Reviews
Gallery 1
Audi’s all-new twin-turbo coupe brings the heat to a segment that’s red hot.
WHAT IS IT? The second generation of Audi’s most potent coupe below the flagship R8.
WHY ARE WE DRIVING IT? This is the first RS offering built on the MLB evo architecture, and given our deep regard for the S4/S5, we have high hopes for it on our first sample on European roads.
THE WHEELS VERDICT The Audi RS5 secures a niche as being the only all-wheel-drive offering in this segment, so outstanding all-weather traction is a given. It also delivers terrific day-to-day liveability thanks to its ride, equipment, and ergonomics. It’s not as ferocious as the real hard man of this class − that’s the C63 S coupe − but nor does it punish your pelvis the way that car’s unforgiving ride does.
PLUS: Tenacious traction; mostly absorbent ride; polish and usability; equipment and interior MINUS: Slightly restrained engine character; is it sufficiently thrilling at the limit?
What are the odds? According to Audi Sport’s head of technical development, Stephan Reil, ‘coincidence’ is not a concept his department deals with. “Our target was to match the outgoing engine,” he explained to me at the RS5’s launch in the French Pyrenees mountains.
“It’s important that customers know they are getting vastly more torque, much better consumption, with no reduction in power.”
I had to ask: is Audi Sport declaring an official withdrawal from the power war that rages in every high-performance segment? That 331kW figure is well short of the 375kW that Alfa extracts from a similarly sized turbo V6 in the Giulia QV, and is likewise 44kW down on arch-rival Mercedes-AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 C63 S.
Reil just shrugs. “We believe 331kW is ample for this car. Besides, customers buy power, but they drive torque.”
We leave it there, feeling fairly certain Reil and his team have a little up their sleeve for the inevitable Plus version.
Anyway, does it matter? Does an on-paper power deficit really influence enjoyment, when there’s 600Nm on tap from just 1900rpm, and a quattro system to get it all cleanly to the ground ? We hit some spectacular mountain roads to find out.
That vast wodge of torque arrives early and pretty much lag-free, and doesn’t taper until 5000rpm, so obviously the RS5 feels properly rapid. And not just on the move either; the claim of 3.9 seconds for 0-100km/h feels entirely credible, thanks in no small part to all-paw traction. For crucial sprinting ability, this car will almost certainly have the jump – literally – on its rear-drive rivals.
The shifts are beautifully crisp and quick, but best exploited via the paddles. There’s a feeling that in Dynamic, the box is not quite as telepathically gifted as the best calibrated dual-clutchers from more expensive rivals like Porsche and Ferrari.
The quattro system is set up to provide its best approximation of a rear-drive feel (torque split is normally 60 rear:40 front, but the system is capable of sending around 80 percent rearward) and it largely succeeds. Floor the throttle out of tight turns and there’s a seat-of-the-pants sense of imminent oversteer, but then the all-wheel drive’s massive tractive qualities just slingshot you out of the corner. Perhaps with ESC off on a track, where you could push harder, you could prompt some tail-out action, but not on the road. That said, the ESC Sport setting does provide the leniency for a wag here or there.
The cars we drove were fitted with the dynamic steering option which quickens the ratio as lock is wound on; a system that has had its detractors. I can’t side with them in this application. I found it predictable and incisive, with ideal weight in the Comfort setting. Dynamic makes it heavier, but also brings a slight off-centre stickiness. Keep it in Comfort and I’d argue this is the best steering Audi in the company’s line-up, bar the R8. Even with that huge front footprint, there’s no tramlining or corruption, at least not on the smooth surfaces we drove on.
Audi knows its customers don’t want a car that’s as focussed (and compromised) as a C 63 S coupe, so the RS5’s day-to-day liveability and GT qualities stand applauded as its core USPs.
SPECS Model: Audi RS5 coupe Engine: 2894cc V6, (90°) dohc, 24v, twin turbo Max power: 331kW @ 5700-6700rpm Max torque: 600Nm @ 1900-5000rpm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Weight: 1665kg 0-100km/h: 3.9sec (claimed) Economy: 8.7L/100km Price: $157,900 (estimated) On sale: June
