Sexy 2025 Audi RS 5 Avant rendered

You’ve seen the spy photographs, now get ready for the unmasked (and unofficial) renders of the 2025 Audi RS 5 Avant.

The first digital images of Audi’s upcoming high-performance wagon have surfaced on the internet, speculating just how the next-generation plug-in hybrid machine might look after a camouflaged prototype was caught in action last month.

And the answer is feisty.

Tipped to offer RS 6 levels of power and torque, the RS 5 Avant will replace the RS 4 Avant as Audi’s premier mid-size performance car, maintaining the rage against the BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance.

The rendered vehicle in the images you see here from Kolesa.ru uses the current Audi RS 4 Avant as its basis, but the designer has instilled the slimline features and gaping grille glimpsed through the camouflage of the RS 5 prototype spotted last month – and seen again on the standard A5 Avant pre-production car spied a few weeks ago.

Key changes include a bigger, redesigned grille, relocated Audi logo larger intakes, smoother lines, full-width rear lighting signature and centralised exhaust outlets.

Overall, the RS 5 Avant looks a lot sleeker than its predecessor and will surely boast an improved drag coefficient, which should help maximise the electric range provided by its plug-in hybrid powertrain.

It’s unclear at this stage if the PHEV powertrain will be based around a four-cylinder petrol engine or a V6, but either way outputs of at least 400kW/800Nm are on the cards.

Quattro all-wheel drive is a guaranteed inclusion, as is a sub-4.0sec 0-100km/h time, considering the current RS 4 Avant stops the clock in a brisk 4.1sec.

But why is the RS 5 – traditionally a coupe – replacing the RS 4 as Audi’s hi-po mid-size wagon?

The brand is reworking its naming strategy to have even-numbered nameplates refer to EVs, while odd numbers will be designated for internal combustion or hybrid cars.

That means the next RS 4 will be a very different beast to the one we know and love today.

Our sources tell us the new A5 family will retain some small-capacity internal combustion engines in its lower ranks but will focus on plug-in hybrids in the middle and upper reaches of the range.

The RS 5 is set to sit at the top of the tree once it debuts in 2025 – hopefully with an electrified V6.

Digital images: Kolesa.ru

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