should await the US-spec to reach sans the MHEV system earlier than we will solid a remaining verdict. However so far as preliminary impressions go, the 2025 S5 supplies would-be AMG C43 consumers with another that appears, drives, and does life higher.

After all, worth could play into the choice for a lot of consumers, and that is the one element Audi cannot affirm simply but. The S5 – and the usual A5 Quattro – arrive within the second half of 2025, with pricing to be confirmed nearer to the time. However Audi representatives informed DrivingOnRoad they’re aiming for comparable pricing to the outgoing mannequin’s $57,900 base MSRP.