2023 Audi A5 Coupe Awarded Top Safety Honors by the IIHS

For starters, Top Safety Pick+ recipients need to pass every single crashworthiness test with flying colors. Said evaluations are the small overlap front drive side, small overlap front passenger side, moderate overlap front, original side impact, roof strength, and head restraints test.

The “good” rating also applies to the best headlights available, whereas the standard headlights make do with the “acceptable” rating. Audi offers two headlight variations on the 2023 model year A5. The Prestige trim level comes with LED projector low beams and LED reflector high beams, and similar technologies are featured on the Premium and Premium Plus.

For whatever reason, the low beams of the lower-spec headlights cause a bit of glare. On the straightaway, the nonprofit organization notes good visibility on the right side of the road and inadequate visibility on the left side. Both the standard and optional front crash prevention systems received maximum points from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the vehicle-to-vehicle scenario. The standard front crash prevention system also performed as intended in the vehicle-to-pedestrian scenario.

Finally, and somewhat surprising for a coupe, “good” is the word used to describe the ease of use of the child restraints. The IIHS says that both tether anchors are easy to find, and that the lower anchors do their job just fine. The takeaway, however, is that Audi discontinued the "marginal" headlight system of the 2022 model to level up from Top Safety Pick to Top Safety Pick+ for the 2023 model, which costs $46,200 sans destination.

The S5 Coupe is $55,300 at press time, while the top-of-the-line RS 5 Coupe is listed on the configurator at $75,900 excluding the $1,095 freight.