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New Models
DRIVEN: Audi Unleashes RS5 Super Coupe
The 450-horsepower beast rivals BMW M3 and Cadillac CTS-V with aggressive performance, menacing style and an arsenal of technology.
Audi's performance tuners turned the mild-mannered A5 into the seriously competitive RS8 sports coupe. (Photo: Audi)
Although the external design changes made by quattro GmbH (Audi's in-house performance department) to produce the RS5 are subtle, they send an unmistakable message.
The addition of a honeycomb grille and revised bumper with splitter up front; flared fenders, prominent side sills and 19-inch wheels at the sides; and a large rear diffuser and active wing at the car's back end turn the usually pretty A5 into something that might be the R8's tough big brother.
Crouching with its 0.8-inch lower stance on the pit lane at Sonoma Raceway in northern California, the new RS5 looked mechanically imposing and a little menacing, and the sounds it made when it started up and accelerated away onto the track fully backed up the car's deadly serious specifications.
Audi is not playing around with this model. The RS5 is in direct competition with other companies' performance models in the segment, such as BMW M3 and Cadillac CTS-V. And as the top performance model in the company's A5 range, it is equipped with a newer version of the R8's V8 – incorporating technical upgrades from the R8's V10 – that boasts 450 horsepower rather than the 420 from the R8.
Perhaps the RS5 needs the extra power, bristling as it does with Audi's comprehensive technical arsenal and weighing in at a burly 4,009 pounds. But that stout motor and variable chassis control almost completely obscure the car's substantial mass.
With its maximum torque available from 4,000 to 6,000 rpm, the car's throttle response is vivid in normal operating conditions. Power builds quickly after that, maximum thrust arriving at 8,250 rpm with a thunderous accompaniment from the high-revving V8.
With its tach redlined at a lofty 8,500 rpm, the V8's maximum piston speed is more than 5,000 feet per minute (or 26 meters per second), which is right up there with F1 engines. And when hooked to Audi's fastest-shifting seven-speed dual-clutch tranny, this new V8 propels the RS5 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
It will go on eagerly to reach a governed top speed of 174 mph. While the V8 exhaust cadence tends to understate the rotational speed, it provides a truly heroic soundtrack. And yet this seriously strong car somehow manages to avoid the U.S. gas-guzzler tax.
The addition of a honeycomb grille and revised bumper with splitter up front; flared fenders, prominent side sills and 19-inch wheels at the sides; and a large rear diffuser and active wing at the car's back end turn the usually pretty A5 into something that might be the R8's tough big brother.
Crouching with its 0.8-inch lower stance on the pit lane at Sonoma Raceway in northern California, the new RS5 looked mechanically imposing and a little menacing, and the sounds it made when it started up and accelerated away onto the track fully backed up the car's deadly serious specifications.
Audi is not playing around with this model. The RS5 is in direct competition with other companies' performance models in the segment, such as BMW M3 and Cadillac CTS-V. And as the top performance model in the company's A5 range, it is equipped with a newer version of the R8's V8 – incorporating technical upgrades from the R8's V10 – that boasts 450 horsepower rather than the 420 from the R8.
Perhaps the RS5 needs the extra power, bristling as it does with Audi's comprehensive technical arsenal and weighing in at a burly 4,009 pounds. But that stout motor and variable chassis control almost completely obscure the car's substantial mass.
With its maximum torque available from 4,000 to 6,000 rpm, the car's throttle response is vivid in normal operating conditions. Power builds quickly after that, maximum thrust arriving at 8,250 rpm with a thunderous accompaniment from the high-revving V8.
With its tach redlined at a lofty 8,500 rpm, the V8's maximum piston speed is more than 5,000 feet per minute (or 26 meters per second), which is right up there with F1 engines. And when hooked to Audi's fastest-shifting seven-speed dual-clutch tranny, this new V8 propels the RS5 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
It will go on eagerly to reach a governed top speed of 174 mph. While the V8 exhaust cadence tends to understate the rotational speed, it provides a truly heroic soundtrack. And yet this seriously strong car somehow manages to avoid the U.S. gas-guzzler tax.
The Lyonheart K
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