Written by Jake Groves Updated: 10 January 2025

Overview

The Audi estate car is almost as predictable as the sun rising every morning. You could set your watch to Audi having an estate, or ‘Avant’ model in its range. This is the latest one: the Audi A5 Avant, and the firm is hoping that it will topple the BMW 3 Series Touring as the company car world’s favourite estate car.

In a move that will look outwardly confusing for a little while until the dust has settled, the name A5 actually used to mean the coupe or convertible version of the A4 saloon. But that’s changed, as Audi’s strategy regarding its electric and combustion cars is updated – from now on, all new odd-numbered cars will be combustion, and all even-numbered ones will be electric (badged E-Tron).

The A5 Avant, then, has some classic competition. The aforementioned BMW 3 Series Touring and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate are the closest, with plenty of the best SUVs offering space and refinement the Audi also provides.

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What’s it like inside?

A new generation of Audi cars brings an entirely new interior design. The A5 shares the same broad interior layout as the A6 E-Tron and Q6 E-Tron, and will also share the same tech and design with the upcoming A4 E-Tron and A7, too. Overall, it feels like a technological improvement while still maintaining the broad level of quality expected of an Audi.

Many of the car’s controls have been moved to the main screen or can be accessed via very fiddly haptic buttons found on the steering wheel. Audi has fallen victim to the same thought process as Volkswagen, intending for these buttons to offer more functionality than may initially appear but instead making some interactions difficult. It’s also quite easy while steering around sharp corners to swipe or press the buttons by accident leading to sharp changes in audio volume, unexpected song changes or the heated steering wheel activating.

Those haptic buttons also find themselves in the enormous function panel in the driver’s door, collating things like window switches, child locks and mirror adjustments all into one single space. It’s clunky and fiddly to use and, like so many of the other gloss black materials inside, quickly gets completely covered in fingerprints. Not pretty.

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Infotainment and tech

The central screen, named the Digital Stage, is huge 14.9-inch display and is designed around a significantly modernised infotainment platform. There is a huge amount of capability in this system, with a small quick-access menu, crisp graphics, a fixed set of climate toggles on the bottom row and even an AI-powered voice assistant.

Despite being daunting at first, it’s one of the easier systems to get your head around as many key functions have been made quickly available with a maximum of one or two taps. Key safety aids can be turned off or on quickly, for example. Top spec models feature a passenger display that can be used as a separate screen. While an interesting addition, we feel like it’s mostly unnecessary.

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Comfort

What’s impressed us with the A5 Avant are the seats. Granted, the only version we’ve tried this far is an Edition 1, but those top-spec seats provide a generous amount of adjustment and feel supportive.

Practicality

Overall, the A5 Avant is quite a cosy space to be in – whether you’re in the front or back.

In the front, the dashboard is quite high and imposing, designed to cocoon you in the space rather than feel airy and light. That said, the centre console isn’t too high.

Rear space isn’t the greatest, particularly when compared to the A5 Avant’s closest competition. Adults will feel cramped in the rear seats with limited legroom, particularly behind a tall driver. While a neat optional extra, the panoramic glass roof that features clever shading built into the glass eats into the headroom, too. 

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Boot space and storage

The A5 Avant’s boot space varies with engine choice, but even at its largest it’s not quite as big as a 3 Series Touring or C-Class estate. For the petrol models, the Avant’s boot space is measured at 476 litres with the rear seats up – 24 litres fewer than the 3 Series – or 1,424 litres with the seats down.

If you choose the TDI diesel models, that number drops to 448 litres with the seats up, or 1,396 with them down. This is due to the addition of the fuel-saving ‘MHEV Plus’ system that takes up room in the car’s structure due to the additional battery and small electric motor.

The A5 Avant measures more than 4.8m long, which will naturally mean parking won’t be the easiest thing in the world. That said, every A5 model benefits from a 360-degree parking system with sensors and cameras to take the edge off, while the Parking Assistant Plus system can automate some of your parking manoeuvres.

