B10 Audi RS 5 Avant Spied by Audi Club in Downtown Münich

Here’s the thing about traveling around Bavaria. You need to keep your eyes peeled. This area of southern Germany includes numerous factories from Audi, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, so test mules are regularly seen on the highways, in the rest stops and rolling about on city streets. As if to prove this point, Audi Club’s own Chris May was walking down the street in downtown Münich this week and happened to notice the upcoming B10 RS 5 Avant rolling past him in traffic.

Fortunately for those of us reading this blog, Chris was quick with the camera and was able to snap a couple shots of the car. He even jogged after it in order to get a front view to share.

Looking at the photos, this RS 5 Avant looks similar to other mules we’ve seen and may even be one of the other mules spotted in other spy photographs we’ve published. It’s still heavily camouflaged, and a closer look suggests the car still wears A5/S5 Avant rear fenders with tack-on flares to cover the wider track of the RS ahead of any desire for or perhaps availability of correct RS fitment rear fenders. That’s typical for test mules though, so don’t expect those pronounced rear arch flares to carry forward to production.

Beyond that, Chris also shared that the car sounded great. When it does come to market, it is expected to make use of an update version of the 2.9 Biturbo V6 from the current RS 5 models and RS 5 Avant, but with a hybrid drivetrain. Note the gas cap on the rear left hand side of the car that is expected to be the location of the charging port.

Audi of America showed the upcoming RS 5 Sportback to dealers several weeks ago, hinting in that meeting that the RS 5 Avant may not come to the USA. It’s possible that this is true, and it’s also possible that Audi simply don’t want to talk Avant until they’re ready to do so.

When would they be ready to talk Avant in the United States? Well, Audi has already confirmed there will be no A5 or S5 Avant. However, that’s consistent with the B9 offering where we only ever got the allroad derivative of the wagon body style. Audi hasn’t shown a B10 A5 allroad yet, and the allroad has been the only path towards Avant sales (like the RS 6 Avant) in the United States due to the costly federalization process. If and when there’s an allroad, it’s that model that would lead to an RS 5 Avant being possible here… though even after that there are no guarantees.

Honestly, we think Audi choosing to not bring an RS 5 Avant would be a major lost opportunity. Given the retirement of the TT and R8, the brand has a dwindling number of enthusiast offerings on which to stake its performance chops, and notably the upcoming 2026 F1 specification race cars are also hybrids.

So, despite what Audi reportedly told dealers, we’re not losing hope just yet. In fact, we have a glimmer. Zoom in on that larger profile view shot by Chris today and you see what looks like a red/orange smudge on the side of the headlight unit while the turn signal is definitely not lit up. That location is where we’d expect to see a U.S. side marker for a North American spec car. Could that be a U.S. side marker under that camouflage wrap?

Check out more photos below.