First Drive: New Audi S5 Avant could be the perfect all-round performance estate car

What is it?

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The name Audi S5 has always been stuck onto the boot lids of coupes, convertibles and five-door coupe ‘Sportbacks’, but not anymore.

Audi is overhauling how it names its models with ‘evens’ such as A4 and A6 becoming EVs, while internal combustion cars are taking on ‘odd’ numbers. So, this new Audi S5, with its V6 petrol engine, is not a replacement for the old S5 models – but in line with Audi’s new naming structure, it’s the replacement for the Audi S4 Saloon and Avant estate models.

The S4 has always been the archetypal discreet sports saloon/estate, so we’ve been to the south of France to see if the S5 carries on that tradition.

What’s new?

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This is more than just being an exercise in confusing customers, though, as there’s rather a lot of new stuff to get excited about. The new S5 models – remember, it’s a five-door hatchback called ‘Saloon’ and an estate called Avant now – use a brand new platform called PPC, or ‘Premium Platform Combustion’.

The new underpinnings, along with some new engines, have allowed Audi to make the A5 and S5 models more efficient than their predecessors in some cases, while also adding some more fun to the way the cars handle.

What’s under the bonnet?

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Unsurprisingly, it’s very in vogue at the moment to launch a new car sporting a battery and an electric motor, and even if a car comes with a petrol engine it’s invariably small to keep it as efficient as possible. Not so with the S5 because it gets a whopping 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 with 326bhp at its disposal.

Of course, there is some electrical wizardry in play with the V6 boosted by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, but it’s a very potent gesture from Audi and shows that the firm hasn’t quite finished playing with large petrol engines. Moreover, the old S4 used a 3.0-litre V6 diesel, so this petrol-powered replacement really is a rare celebration of six-cylinder petrol power.

What’s it like to drive?

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Audi’s S models have traditionally delivered their thrills in a more muted fashion than equivalent offerings from BMW and Mercedes, and to a certain extent, the new S5 carries on this pleasing character trait. The new 3.0-litre lump is blistering powerful, with 0-60mph taking a smidge over four seconds to complete, and it’s backed up with a deliciously vocal V6 soundtrack and unflappable traction from the quattro four-wheel drive system. Back off, and the S5 settles into being a very relaxed cruiser and offers everyday ease of use and flexibility.

But there are some small but important changes. The new platform has yielded more precision to the way the S5 handles and feels subtly more focused than any previous S4 has managed. The seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox is also sharper than ever before and means the Achilles heel of earlier S4s – their hesitant gearboxes – are pretty much a thing of the past.

How does it look?

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The old S4 Avant had super sharp lines with a few flamboyant flourishes to denote its sporting character, but the S5 is a more curvy thing to look at. The Saloon, with its old S5 Sportback-aping sloping roofline is the more dramatic-looking car, while this Avant is the slightly more sensible sibling.

That’s not to say it’s any less pleasing to look at, especially with its low front end, chunky rear arches and four exhaust pipes protruding from the bumper. But with the standard A5 S line looking more sporting than the outgoing A4 S line, it’s probably harder than ever to spot the real-deal S-model Audi from its sportily styled mid-range junior.

What’s it like inside?

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The new A5 and S5 models feature Audi’s latest interior design, featuring a very shapely dashboard dominated by screens. There’s a large, 14.5-inch touchscreen that pretty much replaces every button imaginable – it is easy to use on the move, though, despite the huge amount of functions it’s responsible for – and an 11.9-inch display for the driver. The S5 also adds a head-up display, and can even be optioned with a third touchscreen for the passenger. The interior is well laid out and tastefully bathed in ambient light, but feels like a small step down from the old S4 in terms of material fit and finish.

The Avant’s longer roofline gives a bit of extra headroom for six-footers sitting in the back, but it’s still a little tight, while the 476-1,424-litre boot is spacious enough but no larger than the old S4 Avant.

What’s the spec like?

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The new S5 Avant only comes in one high-spec Edition 1 trim for the time being, which means it’s packed with equipment. It gets Audi Sport-branded 20-inch wheels, a subtle body kit, a panoramic sunroof with ‘switchable transparency’, massaging front sports seats trimmed in Nappa leather, a head-up display, and a Bang & Olufsen stereo system.

S5s also get upgraded ‘digital OLED taillights’ compared to normal A5s. The S5 Edition 1 Avant comes in at £70,600 (£68,700 for the Saloon).

Verdict

The Audi S4 Avant has always offered all of the regular A4 estate’s fine and practical qualities, but boosted with discrete performance – and the new S5 Avant happily continues this. In many ways, it’s yet another blistering quick but subtle-to-look-at performance estate from Audi, but this time around the driving experience has been sharpened.

The BMW M340i Touring and Mercedes-AMG C43 Estate might offer more obvious sporting appeal, but the S5 runs them close and arguably betters them when it comes to sheer all-round useability.