Compare the2025 Audi S5VS 2025 Volkswagen GTI

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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The S5’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The GTI doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the S5 and GTI have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The S5 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The GTI’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the S5 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The GTI doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Audi S5 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The GTI doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The S5 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The GTI doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The S5 has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The GTI doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.

The S5 offers an optional Top View Camera System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The GTI only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the S5 and the GTI have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

The Audi S5 weighs 1105 pounds more than the Volkswagen GTI. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.

Warranty

The S5’s corrosion warranty is 5 years and unlimited miles longer than the GTI’s (12/unlimited vs. 7/100,000).

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen With 12 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Audi higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 11 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

Engine

The S5’s 3.0 turbo V6 produces 121 more horsepower (362 vs. 241) and 133 lbs.-ft. more torque (406 vs. 273) than the GTI’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Audi S5 is faster than the Volkswagen GTI:

	S5	GTI
Zero to 60 MPH	4.4 sec	5.4 sec
Quarter Mile	12.9 sec	13.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	107.1 MPH	103.9 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

The S5 has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the GTI (14.8 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The S5 has a tether attaching its gas cap to prevent its loss. The GTI’s gas cap isn’t tethered, so it can be left at a gas station if the driver forgets to screw the cap back in.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the S5’s brake rotors are larger than those on the GTI:

	S5	GTI
Front Rotors	14.2 inches	13.4 inches
Rear Rotors	13.8 inches	12.2 inches

The S5 stops much shorter than the GTI:

	S5	GTI
60 to 0 MPH	106 feet	120 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the S5 has larger tires than the GTI (245/40R19 vs. 225/40R18). The S5’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the GTI (245/40R19 vs. 235/35R19).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the S5 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the GTI. The S5’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the GTI Autobahn.

Changing a flat tire near traffic can be dangerous and inconvenient. The run-flat tires available on the S5 can be driven up to 50 miles without any air pressure, allowing you to drive to a service station for a repair. The GTI doesn’t offer run-flat tires.

Suspension and Handling

The S5 has a standard automatic front and rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The S5’s height leveling suspension allows the driver to raise ride height for better off-road clearance and then lower it again for easier entering and exiting and better on-road handling. The GTI doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the S5’s wheelbase is 10.4 inches longer than on the GTI (114 inches vs. 103.6 inches).

The S5’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (56% to 44%) than the GTI’s (60.9% to 39.1%). This gives the S5 more stable handling and braking.

The S5 handles at .95 G’s, while the GTI Autobahn pulls only .92 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The S5 executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the GTI Autobahn (24.7 seconds @ .8 average G’s vs. 25.5 seconds @ .72 average G’s).

Passenger Space

The S5 has 1.5 inches more front headroom, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear legroom and 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the GTI.

Cargo Capacity

The S5 has a much larger trunk with its rear seat up than the GTI with its rear seat up (22.6 vs. 19.9 cubic feet). The S5 has a much larger trunk with its rear seat folded than the GTI with its rear seat folded (37.5 vs. 34.5 cubic feet).

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the S5. The GTI doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the S5’s power liftgate can be opened or closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The GTI doesn’t offer a power or hands-free opening liftgate.

Servicing Ease

The S5 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The GTI uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The engine in the S5 is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the GTI. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

Ergonomics

The S5 has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The GTI doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The S5’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. An easy entry system costs extra on the GTI, and is not available on all models.

If the windows are left open on the S5 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the GTI can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The S5’s standard Audi Advanced Key allows you to unlock the doors from any outside door handle, open the trunk, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Push-button Start standard on the GTI only offers hands-free access for the ignition, none to unlock the car. Push-button Start is not available on the GTI SE/Autobahn.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The S5 Premium Plus/Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The GTI doesn’t offer headlight washers.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the S5 to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The GTI doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The S5’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The GTI has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The S5 (except Premium) offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the GTI.

The S5 has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the GTI Autobahn.

The Audi S5 has a standard Homelink wireless remote control system for garage door operation and device management, conveniently located on the rear view mirror. Homelink® eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries. Volkswagen charges extra for Homelink® on the GTI.

The S5 Premium Plus/Prestige’s Park Assist Plus can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The GTI Autobahn’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

Recommendations

The Audi A5/S5/RS 5 outsold the Volkswagen GTI by over two to one during 2024.

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