The Audi S5 is a 2-door coupé (2007–2024) / 2-door convertible (2007–2024) / 5-door fastback sedan (car) / sedan (2007–present) / 5-door station wagon / estate/wagon (Avant) (2024 from Audi, built from 2007, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 3.0 L CAKA/CCBA V6 engine. Walter de Silva drew it.
Where it came from
The Audi S5 is one of two high-performance variants of Audi's A5. The B8 and B9 generations were marketed as the coupé, cabriolet, and five-door fastback sedan versions of the B8 and B9 Audi S4 saloon and estate models, while the B10 S5 is the direct replacement of the B9 S4 models.
Like all Audi "S" cars, they are only available with Audi's quattro four-wheel drive (4WD) system, which, in the S5, uses a Torsen-based centre differential system. Most versions of the S5 are manufactured at Audi's plant in Ingolstadt, Germany; they are available as a coupé, cabriolet, and five-door Sportback, which was previously not available in North America until the 2018 model year, which was released in the United States in mid 2017. The cabriolets are built at Audi's factory in Neckarsulm, Germany.
Under the skin
Power comes from 3.0 L CAKA/CCBA V6 engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1750 kg. It shifts through a 6-speed Manual transmission / manual / 8-speed ZF 8HP transmission / ZF 8HP Manumatic / Tiptronic Automatic transmission / automatic / 7-speed S tronic Semi-automatic transmis. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. The wheelbase is Coupé & Cabriolet: 2751 mm / Sportback: 2811 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Audi S4 Cabriolet (B7) (S5 Cabriolet); assembly was at Ingolstadt. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Nissan GT-R, the Hyundai i30, the Volkswagen Tiguan — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Audi catalogue sit the Audi 200 and the Audi 225.
What it costs now
The money question first: $15,900–$65,000 is the typical asking range today, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,805–$7,095 a year. Insurance sits around $1,580–$3,420 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.