In 1994 Audi launched an all-new alternative for its compact BMW 3 Collection and Mercedes-Benz C-Class competitor, the 80, and gave it a brand new identify, A4.

Quick forward-precisely 30 years and the A4 has grow to be the A5, obtainable in each sedan (liftback) and wagon (‘Avant’) physique kinds.

Piping-hot RS 5 flagships are more likely to be part of the brand new S5 variants (learn our evaluate right here), however replacements for the prevailing A5 coupe and convertible aren’t anticipated.

The rebranding is a part of a company-wide technique designed to make clearer the distinction between Audi’s electrical and inside combustion engine fashions.

Going ahead, Audis powered by electrons can have mannequin names with a fair quantity, and people powered by good old style hydrocarbons will sport odd-numbered mannequin designations.

The step-change from 80 to A4 in 1994 arguably concerned extra profound modifications than does the 2024 transition from A4 to A5.

However Audi is positioning the A5 as a brand new car, although it has an terrible lot of acquainted {hardware} beneath its subtly redesigned pores and skin.

Subsequent to the previous Audi 80, the unique A4 regarded revolutionary. Subsequent to the outgoing A4, the brand new A5 seems evolutionary.

Appearances could be misleading, although. The A5 is greater all spherical than the outgoing A4, at 67mm longer, 13mm wider, and 11mm larger taller. Most significantly, nevertheless, the wheelbase has been stretched 80mm.

And whereas the A5 rolls on what is actually an evolution of the Volkswagen Group MLB structure that underpinned the A4, the platform has been renamed PPC.

PPC stands for ‘Premium Platform Combustion’, and the brand new nomenclature is designed to align it with – whereas differentiating it from – the PPE (Premium Platform Electrical) structure that not too long ago debuted below the brand new battery-electric Audi Q6 e-tron and Porsche Macan.

Dimensional variations apart, the PPC is in any other case basically MLB by way of its multi-link suspension entrance and rear, and the actual fact its longitudinal four- and six-cylinder engines are mounted forward of the entrance axle centre line. The large distinction between PPC and MLB is by way of its digital structure.

The A5 contains a model of the E³ scalable end-to-end digital structure being rolled out throughout the Volkswagen Group. Dubbed E3 1.2, it’s anchored round 5 excessive efficiency computer systems that oversee all car capabilities from drivetrain and help techniques to consolation and security techniques to infotainment and back-end networking.

The A5’s sheetmetal is all-new, and whereas the execution is at first look doesn’t deviate from acquainted Audi themes, the surfacing and detailing, mixed with the dimensional modifications, give the automotive a extra refined presence.

Among the many key parts of the brand new exterior design are the broader and flatter single-frame grille, and the sunshine bar extending proper throughout the tail, each of which emphasise the automotive’s width.

Audi is very pleased with the lighting on the brand new A5. The non-compulsory matrix LED headlights and OLED tail-lights permit house owners to select from eight completely different digital mild signatures.

The OLED tail-lights are next-level stuff, comprising six panels with 60 individually controllable panels per phase that may generate a brand new sample a number of instances a second, permitting the show to look animated. Cleverly, the system ensures the general mild worth at all times meets rules.

It’s a good-looking trying factor within the steel, the A5, notably in Avant wagon trim and on the non-compulsory 20-inch wheels fitted to all of the check automobiles we drove in France.

The largest shock is the A5 sedan isn’t a sedan. It’s a hatchback, or extra appropriately a liftback, with a bustle and a big tailgate that makes loading and unloading the boot a breeze.

How a lot does the Audi A5 value?

The brand new Audi A5 and S5 vary is anticipated to reach in Australia within the first half of 2025.

Audi Australia has but to substantiate pricing, however European costs counsel the lineup can be solely nominally dearer than the outgoing A4, which is at the moment priced from $71,900 plus on-roads for the 35 TFSI S line sedan, and $84,615 plus on-roads for the 45 TFSI quattro S line Avant.

What’s the Audi A5 like on the within?

Audi needs the A5 to be seen as a rival to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the most recent model of which is plusher and extra luxuriously appointed than earlier fashions, and so, as with the outside, the inside of the A5 is chock-full of acquainted Audi design themes tweaked to ship a extra upscale atmosphere.

From the driving force’s seat the cabin is dominated by the panoramic curved show that arcs throughout nearly two-thirds of the sprint and features a 11.9-inch configurable digital instrument cluster and a 14.5-inch MMI touchscreen show. 

If that isn’t sufficient for you by way of screens, an extra 10.9-inch show for the entrance seat passenger is on the market as an choice. This display screen permits your co-driver to go to web sites, stream video content material, navigate, or discover a petrol station. A dynamic privateness mode means the driving force can not see distracting content material, corresponding to movies, whereas driving.

The execution is oddly clunky, although, the additional display screen trying considerably of an afterthought in an inside that’s in any other case cleverly coherent.

The entrance door handles, for instance, are built-in with trim parts that reach from both aspect of the sprint, and ambient lighting strips that dive behind the screens, mixed with oblique lighting beneath, make them seem to drift within the cabin, particularly at night time.

