- The high-performance Audi RS5 Avant will feature a widebody design with a more aggressive and muscular aesthetic compared to the standard A5 Avant.
- The current model’s 2.9-liter V6 turbo engine is retained and complemented by a hybrid system for improved performance and efficiency.
- This new naming scheme positions the RS5 Avant as the successor to the high-performance RS4 Avant sold abroad.
Audi’s RS sedans and wagons aren’t always the most exciting or extravagant cars, even if they don’t lack for performance. But when the covers finally come off this RS5 later this year or in early 2025 (either as 2025MY or 2026MY in North America), we have a serious suspicion that it will significantly outperform its BMW M3 Touring and Mercedes C63 wagon in terms of looks.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]}; adpushup.que.push(function() { if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){ adpushup.triggerAd(“4d84e4c9-9937-4f84-82c0-c94544ee6f2a”); } else{ adpushup.triggerAd(” 6a782b01-facb-45f3-a88f-ddf1b1f97657″); } });
Just look at the width of the thing. It’s absolutely huge, an almost grotesque parody of the sensible new A5 Avant, which has spent three hours every night working out its shoulder muscles in the gym for the last year. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
More: 2026 Audi RS5 Avant PHEV keeps it up with the AMG C63 by sticking with V6 power
The front fenders are so wide that Audi was able to create space for an air vent directly behind the front wheel, and although the rear arches look like placeholder extensions rather than finished complete rear quarter panels, the wheels are pushed out so far that they are real fenders guaranteed to be the same width.
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-a-mid’, container: ‘taboola-mid-article’, placement: ‘Mid Article’, target_type: ‘mix’ });
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-oc-2×1’, container: ‘taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-organic’, placement: ‘Mid Article Thumbnails Organic’, target_type: ‘mix’ });
We’ve already seen the RS5 in testing, but in these latest shots the prototype has lost the camouflage wrap on both the central grille mesh, revealing a double diamond pattern, and the massive corner vents that flank it.
Also on display are a new set of forged triple five-spoke alloy wheels and Audi’s latest Matrix LED headlights, whose LED segments can light up individually to create different patterns and messages.
Spy photos Baldauf
If you’re wondering why we call it RS5 and not RS4, it’s because Audi converts its ICE cars to odd numbers and reserves even numbers for electric vehicles. While there will almost certainly be an RS4 at some point, it will be battery-powered, while the combustion engine wagon will get an RS5 badge previously used by the highest-performance versions of the old A5 two-door coupe and the four-door A5 Sportback -lines.
Hybridized V6 provides a performance boost
That’s not all new for the RS5. It’s about a hybrid powertrain, but that doesn’t mean it switches to a four-cylinder powertrain like the Mercedes-AMG C63 competitor did. No, the RS5 will reportedly stick with the 2.9-liter turbocharged V6 engine, but will also add hybrid assistance to significantly improve both power over today’s 444 hp (450 hp) and efficiency.
It will be interesting to see if Audi Sport configures its PHEV system to deliver performance at the expense of range (the AMG only manages 8 miles/13 km on a charge of its tiny 6.1 kWh battery), but We won’t know until shortly before launch. However, we know that the RS5 needs a huge power increase to keep up with the AMG, which produces a whopping 671 hp (680 hp).
To update: This story has been revised to include new information and a new set of spy photosS.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]}; adpushup.que.push(function() { if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){ adpushup.triggerAd(“5646c171-cb6e-4e2c-8440-49013ca72758″); } else{ adpushup.triggerAd(” e7c4c913-3924-4b2d-9279-6c00984dd130″); } });