Audi A5 Avant Estate (2024 - ) review

The 2024 Audi A5 Avant offers decent running costs in the context of a premium estate, not least because there’s still a diesel. And diesels still offer the best real-world efficiency, especially if you’re using your load-lugger to lug a load of loads a load of miles. It’ll give you a good 60mpg, while the cheapest 2.0-litre TFSI petrol will give you closer to 40mpg. Sadly, as it stands there’s no plug-in hybrid. There will be by the end of 2025, but for the time being, if this is a company car, you are better off with a Merc or a BMW from a purely financial standpoint. There is an S5 though, with a 3.0-litre turbo engine and, almost certainly, around 20mpg in real life. Not cost effective (it’s £70K before options) but very cool.

A word springs to mind the moment you step into the cabin of the A5 Avant: “chunky.” It just feels so very, very solid, from top to bottom. Of course, there’s a difference between space-grade plastics and actual mechanical reliability, but if it’s a feeling of quality you’re after, nobody does it better than Audi. Mind, the plasticky door handles are a real disappointment in this context – why would you make such a common touch point feel so flimsy? You should be okay reliability-wise, albeit the sheer amount of digital real estate in the A5 (three screens) means that electrical and software gremlins are your biggest risk. All the mechanical bits are evolutions of tried-and-tested parts; the gearboxes, engines, running gear, and even the chassis itself are all basically upgrades of older Audi bits. So you should be okay. The warranty is three years and 60,000 miles, which is standard for an Audi but looks stingy compared to the warranties that brands like MG, Kia and Hyundai offer, if that’s the sort of thing that would swing you to another ‘lesser’ brand. Which it probably isn’t.

No Euro NCAP rating yet but if it doesn’t score five stars when the time comes to fill it with crash test dummies and drive it into a wall, we’ll be amazed. Hmm. Standard safety kit includes autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality. Higher trims get blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, and a 360-degree parking camera. ISOFIX points on the outer rear seats are standard, too. Top models get Audi’s traffic jam assist, which makes the commute much more relaxed by automatically starting and stopping in…well, stop-start traffic. It’s a really lovely bit of active daily convenience tech.

If there’s another thing that Audi knows how to do, aside from making car interiors that feel more dense than Donald Trump, it’s how to make a comfy driving position for any shape of person. Audi seems to have pivoted back to a more 'sporty' suspension setup generally though, so the A5 doesn't feel quite as soft and luxurious as it might. That said, as ever, ride comfort is quite dependent on the size of wheels you choose, and whether you spec adaptive damping. And, ultimately, it's never uncomfortable. It's just a bit... lumpy, sometimes. Still, the refinement is outstanding – even the diesels are extremely quiet – and because the screens are really easy to fathom, the seats are comfy and there's lots of space, the A5 always feels nice. It's a brilliant thing to do long-distances in. Including for the poor people stuck in the back, because there's a canny amount of leg- and headspace. It's all a little dark though, so it never feels quite 'airy'.

Three screens probably seems a bit much, right? And the passenger side screen is useful if, say, you have a teenage child who loves to take control of the in-car entertainment. But that also makes it an annoyance, at times. Still, cool thing. More usefully for you, the driver, is the fact that Audi has basically nailed the digital cockpit thing now. The instrument display is customisable and clear, and includes blind spot monitoring, and the controls on the central screen are very easy to use. Bottom rung Sport trim comes with a load of stuff, meaning you don’t have to get an S-line car, if you’d prefer the more comfortable suspension of a basic A5 Avant. Every A5 gets heated seats, multi-zone climate control, keyless entry, parking sensors all round, a powered tailgate and wireless Apple CarPlay. All good. Practicality-wise, the boot is 476 litres, which is meaningless without context, so here’s some: the A5 saloon has a 445-litre boot, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class estate 490 litres, the BMW 3 Series Touring 500 litres, and a can of Red Bull is 0.25 litres. It’s a very useful space, including a parcel shelf that moves up and out of the way when you open the tailgate, a twin floor, and various bag hooks and nets and that.

The 3.0-litre, 367-horsepower S5 Avant is one of those "all the car you'll ever need" things, because it's really powerful, sounds good and is, of course, very practical; car people love a fast wagon. However, in reality, cars like the A5 Avant tend to be powered by a mid-level diesel, for the efficiency, like. Ergo, Audi has supplied a lovely 2.0-litre TDI with 204-horsepower that you can have with either front-wheel drive, or a slightly heavier and less efficient quattro (four-wheel drive) setup. It's not remotely interesting to drive - get a BMW 3 Series if you appreciate a little fun behind the wheel - but it's quick enough, returns decent mpgs, and you won't be at the fuel station all the time, dying inside while you watch the numbers on the pump go up. As ever, when the plug-in hybrid arrives, that'll be the one to get for company car drivers. And if you're a private buyer, just looking for the most cost-effective A5 Avant for you and the family, the basic 2.0-litre petrol version is powerful enough (just...150-horsepower is quite mid these days), and it's quieter than the diesel. Something for almost everyone.