An non-compulsory lighting strip that runs from A-pillar to A-pillar on the base of the windscreen does greater than merely present ambient lighting, nevertheless. Audi calls it a dynamic interplay mild, and its completely different colored LEDs are used to welcome occupants into the cabin and sign when the A5 is locked or unlocked.

Flick the indicator stalk, and the related finish of the lighting strip pulses inexperienced in time with the symptoms.

A lot of the inside switchgear is acquainted Audi fare, however the high quality of the supplies by way of seat, door, and sprint trims is a step up from the outgoing A4. 

The grey-on-grey toned material seats within the A5 sedan we examined felt extra cossetting than the leather-trimmed gadgets, and the feel of the fabric added curiosity to the door trims and to the sprint aspect stretching throughout the cabin beneath the screens.

That stated, the brown leather-based trim on the seats, doorways, and sprint of the A5 Avant we drove delivered a cultured two-tone atmosphere to the inside that makes a welcome change from boring black on black. 

Not solely does the A5 look a lot classier inside than the A4, it’s roomier, too. Most of that 80mm stretch within the wheelbase over the A4 has been devoted to the A5’s rear seat passengers, who now have 72mm extra legroom.

One gripe: Whereas designers exit of their approach to attempt to persuade us it appears similar to the lacquer end on a $100,000 Steinway grand piano, the swathe of shiny black plastic on the A5’s centre console appears similar to… a swathe of shiny black plastic. And never solely will it quickly be coated in fingerprints, however it’s additionally simply scratched.

What’s below the bonnet?

You’ll not be capable to inform what’s below the bonnet of the Audi A5 by trying on the badge on the bootlid. Audi has dropped the cumbersome – and primarily meaningless – 35 and 45 TFSI badging used on the A4. 

Australian A5s can be powered by mildly revised variations the acquainted 2.0-litre TFSI four-cylinder petrol engine. The key improve is the adoption of a brand new variable turbine geometry turbocharger that helps the engine develop extra torque at decrease revs than earlier than. 

Different modifications embrace a friction-optimised timing chain drive, the mixing of cost air cooling into the consumption manifold, improved oil provide to the crankshaft, and a fuel-injection system that runs at larger strain. 

As with the outgoing A4, the entry-level front-drive A5 will get a 110kW model of the TFSI engine that makes its peak energy from 3900rpm to 6000rpm and most torque of 280Nm over 1400-3600rpm. Audi claims this engine will get the front-drive A5 from 0-100km/h in 9.8 seconds on the best way to a high velocity of 216km/h.

Quattro A5s are powered by a model of the TFSI engine that makes 150kW over 4300-6000rpm and peak torque of 340Nm over 1200-4000rpm. Audi claims the 150kW quattro fashions will get from 0-100km/h in 7.8 seconds, with the sedan hitting a high velocity of 248km/h and the Avant 245km/h.

Neither engine will get the MHEV plus enhanced mild-hybrid system fitted to the two.0-litre TDI diesel engine obtainable in European markets, and to the 270kW 3.0-litre TFSI V6 that powers the brand new S5 sedan and Avant fashions. 

In easy phrases, the 48-volt MHEV plus system includes a belt alternator starter, an e-motor mounted adjoining to the engine and transmission that acts on the transmission output shaft, and a water-cooled 1.7kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. 

The system can present as much as 18kW and 230Nm on demand and recoup as a lot as 25kW via deceleration and regenerative braking, then ship it to the battery.

Audi says the four-cylinder TFSI engine could be geared up with MHEV plus – it’s already obtainable on four-cylinder petrol-powered Q5s in Europe – however selected to not provide the system on the petrol-powered A5 to make it extra worth aggressive towards the Mercedes-Benz C 200. 

That’s a win for Australian customers in one other means, too. The MHEV plus-equipped A5 TDI diesel we drove on the launch didn’t really feel as clean to drive because the non-MHEV plus TFSI automobiles, primarily due to the system’s barely clunky handoffs between electrical and inside combustion energy.

How does the Audi A5 drive?

The place has this Audi been hiding! Audi’s obsession with front-wheel drive and longitudinal engines mounted forward of the entrance axle – which made all-wheel drive drivelines simpler and cheaper to execute – has for many years resulted in automobiles that understeered. 

Generations of Audi chassis engineers have thus spent thousands and thousands of man hours making an attempt to show Isaac Newton improper, to get their nose-heavy automobiles to deal with extra like their rear-drive rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. With the A5, they seem to have cracked the code. 

The A5 quattro responds obediently to the helm the second you pull the steering wheel off centre, and the front-end grips resolutely via all phases of the nook. There isn’t a discernable understeer, no sensation that the burden of the engine is making an attempt to tug the nostril of the automotive vast.

Audi engineers say your complete steering system has been stiffened to enhance really feel. Entrance wheel camber has additionally been elevated, and the subframe bushings have been adjusted on the rear axle to minimise the delay within the build-up of lateral power between the entrance and rear axles.

