Page 93 - Sharp Winter 2025

Sleekest
Reinvention of
an Old Favourite
The 2025 Audi A5 and S5 prove that, on a rare occasion, you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks
By Rod Cleaver
THE AUDI A4 IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE AUDI A5.
It’s the same Audi sedan we’ve known and loved, but also entirely different, and not technically a sedan anymore.
The name change from A4 and A5 is due to a recalibration of Audi nomenclature — we’ll spare you the details — but rest assured the all-new 2025 Audi A5 and its sporty S5 counterpart are worthy successors to the A4’s legacy. How do we know? Because we recently had the opportunity to drive the new cars on the Maritime Alps around the French Riviera.
With its chopped roof, lower window profile and elongated wheelbase with short fender overhangs, the dramatically redesigned A5 looks to have escaped from the designers’ sketch pad without any of the idealistic passion diluted. Note that Audi presented the A5 as a sedan, but it’s technically a hatchback. Whatever. What really matters is that the extra-large trunk opening makes the storage space far more usable.
Of more consequence is the fact the new A5 is the first model to be marketed featuring Audi’s next-generation platform architecture. This move allowed the A5 to migrate more upmarket in terms of comfort, convenience, and performance.
Step into the cabin, for example, and you’re immediately struck by Audi’s new Human Centric interior design. Both front and rear seats feel more spacious. Fabric and other luxurious materials flow uninterrupted around the doors and dashboard, creating a panorama across the passenger space. A seemingly continuous OLED glass panel, which Audi calls its Digital Stage, is built on the new E3 electronic architecture with built-in ChatGPT.
As for what they’re like to drive, stiffer suspension components and more direct steering give the new sedan an incredibly precise feel that inspires confidence. Power comes from a 201-horsepower turbo four-cylinder or, in the S5, a new turbo V6 mild-hybrid putting down 362 hp through a quick shifting dual-clutch gearbox and Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive.
An afternoon spent on the serpentine mountain roads that hang above the Mediterranean coast was enough to confirm the 2025 A5 is more than a worthy successor to the legendary A4.
SHARPMAGAZINE.COM
WINTER 2025 93
AUTO