Compare the2023 Audi A5 SportbackVS 2023 Subaru Outback

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Model Availability

Safety

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The A5 Sportback’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Outback doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A5 Sportback and Outback have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A5 Sportback 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 Outback’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.

The Audi A5 Sportback has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps 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 Outback doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The A5 Sportback has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Outback doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The A5 Sportback Premium Plus/Prestige has a standard Top and Corner View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Outback only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

Both the A5 Sportback and Outback offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the A5 Sportback has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Outback’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

Compared to metal, the A5 Sportback’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Subaru Outback has a metal gas tank.

Both the A5 Sportback and the Outback have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available blind spot warning systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi A5 Sportback is safer than the Subaru Outback:

	A5 Sportback	Outback
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	236	241
Neck Injury Risk	25%	43%
Neck Stress	119 lbs.	147 lbs.
Neck Compression	47 lbs.	51 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi A5 Sportback is safer than the Subaru Outback:

	A5 Sportback	Outback
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	14 inches
Hip Force	666 lbs.	674 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the A5 Sportback, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 8.6% less likely to roll over than the Outback, which received a four-star rating.

Warranty

The A5 Sportback comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Outback’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The A5 Sportback’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Outback’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

The Audi A5 Sportback’s engines use a cast iron block for durability, while the Outback’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

The battery on the A5 Sportback is in the trunk, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures that can degrade battery life. By keeping the A5 Sportback’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Outback’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Subaru vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 1 place higher in reliability than Subaru.

Engine

The A5 Sportback 40 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 19 more horsepower (201 vs. 182) and 60 lbs.-ft. more torque (236 vs. 176) than the Outback 2.5i’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the A5 Sportback gets better mileage than the Outback:

			MPG
A5 Sportback
	AWD	40 TFSI 2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/33 hwy
		45 TFSI 2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/32 hwy
Outback
	AWD	XT 2.4 turbo flat-4	22 city/29 hwy
		Wilderness 2.4 turbo flat-4	21 city/26 hwy

Regenerative brakes improve the A5 Sportback’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Outback doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

Transmission

The A5 Sportback’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Outback doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Outback:

	A5 Sportback 45 TFSI	Outback
Front Rotors	13.3 inches	12.4 inches
Rear Rotors	13 inches	11.8 inches

The A5 Sportback stops much shorter than the Outback:

	A5 Sportback	Outback
70 to 0 MPH	159 feet	191 feet	Car and Driver

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A5 Sportback has larger standard tires than the Outback (245/40R18 vs. 225/65R17). The A5 Sportback’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Outback (255/35R19 vs. 225/65R17).

The A5 Sportback’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Outback’s standard 65 series tires. The A5 Sportback’s optional tires have a lower 35 series profile than the Outback Onyx/Limited/Touring’s 60 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the A5 Sportback has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Outback. The A5 Sportback’s optional 19-inch wheels are larger than the 18-inch wheels on the Outback Onyx/Limited/Touring.

Suspension and Handling

The A5 Sportback offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads. The Outback’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The A5 Sportback has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Outback doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the A5 Sportback’s wheelbase is 3.1 inches longer than on the Outback (111.2 inches vs. 108.1 inches).

The A5 Sportback Prestige handles at .94 G’s, while the Outback Wilderness pulls only .74 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

Chassis

The A5 Sportback is 4.1 inches shorter than the Outback Wilderness, making the A5 Sportback easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces. The A5 Sportback is 4.7 inches shorter than the Outback.

The A5 Sportback is 11.5 inches shorter in height than the Outback, making the A5 Sportback much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

Servicing Ease

The A5 Sportback uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Outback 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.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Subaru. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 13% lower rating, Subaru is ranked 16th.

Ergonomics

The A5 Sportback Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Outback doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the A5 Sportback and the Outback have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the A5 Sportback is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Outback prevents the driver from operating the rear windows just as it does the other passengers.

The A5 Sportback’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Outback’s standard rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the A5 Sportback the driver can close them all at the outside door handle. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Outback can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The A5 Sportback’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Outback’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A5 Sportback to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Outback doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A5 Sportback Premium Plus/Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Outback doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The A5 Sportback’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Subaru only offers heated mirrors on the Outback Premium/Limited/Wilderness/Touring/Onyx.

The A5 Sportback 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 Outback Premium/Limited/Wilderness/Touring/Onyx.

Both the A5 Sportback and the Outback offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the A5 Sportback has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Outback doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The A5 Sportback Prestige’s Park Steering Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Outback doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Model Availability

The Audi A5 comes in coupe, convertible and four door hatchback bodystyles; the Subaru Outback isn’t available as a coupe, convertible or four door.