Audi S5 Avant Review & Prices

The Audi S5 Avant is a big, fast estate car with a lovely V6 petrol engine hoping to tempt you away from the call of electric cars for just a little while longer.

It’s a bit like listening to a new Arctic Monkeys album – you’ve been a fan for decades, but as much as you feel like it’s time to move on, there’s just something so alluring pulling you back in.

Fast estates aren’t particularly common, but there are a few alternatives to the S5 Avant to consider. The BMW M340i Touring and Mercedes-AMG C43 Estate are the most obvious, though you might also consider the T8-badged plug-in hybrid versions of the Volvo V60 or V90 – they’re more comfort-focused than the others here, but have more power than all three.

The S5 Avant takes the classy yet imposing looks of the regular A5 Avant and adds an aggressive edge. That means you get large air intakes up front, a lower ride height, rear diffuser and clever LED headlights. Otherwise, the styling is quite low-key, so it’s good if you’d like a performance car that’s not too flashy.

Interior quality is fantastic, with some Alcantara touches giving it a sporty feel. And because the S5 Avant is only offered in high-spec Edition 1 trim, you get all the trimmings, such as comfy Nappa leather seat upholstery and a Bang and Olufsen sound system. This does make it one of the more expensive of the fast estates mentioned here, though.

Infotainment screens are sharp, intuitive and plentiful – yes, you get the usual central screen, digital instrument display ahead of the driver, but there’s also a third screen for the passenger. It feels like overkill and means your view ahead is dominated by screens, but it certainly provides an ultra-modern feel.

It’s pretty spacious for those in the front, but storage is good rather than great. Those in the back have buckets of room, though, which means even taller adults will be comfortable on a long drive, and you’ll have no trouble fitting bulky child seats.

Boot space is impressive by most measures at 448 litres, with the boxy estate shape meaning you can fit larger items with ease, even if the sloping roof means bulky wardrobes might be out of the question. However, all of the alternatives mentioned here have larger capacities, with the 500-litre BMW M340i Touring having the biggest boot of all.

Under the bonnet sits a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine with 367hp. You get a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel drive, which offer snappy shifts and plenty of grip respectively. Alternatives have more power, but you’re never left feeling short-changed.

Get behind the wheel and the Audi S5 Avant is as comfortable and refined as you would hope, soaking up bumps well when you put it in its comfiest setting, despite the sporty suspension setup. There’s a bit of a jiggle on uneven surfaces but the car settles quickly and rarely jolts you about. Despite the big alloy wheels it’s a quiet and refined motorway cruiser, too.

And while a similarly priced electric car (such as Audi’s own A6 Avant e-tron) will be smoother around town and punchier off the line, once you’re up to speed the surge of acceleration you get from the petrol engine, and the buzzing soundtrack that accompanies it, makes the S5 Avant a more satisfying companion for a B-road blast.

Typically there’s a trade off between comfort, refinement and fun, but the Audi S5 Avant does an incredible job of hitting all of those marks without compromising on the others.

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The Audi S5 Avant is quite expensive, even among similar fast estates, partly because it’s only available as a high-specific Edition 1 model with all the trimmings, even getting upgrades over the same trim in the regular A5 Avant.

The BMW M340i Touring almost looks like good value in this company, having more power than the Audi, a similarly techy interior and a bigger boot. The Mercedes-AMG C43 starts at a similar price to the S5 Avant, but there are higher trims available that really take the price north. The Volvo V90 T8 is another circa-£70k estate with loads of power, but it feels more comfort-focused than the others here, despite its plug-in hybrid engine making more power than them all.

Similarly priced fast estates are more powerful, but there’s something so satisfying about the way the Audi S5 Avant drives

In town

The Audi S5 Avant is a performance-focused family estate car, so naturally its sports suspension and big alloy wheels mean that you do feel more bumps in the road than the regular A5 Avant. However, the difference really is minimal, particularly if you put the suspension in its comfiest setting, meaning there’s very little compromise to make if you want something sporty to drive every day. It also means that if you’re using the S5 Avant as a family car your kids won’t complain about being jostled about in the back on a bumpy road.

The petrol engine isn’t a proper hybrid system, so don’t expect to travel miles on electric power, but the mild hybrid setup offers a little more electrical assistance than other similar systems, so you can creep around silently and smoothly at very low speeds without engaging the engine, which is nice for stop/start traffic.

SUVs offer a more commanding view of the road ahead, but visibility all around the car is good enough, and you get 360-degree cameras as standard to make parking in a tight spot a bit easier.

On the motorway

Long distance driving is a real highlight for the Audi S5 Avant. The sports seats are subtly figure hugging but incredibly comfortable for long drives, and again, the comfort suspension setting means you’re not feeling every ridge in the road despite the big wheels. Wind and road noise are kept to a minimum – all in all it’s a pleasant way to do big miles.

Adaptive cruise control comes as standard, which maintains your speed and distance to the car in front, but the S5 Avant also gets steering intervention to help you avoid drifting out of your lane, something you don’t get as standard anywhere else in the A5 line-up.

On a twisty road

So we’ve established that the S5 Avant is a comfortable cruiser, but what’s more impressive is that you can also enjoy a twisty road. Okay, so it doesn’t feel quite as involving to drive as the BMW M340i Touring – it has a hint of that videogame-like detachment from the road that can be quite common in modern cars – but there’s no denying it can cover ground quickly.

