2025 Audi A5 First Drive: A Damn Fine Daily Driver
Lack of fun personality aside, this luxurious hatchback doesn’t provide much to complain about.
As sedans fight to find their place in an SUV-hungry world, the Audi A5 enters 2025 (yes, we know the year is half over) with a full redesign, attempting to entice drivers away from choosing yet another crossover. Success? We traveled to scenic Aspen, Colorado, to drive the new 2025 A5 and find out.
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The Audi A5 Then and Now
The A5 has evolved significantly leading up to this third-generation version, known as the B10 by Audi aficionados. Introduced for 2008, the first A5 was a two-door counterpart to the popular four-door A4, which it shared fundamental hardware with while draped in evocative coupe styling. The A5 lineup expanded later to include a soft-top convertible, as well as a Sportback—that being not a true sedan but a sleek four-door hatchback.
For the 2025 A5, there is no two-door version, and this Sportback body is the standard offering. (Americans don’t get the sweet A5 Avant station wagon sold overseas.) That’s largely because the A5 has assumed the A4’s position in the lineup while the latter is on a production pause as Audi plots its path into electrification. The German automaker once planned to use even numbers for EVs and odd numbers for combustion-powered vehicles, but no longer, as the A6 and A6 E-Tron—completely different cars—indicate.
One more item to get up to speed—literally—with the A5 story is that a sporty S5 variant has long been part of the lineup. The S5 will be sold in the U.S., and we already drove it in European specification. A high-performance RS 5 also appears to be in the works, though when or where it will be available is unclear.
Outside and Inside
On to the 2025 Audi A5. Built on a new vehicle architecture called Premium Platform Combustion (PPC, akin to the PPE basis of Audi’s latest EVs), the A5 changes in its adaptation to the role of replacing the A4. The wheelbase increases, and the body is slightly longer, wider, and taller than before.
Notably, it appears to have a traditional trunk, but it doesn’t. Audi says this design element was added to look familiar to traditional three-box sedan buyers even though the rear decklid and glass open together to reveal a hatchback cargo area. Compared to the outgoing A5, this profile is less alluring, and the overall styling seems somewhat generic. It doesn’t look bad, but aesthetics are no longer as strong of a reason to want the A5.
In contrast, Audi made the interior more appealing. From the driver’s seat there’s newfound visual interest, seen in the shapes, textures, and trim details that the last A5’s austere cabin lacked. There are some hard plastic panels, but those are well hidden so that soft-touch surfaces are the ones you see and interact with most. Quality of materials and overall assembly is excellent.
Big screens are prominent inside the 2025 A5. All models get an 11.9-inch digital driver’s display paired with a 14.5-inch infotainment touchscreen inside a single curved enclosure. The high-end Prestige trim gains a 10.9-inch touchscreen ahead of the front passenger, while the Premium and Premium Plus models below have a lame shiny black plastic panel there instead.
The new 2025 Audi Q5 offers the same screens as the A5. For the positives and negatives of that tech, check out our 2025 Audi Q5 Interior Review.
Beyond a premium feel, the new A5 provides superb practicality. There are plenty of spots to stash daily carry items around the cabin, but a key selling point for this car is how much cargo space it has. With 22.6 cubic feet of capacity behind the back seats or 36.6 cubic feet when those seats are folded, there’s considerably more volume than the typical trunk-equipped sedan and enough to reasonably rival some small SUVs. The power-operated liftgate moves quickly, and the huge aperture presented when it’s open makes loading cargo easy.
Moving Right Along
Like before, the A5 is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 engine, but it’s now stronger, producing 268 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, increases of 7 hp and 22 lb-ft. It’s all sent through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to Audi’s signature Quattro AWD system. The automaker claims a 5.8-second 0–60-mph time; fuel economy of 22/31 mpg city/highway is slightly worse than before.
Setting off from a stop, the dual-clutch transmission can show slight hesitation as its clutches engage, but that’s fairly unobtrusive; it’s a common blemish with this type of gearbox. Once underway, shifts are imperceptible aside from a subtle change in engine sound.
There’s enough power from the turbocharged four-cylinder, not so much to thrill with acceleration but certainly a sufficient amount for everyday driving. How it’s tuned makes ample torque available from the powerband’s low end, most useful for helping the A5 feel unstressed during around-town driving and getting up to freeway speeds, though there is some turbo lag when pressing the accelerator while underway. In the manner of many four-cylinder engines, the idle at a stop is a little choppy.
A large steering wheel diameter and relaxed ratio for the lightly weighted adaptive steering rack don’t provide much engagement or connection with the chassis. Still, it turns just where it needs to, and Audi’s chassis revisions within the PPC structure provide a stable, secure handling experience. It’s quite apparent the A5 isn’t meant to be driven with verve—that’s what the S5 is for—but when doing so, the car follows its driver’s input, resisting understeer impressively and moving with a cohesive balance between its front and rear axles.
More poised than plush, ride quality is comfortable despite the taut suspension sensation over larger impacts and potholes. The A5 doesn’t glide over pavement, nor does it devolve into floaty imprecision when the road gets rough, instead remaining settled as the suspension keeps body motions well controlled.
Even though the brake pedal travel is long, it engages at the very top as soon as you press it. That reactivity takes a little getting used to, but there’s still enough progression through the brake stroke to allow for smooth, gradual stops.
New Audi A5: Chill, Versatile, and Upscale
Built in high-end Prestige trim, the 2025 A5 we drove in Colorado featured acoustically laminated glass for the windshield and front doors that made the cabin remarkably quiet as tunes poured out of the Bang & Olufsen audio system, which includes speakers in the front headrests. Under incredible scenery, the trick electrochromic glass roof allowed for a view of what’s above or an instant switch to opacity when it got too bright.
During our time in the new A5, the car’s high level of competence shone. There’s not an abundance of notable personality, but the overall package is unobtrusive, and its uncomplicated nature made it a pleasant place to spend time inside and take in the surroundings. Glancing back at that huge hatchback cargo area, we became convinced the 2025 Audi A5 will make a pleasant and practical daily driver back on city streets or cruising along the open road.
Alex's earliest memory is of a teal 1993 Ford Aspire, the car that sparked his automotive obsession. He's never driven that tiny hatchback—at six feet, 10 inches tall, he likely wouldn't fit—but has assessed hundreds of other vehicles, sharing his insights on MotorTrend as a writer and video host.
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