Compare the2023 Audi A5 SportbackVS 2023 Toyota Venza

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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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A5 Sportback have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Venza doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

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 Venza doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A5 Sportback and Venza 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 Venza’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 Venza doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The A5 Sportback has a standard Audi Backguard System, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Audi Backguard System moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Venza doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the A5 Sportback’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Venza doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

Both the A5 Sportback and the Venza have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

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 Toyota Venza:

	A5 Sportback	Venza
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	26%	29.3%
Neck Stress	232 lbs.	306 lbs.
Neck Compression	55 lbs.	56 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 Toyota Venza:

	A5 Sportback	Venza
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	14 inches
Hip Force	666 lbs.	835 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 5.6% less likely to roll over than the Venza, which received a four-star rating.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A5 Sportback its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 135 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Venza is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2019.

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 Venza’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 Venza’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

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

Engine

The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 42 more horsepower (261 vs. 219) than the Venza’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

Fuel Economy and Range

Both the A5 Sportback and Venza have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The A5 Sportback has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

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 Venza doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	A5 Sportback 40 TFSI	A5 Sportback 45 TFSI	Venza
Front Rotors	12.3 inches	13.3 inches	12 inches
Rear Rotors	11.8 inches	13 inches	11.1 inches

The A5 Sportback’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Venza are solid, not vented.

The A5 Sportback stops much shorter than the Venza:

	A5 Sportback	Venza
70 to 0 MPH	159 feet	179 feet	Car and Driver

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A5 Sportback has larger standard tires than the Venza (245/40R18 vs. 225/60R18). The A5 Sportback’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Venza (255/35R19 vs. 225/60R18).

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 Venza LE’s standard 60 series tires. The A5 Sportback’s optional tires have a lower 35 series profile than the Venza XLE/Nightshade/Limited’s 55 series tires.

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 Venza’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 Venza doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the A5 Sportback’s wheelbase is 5.3 inches longer than on the Venza (111.2 inches vs. 105.9 inches).

The A5 Sportback’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (54.8% to 45.2%) than the Venza’s (56% to 44%). This gives the A5 Sportback more stable handling and braking.

The A5 Sportback Prestige handles at .94 G’s, while the Venza Limited pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

Chassis

The A5 Sportback is 11.3 inches shorter in height than the Venza, 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 Venza 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 A5 Sportback is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Venza. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Toyota. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 17% lower rating, Toyota is ranked 20th.

Ergonomics

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 Venza’s standard 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 Venza doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The A5 Sportback’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Venza’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

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 Venza doesn’t offer headlight washers.

When the A5 Sportback with available tilt-down mirrors is put in reverse, the passenger rearview mirror tilts from its original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirror into its original position. The Venza’s mirror doesn’t automatically adjust for backing.

The A5 Sportback’s standard rear view mirror and optional 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 Venza offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The A5 Sportback has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats are only available on the Venza XLE/Nightshade/Limited. The A5 Sportback Prestige also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Venza.

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 Venza doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Model Availability

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