The S5 Avant’s all-wheel drive system means there’s loads of grip when accelerating out of corners, and the engine has that satisfying surge of acceleration, mixed with a great soundtrack, that just adds to the experience in a way that even the best fast electric cars just can’t compete with.

The Audi S5 Avant is incredibly spacious in the cabin, but while the boot should be big enough for most, it’s down on raw numbers compared with alternatives

Space is not a problem in the front of the Audi S5 Avant. It’s not a huge car, but there’s good adjustability in the steering wheel and seats so it’s easy to get a comfortable driving position. Because of the lowered suspension you feel like you’re sitting quite low to the ground, which helps give the car a sportier feel, but you might miss the commanding driving position if you’re swapping out of an SUV.

The triple-screen setup is standard on the S5 Avant, but even the twin screens of the A5 feel a bit too big and in-yer-face, so this does take some getting used to. It works fine in the larger Audi Q6 e-tron, but here a smaller setup might have felt a little less imposing.

Storage is fine if not ground-breaking, with two cup holders, a wide but not particularly deep cubby hole under the armrest, and door bins that are a bit awkward to access.

Space in the back seats

Back seat space is nothing short of excellent. You get loads of legroom, loads of headroom, and pretty good shoulder space for three considering the size of the car (though three adults might start to complain on particularly long drives).

They won’t complain about the fact the outer two seats are heated, though, which is standard fit on the S5 Avant. What a treat.

Meanwhile, all that space means this is an ideal car for anyone transporting young children around, because even the bulkiest child seats will fit easily. Taller SUVs do make it a bit easier to put a tantruming toddler in, though, rather than having to bend over like you do with this sporty estate.

Boot space

If you’re looking at raw numbers and really need maximum space, then the 448 litres available in the Audi S5 Avant is down on the competition. The BMW M340i Touring is king here with 500 litres, followed by the Mercedes-AMG C43 Estate and Volvo V90 T8 with 490 and 488 litres respectively.

The reality is that for most people, most of the time, all of these cars have more than enough space for the big shop, or a pram and all the stuff required for a day out with a little one. The only downside to the S5 Avant is the sloping boot, which gives it a sleek look from the outside but means that big, boxy items – think a chest of drawers – might be too tall to fit.

One neat trick is the fabric parcel shelf, which neatly retracts automatically when you open the boot. This means it’s not getting in the way while you’re loading up, and automatically hides your stuff when you close up.

Quality is excellent and the infotainment works well, but the touch-sensitive steering wheel controls are irritating

The Audi A5 Avant’s interior is classy and high quality, and this is only elevated in the S5 Avant – as you perhaps might hope, given the leap in price. The piano black in the centre is a fingerprint magnet, but everything else is lovely, from the soft Alcantara trim to the squidgy Nappa leather seats. The illuminated ‘S’ badge in the headrest is a smart touch, too.

Technology is excellent, with the infotainment system working really well. Menus load quickly, it’s fairly intuitive to use and the graphics are sharp, if a little dark. In fact, the 14.5-inch screen feels as quick as any tablet to use, which is not something we can say about many car infotainment systems.

The only complaint here is that the screen feels a bit too big for this car, and while you might get used to it over time, it rather looms over you. Not helped, of course, by the fact it’s flanked by two more screens, one on either side.

Ahead of the driver is the digital instrument display, called Virtual Cockpit, which is one of the best in the business, to be fair. However, the screen ahead of the passenger feels a bit pointless. None of our passengers have found any practical use for it in any of the Audis we’ve tested with this feature.

Audiophiles will love the standard-fit Bang and Olufsen sound system, which has 3D surround sound and headrest speakers in the front seats. All S5 Avants come with a head-up display, too.

There’s only one engine option in the Audi S5 Avant, a petrol-powered 3.0-litre V6 engine making 367hp. You get a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission for snappy gear changes, and an all-wheel drive system. The 0-62mph sprint takes 4.5 seconds.

While it doesn’t feel lightning quick from a standstill (though no slouch), the engine’s at its strongest when you’re already on the move, offering a satisfying surge of acceleration out of corners.

Official fuel economy figures are measured at 35.3-35.8mpg, and if you drive sensibly you should be able to see about 30mpg. Knock another 5mpg off at least if you start to enjoy the performance on offer…

CO2 emissions of up to 181g/km put the S5 Avant into one of the higher first-year tax bands, which adds a hefty chunk to the purchase price. It also faces the expensive car supplement in addition to the standard annual Vehicle Excise Duty because it’s comfortably above the £40,000 threshold.

Company car tax is high too, so if you want to save on tax as both a private or business buyer, the Volvo V90 T8 would be more affordable. You could consider an electric car, too.

Although the Audi S5 Avant is a bit niche to go through Euro NCAP safety testing itself, the regular A5 Avant has been checked and scored top marks of five stars out of five. Adult and child occupant protection scores of 87% and 88% respectively are very good.

You get extensive driver assistance kit as standard, with the steering intervention feature of the adaptive cruise control not fitted as standard to any other A5 model, but included here. Other kit includes assistance for navigating intersections and a system that takes control of the car to park for you.

Audi's reliability isn't fantastic, ranking 27th out of 32 manufacturers in the latest Driver Power survey, trailing Mercedes and BMW. Its warranty includes a two-year unlimited mileage provision, extending to 60,000 miles in the third year. While comparable to other premium brands, Lexus offers considerably longer coverage of up to 10 years with consistent manufacturer servicing. Audi provides an option to extend the warranty to five years or 90,000 miles for an additional cost.