New Audi RS 5 on the way in 2025 with super-aggressive looks

The new Audi RS 5 is set to replace the old Audi RS 4 and we’ve caught the new car testing once again in saloon and ‘Avant’ estate guise ahead of a seemingly imminent reveal. 

Audi launched the new A5 saloon and estate last year to take over from the old A4, and the performance RS 5 edition will rival the BMW M3 saloon and Touring, the Mercedes-AMG C 63 and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. 

While there’s still a lot of camouflage on the cars in these spy shots, we have a good idea what the new cars will look like - not least because the standard A5 has already been revealed. A new feature of these cars over previous versions we’ve caught is the massive twin-exit exhaust system, which sits more centrally than on old RS 4s and RS 5s.

Just like the Avant, the saloon gets an e-tron GT-like grille, positioned low down to give the RS 5’s front end an aggressive, squat stance. The grille has a rather complex mesh pattern within it and is flanked by two big openings hiding at least one, but most likely two, symmetrical charge coolers behind.

The side view shows the RS 5 will sit between a traditional three-box saloon and the outgoing RS 5 coupe in terms of its rear-end treatment with a distinctive sloping rear window. The rear light bar is identical to the Avant’s and it, along with the front lights, could get a bespoke light signature.  

As you’d expect from a hot Audi, the RS 5 has big, boxy arches housing larger wheels, not to mention massive brake discs and calipers. The front wheelarch also has an air vent sitting behind it - in a similar fashion to the new RS 6 Avant GT.

The new RS 5 is due to be revealed later in 2025 and will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Given that the new car sits on Audi’s PPC platform – a variation of the old A4’s chassis – we expect the new Audi will add a high-performance PHEV module to the existing car’s 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine. This will be paired to an automatic transmission and quattro all-wheel drive.  

We can only speculate about power and torque figures, but we expect a big increase over the current RS 4, getting closer to AMG’s 671bhp C63 S. But because of the extra weight of its plug-in powertrain, it will need that extra grunt if it’s to outperform the existing pure-combustion model. 

Inside we’ll see the same basic layout as on the recently revealed Audi A5. That means an 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit and 14.5-inch OLED central touchscreen dominating the dash. If previous models are anything to go by, the RS 5 should also gain some bespoke tweaks such as sportier bucket seats, RS trim and special driving modes.

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