2025 Audi S5 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

We’re big fans of Audi’s Sportback body style. The S5’s rakish roofline is more than sporty looking, though. It includes a power-operated liftback that opens wide to reveal a large cargo area that expands when you fold the rear seats down. Racy looks and superior utility? Sign us up.

Unfortunately, the S5’s overall appearance is bland despite more aggressive front and rear bumper designs compared to the A5 on which it is based. The good news is there’s nothing offensive about the S5’s appearance, and it’s instantly recognizable as an Audi. But the styling also lacks distinctiveness.

Trim levels in Canada include the base model, Progressiv, and Technik variants ranging in price from $73,150 to $81,150, including the $2,850 destination charge and other fees. Note that our test unit is in U.S. specification and shows both the Ascari Blue paint and the Edition One option package, which are not available in this combination in Canada. (By selecting the Edition One package on a Canadian-spec vehicle, you’ll receive Magnet Grey as an exterior colour by default).

If you like to wash your own car, you should know the 20-inch wheels that come with the Edition One package are a tremendous pain in the you-know-what to clean. They look great when sparkly, but they don’t stay that way for long, and car washes are evidently not effective at removing the brake dust. Stick with the five-arm design for easy cleaning.

Audi says the new S5 is longer, wider, and taller than before, and that translates to more room inside the car, including a best-in-class rear legroom claim achieved with a roughly seven-centimetre wheelbase stretch. Still, it seems snug inside, though comfortable. Our S5 Technik was beautifully outfitted with premium Fine Nappa leather, carbon atlas inlays, and a panoramic glass roof with six electrochromic shade settings.

Arguably, the most obvious and significant change accompanying the S5’s redesign is the high-tech interior. Equipped with a sweeping Audi Digital Stage display containing the instrumentation and infotainment screens, a touch-sensing control pad on the driver’s door panel, and an optional touchscreen for the front passenger, the new layout is minimalist to the extreme. Wisely, though, Audi retains a physical volume and tuning knob.

As it did before, the new Audi S5 Sportback features a turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine. However, the car now has a seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission (DCT) instead of the previous eight-speed automatic, and the standard quattro all-wheel-drive (AWD) system features Audi’s sport rear differential as standard equipment.

The turbocharged V6 makes 362 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, up 13 hp and 37 lb-ft from the previous-generation S5. According to Audi, acceleration to 100 km/h takes 4.6 seconds, with a top speed of 250 km/h.

In addition to the torque-vectoring sport differential, the new S5 features progressive steering and a sport-tuned suspension. The S5 Technik features an adaptive-damping sport suspension. Through Drive Select, you can choose from several driving modes that adjust the engine, transmission, steering and, in the Technik, adaptive suspension.

Stunningly, this compact car weighs 1,945 kilograms (4,288 pounds), 165 kg (364 lbs) more than the previous S5 Sportback. The official Natural Resources Canada fuel economy ratings come in at 10.5 litres per 100 kilometres in combined city and highway driving. We averaged 10.8 L/100 km on our testing loop, driving primarily in Balanced mode. For the mountain driving portion, we engaged Dynamic mode and put the transmission in Sport mode.

While the new S5 might need Ozempic, the engine is nevertheless a deeply satisfying powerplant with seemingly limitless power. In Balanced mode, the S5 can seem almost too docile in everyday driving situations. But plant your right foot and this Audi wakes up and leaps forward with prompt power delivery.

We used the S5 for a day trip that put more than 500 kilometres on it. The ride quality proved agreeable, if stiff at times. However, every expansion joint on the highway sounded like a rifle shot within the cabin, and while the S5 Technik has acoustic front window glass to help quiet the interior, road noise is a near-constant companion. Audi really needs to resolve that, preferably not while adding even more weight to the car.

After the road trip and a week of running local errands, the S5 didn’t impress us much until we took it for a run down a winding canyon road. There, it demonstrated what an incredible thrill ride it can be.

With Dynamic mode engaged and the DCT in Sport mode, the S5 produced a transcendent driving experience. From the seemingly endless power and the engaging exhaust burbles as the transmission upshifted to the sport rear differential slinging the car around corners and onto straights, it was a revelatory session behind the wheel.

Speaking of which, the S5’s steering is perfect in terms of feel, effort, response, and precision. The brakes are indefatigable, the tires demonstrate unrelenting grip, and the adaptive damping suspension eliminates unwanted body motions without introducing unnatural behaviour.

From a driving enthusiast’s perspective, the S5 is a phenomenal car. In some sport sedans, after a period of intense concentration and focus while winding your way down a twisty road, you’re ready to slow down and chill out. Not in this Audi. We wanted to just keep going, and going, and going.

Our road trip packed two adults and two adult-sized teenagers into the S5—and nobody complained.

Up front, sport seats wrapped in Fine Nappa leather coddle occupants with a wide range of adjustment, heating, ventilation, and massage. The driving position is perfect, and though the flat-top and flat-bottom steering wheel is odd at first, it is thick and great to grip in all the right spots.

