Compare the2025 Audi A5 SportbackVS 2025 Toyota Crown

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 Crown doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A5 Sportback and Crown 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 Crown’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.

Both the A5 Sportback and the Crown have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger 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, 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 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 Crown’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 Crown’s (12 vs. 5 years).

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

On the EPA test cycle the A5 Sportback 40 TFSI gets better fuel mileage than the Crown Platinum 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder Hybrid 6-speed Auto (26 city/36 hwy vs. 29 city/32 hwy).

Both the A5 Sportback and Crown 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.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Audi A5 Sportback uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended for maximum performance). The Crown Platinum requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

A seven-speed automatic (SMG) is standard on the Audi A5 Sportback, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Crown.

The A5 Sportback offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Crown doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual 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 Crown doesn’t offer launch control.

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

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 Crown are solid, not vented.

The A5 Sportback stops much shorter than the Crown:

For better traction, the A5 Sportback has larger standard tires than the Crown (245/40R18 vs. 225/55R19). The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Crown (265/30R20 vs. 225/55R19).

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 Crown’s standard 55 series tires. The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s optional tires have a lower 30 series profile than the Crown’s optional 45 series tires.

The A5 Sportback Prestige handles at .94 G’s, while the Crown Limited pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Audi A5 Sportback may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 250 to 550 pounds less than the Toyota Crown.

The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI is 8.9 inches shorter than the Crown, making the A5 Sportback easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The A5 Sportback has a 3500 lbs. towing capacity. The Crown has no towing capacity.

The A5 Sportback uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Crown 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 Crown. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

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 Crown’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

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 Crown doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

Laser headlights, standard on the A5 Sportback Prestige, produce their light by firing blue lasers through phosphorus, a process that uses one-half the power of the Crown’s LED headlights. Laser headlights can have double the range of LEDs with a much smaller surface area.

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 has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Crown doesn’t offer headlight washers.

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 Crown has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

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

The Audi A5/S5 outsold the Toyota Crown by 25% during 2023.