Skip to main content

Can Audi’s sharp new A5 coupe lure buyers out of BMW showrooms?

Audi has presented the brand new 2017 A5 coupe during an event held in its home town of Ingolstadt, Germany.

The second-generation A5 rides on the MLB Evo platform that also underpins the A4 (which the coupe is closely related to) and the Q7 SUV. Visually, it adopts precisely the kind of evolutionary styling that we’ve come to expect from members of the Audi lineup in recent years. Its front end is a little bit sharper than before, and its rear fascia receives redesigned tail lamps, while its overall silhouette changes little.

Read more: Audi could build a mid-engined car on the next Porsche Boxster’s platform

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The cabin is carried over from the A4, meaning it’s more high-tech, more spacious, and more luxurious than ever before. Notably, the A5 boasts a high-resolution screen on the center console that displays the infotainment system, and it’s available with a fully digital instrument cluster that can be configured by the driver to show a wide variety of information about the car and its surroundings. The list of options includes in-car internet connectivity and a wireless phone charger.

While buyers in Europe can choose from a long list of gasoline- and diesel-burning engines, the model we’re getting is exclusively available with a 2.0-liter TFSI four-cylinder mill. It makes 252 horsepower from 5,000 to 6,000 rpm, and 273 pound-feet of torque from 1,600 to 4,500 rpm. A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission sends power to the front wheels, though all-wheel drive is available at an extra cost.

Want more muscle? Audi has you covered with the 2017 S5, which boasts a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. The six-cylinder generates 354 horsepower, which is enough to send the S5 from zero to 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds. Visually, the S5 stands out from the A5 thanks to a sportier appearance characterized by a specific front bumper with gray trim and honeycomb inserts, an air diffuser out back, and bigger wheels.

Production of the 2017 Audi A5 and S5 is set to kick off in the fall, and we’ll see both models land on our shores before the end of the year. While Audi is introducing the model as a coupe, it will quickly expand the lineup with a convertible, with a range-topping variant named RS 5, and with a fastback model called A5 Sportback. The company has recently hinted that the Sportback — which resembles a scaled-down A7 — will be sold in the United States for the first time ever.

Ronan Glon
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Honda unveils sleek electric sedan and SUV prototypes at CES 2025
Honda 0 Saloon and Honda 0 SUV prototypes.

Honda’s next-generation electric vehicles are a step closer to production. At CES 2025, the automaker unveiled prototypes of the 0 Saloon and 0 SUV, the first two of its 0 Series EVs that will start rolling off assembly lines in Ohio next year.

The two EVs follow 0 Series concept cars Honda unveiled at CES 2024. These are closer to what buyers can expect to see in showrooms, hence the label of “prototype” rather than “concept.” How close exactly? When Honda unveils a prototype, that vehicle generally makes the transition to production with minimal changes. But that would be particularly remarkable here.
They still look like concept cars

Read more
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2025 Awards
Top Tech of CES

Las Vegas is overrun. Every billboard in town is shouting about AI, hotel bar tops now sport a sea of laptops, and after hours The Strip is elbow to elbow with engineers toting yard-long beers.

That means CES, the year’s biggest tech bacchanalia, has come to town, and Digital Trends editors have spent the last four days frolicking among next year’s crop of incredible TVs, computers, tablets, and EVs. We’re in heaven.

Read more
Sony and Honda’s Afeela 1 EV makes more sense at CES than in the real world
Afeela 1 front quarter view.

The Sony car is almost here. After its creation via a joint venture with Honda in 2022 and two years’ worth of prototypes, the electronics giant’s Afeela brand is finally taking reservations for its first electric vehicle, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2026.

But will it be worth the wait? Coinciding with the opening of reservations, Sony Honda Mobility brought updated prototypes of the Afeela 1 (as it’s now officially known) to CES 2025, representing what California customers (Afeela is only taking reservations in that state) who put down a $200 refundable deposit can expect when they take delivery.

Read more