In the back, the S5 is snug but comfortable, and six-footers fit behind equally tall front-seat occupants. A triple-zone automatic climate control system gives rear passengers control over their temperature, and with Technik trim, the rear seats are heated. The two USB charging ports keep smartphones charged up and ready.

Audi uses configurable lighting to surprise and delight owners and passengers alike. In addition to the adjustable exterior lighting signatures, the interior ambient lighting and screen design themes add plenty of personality to the S5. Furthermore, when you use the turn signal, the corners of the upper dashboard light band flash in green. Adjust the climate system, and the zone lighting glows red as you increase the heat or blue as you lower it.

Nobody complained about the in-cabin storage space, though several oversized water bottles were rolling around on the floor rather than being secured. Around back, our test car’s hands-free power liftgate also uses lighting to assist you by projecting an arrow on the ground that shows where to kick your foot under the bumper to activate the liftgate. It opens to reveal a 640-litre cargo area. Fold the 40/20/40-split rear seat down, and the maximum cargo space is 1,064 litres. Those specs are higher than before, providing plenty of space even without the available Avant wagon body style.

With each redesign, Audi is rolling out its new Audi Digital Stage OLED displays. In the S5, they include an 11.9-inch Audi Virtual Cockpit digital instrumentation screen and a 14.5-inch Audi Multi Media Interface (MMI) touchscreen infotainment system. With Technik trim, the right side of the dashboard features a 10.9-inch touchscreen for the front passenger.

We found this interface remarkably intuitive, thanks in part to the excellent Audi Digital Assistant. This natural-language voice recognition system responds promptly and accurately to spoken commands and is part of the Audi Connect Nav connected services plan, which is complimentary for four years.

On the other hand, the navigation system tried to route us to a destination on a residential street heading for an employee-only entrance to our destination rather than the main parking lot. In other situations, like when searching for a new coffee shop along our route, the system worked well.

When you upgrade to Progressiv trim, you get a helpful head-up display and an impressive Bang & Olufsen sound system. Unfortunately, when listening to music, the displays show the album art but not the song title or the artist. So, if you hear something new on SiriusXM satellite radio that you like, you have no idea what it is unless you seek that information out by opening the SXM display using the menu of icons along the left side of the screen.

As for that passenger screen, on our road trip the front-seat occupant played around with it for a few moments, then shut it off for the rest of the trip. That said, it is remarkably comprehensive — mirroring much of the centre screen's functionality—and responds quickly to inputs. This might be the best passenger screen we’ve seen yet, but it still comes across as a redundant gimmick.

Every 2025 Audi S5 boasts a comprehensive list of driver-assistance systems. They include: forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and adaptive cruise control. The S5 also has automatic high-beam headlights, traffic sign recognition, front and rear parking sensors, and a safe exit warning system. Also standard is Emergency Assist, which monitors driver behaviour for signs of unconsciousness or a medical emergency and can bring the car to a safe stop while placing a call to first responders.

According to the test vehicle’s window sticker, the S5 Technik model’s steering wheel has hands-on detection capability. However, that did not appear to be the case during our evaluation. For example, on our road trip we often felt we were struggling with the lane-assist technology and frequently had to muscle the steering wheel. That got tiring, so we relented and let the tech do its thing while lightly holding the wheel rim. But this more relaxed approach resulted in repeated warnings to hold the steering wheel, even though we were already doing so. That also got tiring, so during the return trip we didn’t use the assistance at all.

Why did we need to muscle the wheel? Like in other European vehicles, the Audi’s lane-assist system can be really aggressive. That’s fine as long as it’s also accurate. Unfortunately, at one point it attempted to drag us into a right-turn lane instead of continuing on the preferred path, requiring driver intervention and correction. It also displayed uncertainty in sharper curves and on an ascent up a mountain grade, forcing more fighting against the tech’s steering inputs.

Not only that, but we also experienced an unexplainable braking event. While traveling in light traffic under cloudy skies, the S5 began braking even though it wasn’t following another vehicle. We had to override the tech.

Overall, due to the displeasing lane-assist system, we were disinclined to use it. Also, Audi doesn’t offer a hands-free traffic jam assist feature or hands-free highway capability at this price—something competitors are beginning to offer.

While the Audi S5 seem expensive, it’s priced competitively with the BMW M340i xDrive and the Mercedes-AMG C43 sedan. Warranty coverage is the same four years/80,000 kilometres across all three brands, and Audi includes a generous trial subscription to connected services. However, the BMW is far more fuel-efficient than the Audi or the Mercedes.

There is another alternative if you don’t mind shifting a manual gearbox and foregoing AWD: the Acura Integra Type S. It is a downright riot to drive, has a similar sportback configuration, and can save you thousands. However, it cannot match the Audi’s quality, refinement, and technological sophistication. Not even close.

In our experience, the new Audi S5 is most at home on twisty mountain roads, where it can showcase its dynamic excellence. In other situations, it can seem a little dull and loud, and the driver assistance tech needs improvement. So, if you’re driving it like you stole it, have fun and enjoy the ride.