All-new 367hp Audi S5 available from £69k

Though we couldn’t talk about it at the time, PH saw the new A5 in the flesh yonks ago at a special preview event. This was when the manufacturer first explained how it would separate the combustion-engined wheat from the electric chaff so that customers would have a clearer idea of what they were looking at. Needless to say, Audi was more interested in showing off the EV side of the equation – but, PH being PH, we were more interested in what it had planned for go-faster versions of the really quite handsome new 5, which was then just a design mock-up. 

Well, now we know. Just last month Audi confirmed that the incoming S5, available as both saloon or estate and built on the new Premium Platform Combustion architecture, will get a 367hp 3.0-litre V6 TFSI. This seems like good news for a number of reasons. Firstly, while it is a 48-volt MHEV to help with emissions, the firm has not made the mistake of attempting to power a premium model with a four-cylinder engine; secondly, it is a petrol unit, which replaces the not very popular diesel option that preceded it in Europe; thirdly, it is sufficiently powerful to get the S5 to 62mph in 4.5 seconds – which is roughly where we expect the model to be. 

The price, it must be said, is quite a long way north of where we once had S-branded cars fixed in our heads. Five years ago, the old oil-burning S4 started at just shy of £50k. Today, the new petrol S5 starts at £68,700. For the wagon, you won’t pay less than £70,600. Obviously there’s the effect of broader inflation at work there – and Audi will point to the £69,250 Mercedes-AMG C43 as a direct rival – but when a BMW M340i xDrive Touring currently starts at £61,635 (according to the retail site) it does suggest that Audi is expecting the model’s newness to do some of the heavy lifting. 

In fairness, that price does presumably also take into account a hifalutin ‘Edition 1’ specification, which, for the moment, is what the S5 comes as. This adds things like Digital OLED taillights, a new ‘smart glass’ panoramic roof, diamond-stitched Pearl Nappa leather sports seats with integrated headrest speakers, a configurable head-up display and a Bang & Olufsen 3D premium sound system. You also get the torque vectoring sport differential alongside standard adaptive dampers on the sports suspension. And, of course, that svelte new look. We’ll find out soon enough what it’s like to drive, but if you can’t wait that long, both variants are now available to order. Expect first deliveries to kick off in November.