2025 Audi S5 Review: New Name, Same Game

This is not the original intro to this review. That explained why this car is called the Audi S5, even though it effectively does the same job the S4 used to, as opposed to being the coupe version the S5 used to be.

After barely a year, though, Audi decided to ditch its naming strategy that would have seen petrol and diesel cars get odd-numbered badges and EVs get even ones. That means its mid-sized saloon and estate becoming the A5 instead of the A4 will forever remain a quirk of this short-lived system.

So, the A5 now comes as a liftback saloon or Avant estate, although both slightly lower and swoopier than the previous A4. The old two-door A5? Fuhgeddaboutit. Lesser petrol and diesel engines are available, but this is the medium-spice S5. A full three chillis is due to arrive later this year in the shape of a hybrid RS5.

But while the name’s changed, the fast Audi recipe hasn’t particularly. A 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 – back to drinking from the green pump, after a brief flirtation with diesel for the last S4 – is boosted by a titchy electric motor that lets the S5 start up silently and fills in some gaps on the move. Obviously, it’s four-wheel drive, with Audi’s traditional full-time, ever-so-slightly rear-biased setup.

Total output is 362bhp and 406lb ft of torque, making for 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and a very familiar-sounding 155mph top speed. From a standstill, there’s a lengthy throttle delay in everything but Dynamic mode, but clear that and the S5 properly cracks on, building up a head of steam while the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox shifts rapidly.

In that nebulous, loosely-defined place called the real world, it’s a very quick car, a reminder that even in the era of the 717bhp BMW M5, almost exactly half that is plenty. The pace is accompanied by a nice rasp from the V6, one that’s even fairly audible on the outside. That’s a welcome thing when six-pots are quickly disappearing from all but the very fastest saloons.

It’s quick everywhere, too. No longer featuring a transverse engine in a different postcode to the driver, the V6 now nestles longitudinally and further back in the car. This is partially why the S5 doesn’t default to juddering understeer like S cars of old. It corners with almost total neutrality, sticking gamely to its line before powering out of a bend. It’ll even chuck in little stabs of oversteer if you really provoke it.

But that unflappable handling exposes the usual warm Audi downside, too: there’s little joy to the way the S5 drives. It gobbles up corners not with enthusiasm, but with a sense of wearisome duty, like a long-suffering butler. The steering, though decently weighted, offers little feedback, and there’s not much scope for fine-tuning your line through a corner. It’s not just the handling that signals this grim-faced seriousness, either: the plasticky little excuses for gearshift paddles don’t exactly invite you to take manual control.

It’s another case of a fast Audi being much happier chewing up a motorway. Here, the engine’s hushed, the cabin’s quiet and the ride is firm but pliant. You’ll also be getting MPG in the low-to-mid 30s at a cruise – expect this to drop to the mid-20s if you start pressing on.

This gives you more chance to take in the interior which, with its curved dual-screen display for the driver and extra screen for the passenger, feels like sitting in the TV department of John Lewis. Yes, we’re banging this old drum again, but there really is too much happening here.

Though some functions have shortcuts locked to the bottom of the display, they’ll still interrupt your screen with a new menu, and if you’re using CarPlay, you’ll then need another screen jab to get back to it.

The pathetically small steering wheel buttons are fairly miserable for anyone who doesn’t have ET’s fingers, and the adaptive cruise control sometimes slows down for the ghostly apparitions of cars that simply aren’t there.

The tech isn’t all bad. Audi’s voice-activated AI assistant is one of the first genuinely useful ones we’ve tried; a much less distracting, albeit slower, way of operating interior functions than jabbing at the screen. Kudos for the ability to set five ‘favourite’ driver assist systems and quickly access them via a proper button, too.

It’s a bigger car than the old A4, and that’s reflected in a roomy interior. Despite the lower-cut roofline, rear passengers have ample room, and up front, you can adopt a slinky, low-set driving position in a big, squishy bucket seat. With the optional panoramic roof, it feels airy and luxurious, but it’s surprising how quickly you’ll find tinny, flexible plastic that doesn’t belong in a car with a £69,455 starting price.

The S5, then, is at its best as a high-speed cruiser, and perhaps it’s unfair to judge it for sometimes being a bit of a fun sponge. That’s nothing new in warm Audis, and it’s sort of the whole point: they’re more locked-down all-weather expresses than pin-sharp handlers like the BMW M340i or Alfa Giulia Veloce. Besides, the RS5 might unlock more playfulness in this platform.

Align the S5 with your usual fast Audi expectations, though, and it might even pleasantly surprise you. It’s still point-and-squirt as ever, but no longer the festival of understeer its forebears have sometimes been. It’s just a shame that some of the experience is soured by overbearing, and sometimes poorly integrated tech.