Safety

Car safety testing organisation Euro NCAP scored the A5 range the maximum five stars in 2024, rating it highly in all categories. Highest score was 88% for child occupant protection. Every Audi A5 model benefits from a large range of standard safety equipment, with many options benefiting your comfort rather than your safety.

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Engines

A 2.0-litre petrol engine is available here with two states of tune: 150hp or 204hp. These are offered in all trim variants (Sport, S Line and Edition 1) and are mated to a seven-speed automatic gearbox and front-wheel drive. We haven’t had a change to drive these yet, but Audi says they are ‘state-of-the-art’ engines that improve efficiency over the outgoing versions. Audi claims a 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds for the 150hp model, and 7.8 seconds for the 204hp model.

Like the petrol engine, A5 TDI models use a 2.0-litre diesel that develops 204hp, and can be either a front-wheel drive car or one fitted with Quattro four-wheel drive. Audi claims a 7.7sec 0-62mph time for the front-wheel drive model, and 6.9 sec for the quattro all-wheel drive version.

This new-generation diesel engine feature’s Audi’s new MHEV Plus system. This mild hybrid electric vehicle technology incorporates a small battery pack and electric motor to help drive the car, allowing for engine-off driving when in heavy traffic, as well as a sophisticated engine-off coasting function designed to help save fuel. We’ve found it sometimes a little slow to respond at junctions and roundabouts, however, introducing a jarring lurch or slightly laggy response to openings in the traffic.

For now, this is the only engine we’ve driven in the new A5 Avant and, largely, it’s impressive. What’s most noticeable (or not) is the lack of engine noise while you’re inside the car, as the A5 TDI’s vocals are kept well supressed even when driving it hard. There’s a good amount of acceleration on offer and you can feel the MHEV Plus boost under particularly heavy acceleration, while the automatic transmission shifts gears reasonably smoothly.

There aren’t any plug-in hybrid versions currently on sale, but these will join the A5 Avant range in the first few months of 2025. Audi promises good efficiency and an impressive electric-only driving range, likely to be in excess of 50 miles.

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What’s it like to drive?

This isn’t the kind of car that will rock your socks off while out on a drive, but the A5 Avant is stable and surefooted out on the road. The steering is smooth and well weighted, and prioritises comfort and ease rather than sharpness.

So long as you don’t go mad with the wheel sizes, the ride quality is composed. That’s thanks to standard adaptive dampers on all A5 models, with Comfort mode rounding off enough of the roughest roads. The standard-fit tyres are noisy though, which can take the edge off a little of the refinement.

Ownership costs and maintenance

For now, the diesel models with their standard MHEV Plus system models are the best in terms of claimed fuel economy. If you want the highest possible figure, you’re most likely to get it with the front-wheel drive TDI 204hp model, which claims between 50.4-57.6mpg is possible. That said, when used properly, the upcoming plug-in hybrid models will fare better when they launch.

Audi’s servicing and warranty are broadly the industry standard. In the UK, every model comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard. The brand offers a range of servicing plans for cars of all ages, including the All-In Servicing plan that covers two services, two MOTs, two years of roadside assistance and two years additional warranty.

Audi, being part of the VW Group, generally fares well when it comes to reliability. That said, the A5 Avant uses an all new chassis architecture (named Premium Platform Combustion) which is only just beginning to be rolled out. During our tests, we’ve also experienced software glitches on our early cars. One particular instance was the failure of the traffic sign recognition system, which was unable to read road signs properly.

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What models and trims are available?

The A5 Avant can be had with petrol and diesel engines, with plug-in hybrids to come, and is available with front- or Quattro all-wheel drive. All use an automatic gearbox. Three trims are offered, and there’s a good selection of equipment to choose from.

Like some other recent models in Audi’s refreshed range, new engine technologies like MHEV Plus are designed to eke out better fuel economy without the need of a full or plug-in hybrid. That said, Audi says it will offer PHEV versions of the A5 later in 2025.

For our full, expert verdict on the Audi A5 Avant, keep reading – does its undeniable prestige and quality make up for some of its shortcomings?  If you’d like to learn more about how we reached our decision on the car, check out our how we test cars explainer page.