Lastly, the damper settings have been rigorously tuned to regulate physique motions.

True, there’s not a number of adjustability within the chassis. The 150kW engine doesn’t have the muscle to instigate vital weight switch to the rear wheels below acceleration, although the all-wheel drive system will ship as much as 70 per cent of torque to the rear wheels below laborious acceleration. 

However, helped by the usual brake torque vectoring system, the A5 will get into corners a lot faster and may maintain larger mid-corner speeds than the A4 with little obvious effort. Be exact together with your inputs and this Audi will sashay down a winding street at a formidable tempo.

It could be barely slower in a straight line, however the Avant quattro feels a smidge extra alert into corners than the sedan. That’s as a result of the wagon bodywork provides about 15kg to the general mass, and it’s all around the rear axle, which makes the Avant rotate only a fraction quicker on the change of route.

There’s one caveat to all this: All our check automobiles have been quattros fitted with the sportiest wheel/tyre mixture – 20-inch wheels shod with 245/35 Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres – and the top-spec non-compulsory suspension.

The A5 is on the market with three completely different suspension tunes – Normal; Sport, which lowers the trip peak 20mm; and Sport with EDC, which provides digital damper management to the combo. It additionally comes with wheels ranging in dimension from 17- to 20-inch. 

Primarily based on our expertise in France, the chassis fundamentals really feel good, however we’ll have an interest to get behind the wheel of an A5 with the usual suspension and commonplace wheels and tyres to substantiate it.

What do you get?

Australian commonplace specification for the 2025 Audi A5 hasn’t been confirmed but.

2025 Audi A5 highlights:

• Alloy wheels
• LED headlights
• Energy tailgate
• 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster
• 14.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Satellite tv for pc navigation
• Audi Assistant
• Wi-fi cellphone charger

In different markets the Audi A5 is on the market in three exterior trims: Fundamental, Superior, and S line. The S line will get bigger entrance intakes both aspect of the grille, and a extra aggressive fake diffuser on the rear.

The S line can be obtainable with a black exterior bundle that contains a black grille, aspect sill trims, door handles, window trims, and mirror housings, as black aluminium trim strips across the aspect home windows and blacked-out exhaust shops. The Audi ring badges on the entrance and rear of the automotive are completed in anthracite gray.

Consumers can select from 11 exterior paint colors, two of which – Grenadine Crimson and Horizon Blue metallics – are new for the A5.

Elective Extras

Three tools packages can be found: Tech, Tech Plus, and Tech Professional. Highlights embrace:

Tech contains: 

• LED headlights
• Three-zone computerized air-conditioning
• Audi MMI Plus

Tech Plus contains:

• Matrix LED headlights
• Entrance passenger show
• Consolation bundle Plus

Tech Professional contains:

• Digital OLED hind lights
• Heated steering wheel
• Heated entrance and rear seats
• Sports activities suspension with digital damper management

Different obtainable choices embrace:

• 10.9-inch passenger show display screen
• 20 speaker, 810W Bang & Olufsen 3D audio system with head restraint audio system
• Panoramic glass roof with switchable transparency
• Electrical steering column adjustment with reminiscence perform
• 19- and 20-inch alloy wheels
• Matrix LED headlights
• OLED tail-lights with lively digital mild signature
• Dynamic interplay inside lighting

Is the Audi A5 secure?

The Audi A5 is but to be independently examined by Euro NCAP, however comes with all the standard lively and passive security techniques and is on the market with various refined driver help techniques.

Normal security tools hasn’t been confirmed for Australia but. Highlights for European-spec fashions embrace:

• Rear parking support with distance show
• Cruise management
• Lane departure warning
• Consideration and fatigue detection

Elective security options in Europe embrace:

• Emergency Help
• Lively Entrance Help
• Parking Assistant Plus
• Visitors sign-based velocity limiter with velocity adjustment.

How a lot does the Audi A5 value to run?

As with different Volkswagen Group manufacturers in Australia, all new Audi fashions are coated by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee. When it comes to servicing, Audi provided three- and five-year servicing packages, with service intervals set at 12 months or 15,000km for the A4, and that is more likely to proceed with the A5.

No native gasoline consumption figures are but obtainable, however Audi claims gasoline consumption of seven.6L/100km to six.6L/100km for the front-drive A5 with the 110kW engine on the WLTP mixed cycle, and seven.9L/100km to six.6L/100km for the A5 quattro with the 150kW engine.

CarExpert’s Tackle the Audi A5

Audi needs the A5 to be perceived as a extra premium car than the A4. And by way of the outside and inside design, it has succeeded. The larger and roomier A5 is certainly a extra refined trying automotive than its predecessor.

Extra importantly, that sense of sophistication additionally extends to the best way the Audi S5 drives. This Audi feels as snug and premium as a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, but, because of steering that feels higher than that of a BMW 3 Collection, is satisfying to drive briskly on a winding street.

Inquisitive about shopping for an Audi A5? Get in contact with certainly one of CarExpert’s trusted sellers right here

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