The 2025 Audi A5 has many responsibilities, but I think it handles the weight well.
For one thing, it’s replacing two cars. Audi has let its lineup grow too complicated in recent years, and it is using 2025 to try to simplify it all. The A4 is gone, with the new A5 replacing both the old A5 and the A4.
For another, it lines up against some impressive competition. Buyers looking for a small luxury sedan tend to choose the BMW 3 Series if they’re in the market for sport, and the Lexus ES if they’re mainly looking for comfort. In recent years, Audi’s sedans have not threatened their sales dominance.
The all-new A5, however, might have the mojo to do it. I spent a week driving the 2025 A5 quattro at the top-of-the-line Prestige trim level and walked away impressed. It flows around corners precisely, coddles its driver in comfort, and offers some practical technologies every automaker should copy.
If you’re in the market for a compact luxury sedan, the A5 deserves a test drive before you put money down on something else.
Which Trim Level
Audi builds the A5 in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trims. My tester was the Prestige — the fanciest of the group, with luxuries like a Bang & Olufsen sound system with headrest speakers and a separate 10.9-inch touchscreen for the front seat passenger, shielded from the driver’s view.
All get the same powertrain, featuring a 268-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine mated to a mild hybrid system.
New 2025 Audi A5 Prices
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Retail Price
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Fair Purchase Price (92620)
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$57,445 |
TBD |
Favorite Feature
The 2025 Audi A5 has one technology so practical that I hope every automaker steals it at the first opportunity.
Nearly every 2025 car has parking sensors and emits a beep as you get close to vehicles, walls, and other objects while attempting to park. However, that beep doesn’t give you any really useful information.
The A5 beeps, too, but it also shows you on the display screen how far away the car is from each object around it, in inches. So you don’t just know you’re close to something — you know you’re 22 inches from it.
I tested it several times, measuring distances to see if a tape measure agreed with the car’s judgment. It was within half an inch every time. That’s so much more useful than a vague warning sound that it might well qualify as the best new automotive technology of 2025.
The A5 is full of thoughtful touches like this. Many 2025 cars let you open the trunk by sweeping your foot under the rear bumper somewhere. The A5, however, projects a light on the ground to show you the exact spot to use.
What It’s Like to Drive
The A5, of course, is a sports sedan. Is it sporty?
The turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine makes 268 hp — enough to get the car from zero to 60 in just 5.6 seconds. That’s half a beat slower than the base model of the BMW 3 Series, which is close enough to make it feel just as quick.
Audi built its legend on its quattro all-wheel-drive (AWD) system, and it’s as grippy as ever here. None of the major compact luxury sedans struggles with foul weather. But none of them beat the A5 at it.
Its handling puts it in the top half of the class for those who love to drive, but here’s where it doesn’t quite catch up to the BMW. The Audi Drive Select driving mode system has a Dynamic setting that firms up the suspension. But its Individual setting doesn’t offer much chance to tune it to your tastes the way some rivals do. You can use it to alter how the cockpit controls display, turn driving assists on and off, and adjust the steering. But you can’t alter throttle response or suspension dampening with it.
Those are minor nits to pick — this is an enjoyable car in a traffic jam and on an open road.
Interior Comfort and Technology
The A5 debuts a new interior design style for Audi, and it’s a successful one.
Almost every luxury automaker has moved to roughly the same basic dashboard layout — a pair of screens, one for the driver and one in the center, mounted together to look like one wide, curved screen. Some offer an optional passenger screen, shielded from the driver’s view.
Audi does the same, but makes it look interesting with unusual shapes. It’s ultimately trivial that your car’s screen is a bit of a trapezoid, but it can make one car a little more interesting than another.
The cabin feels open and airy, partly because the center console shifter is nearly flat. My tester’s cabin was upholstered in cream leather with light matte wood tones throughout, contributing to the spacious feel.
Two of three trim levels, including my Prestige tester, come with what Audi calls a “panoramic glass roof with variable light control.” It’s an electrochromic setup that goes from opaque to clear at the touch of a button. But Audi designers have gotten playful with it — animations that play across it let the opacity scroll off like an opening sunshade or appear in stripes.
It’s the sort of thing programmers do when they have a budget and free time, but I’m not sure anyone will use it regularly. Still, if it delights you, don’t you want a car that delights you?
Limitations
The A5 is available in three trim levels, but the more expensive trims do not offer mechanical enhancements. Choose to spend more only if creature comforts like headrest speakers and heated rear seats are worth the premium.
Key Considerations
Every compact luxury car is good, but there are poles to the market — you buy a BMW 3 Series if performance matters most to you, and a Lexus ES if you’re in it for the sumptuous experience. This new A5 may do the best job of balancing those traits of anything in its class.
