Audi RS5 – Review
Audi’s revised RS5 is a beautiful machine. Purposeful, powerful, brutally efficient and superbly well built.
With 450hp and 600Nm of torque from its 2.9L twin-turbo V6 engine, being driven through probably the best 8-speed tiptronic gearbox you will find, to the wheels through Audi’s tried and tested Quattro all-wheel-drive system with sports differential, and a 0-62mph time of just 3.9 seconds, the RS5’s performance is outrageous.
Our press car was the Carbon black edition in Turbo blue (£675 option). Carbon black means the car has very cool 20″ x 9.0J ‘5-segment-spoke Evo style’ design Audi Sport alloy wheels in gloss black, it has the carbon Black Styling Pack which consists of the front spoiler, sill extension inserts and diffuser insert in carbon, including high-gloss black-trimmed radiator grille, windows and horizontal bar in the diffuser. You also get gloss black Audi rings and exterior mirror housings in high-gloss black with carbon twill inlays. It’s a very cool package and in my opinion, the carbon black in turbo blue is the best look for the RS5.
Our car had a few optional extras as you might expect.
Turbo Blue paint (£675)
Comfort and Sound Pack (£1,395.00) which includes advanced key with electric hands-free boot opening system (Electric hands-free boot opening system not available on the Carbon Black trim), Bang & Olufsen 3D Sound System, 360⁰ camera and extended LED Interior Lighting Pack – multi-coloured.
Head up display £1095.00 option)
Driver Assistance Pack – Tour (£2700.00 option)
RS Sports exhaust system (1,250.00 option)
The standard level of equipment is very high, with equipment such as MATRIX LED headlights, privacy glass, leather electric front Super Sports seats with pneumatically adjustable lumbar support with massage function, extended leather pack including leather multi-function steering wheel, black cloth headlining, Audi virtual cockpit, Audi park assist pack and much more.
The standard-fit brakes are fantastic and wear 350mm wave discs front with huge 8 piston Brembo callipers and 330mm rear wave discs at the rear, the same as you’ll find on the venerable R8 supercar. You can upgrade to ceramic brakes if you feel the need for £6150.00.
Audi has blessed the RS5 with 450bhp and 600Nm of torque. This car is fast. Now, I’ve driven plenty of cars with this much power and more, but this car is brutally efficient and feels faster than most. There is so much mechanical grip it’s quite a shock. The chassis is incredible, steering is very responsive and it corners near flat. As you increase the pace to try to explore the limits of the chassis, it responds with unfaltering ability. Confidence inspiring to the max, the car hardly even gets out of shape, it’s quite the spectacle.
On the road, this is all the car you’ll ever need. When you feel like you’re pushing, and at the point where other cars start to move around and get out of shape, the RS5 isn’t even breaking a sweat.
This car requires you to recalibrate your brain. The performance envelope is so huge you almost feel like you’re not worthy. The gearbox is sublime. Gear Changes are lightning fast and you can hardly feel them. You can simply let the RS5 take the stress of changing gears into its own hands and do it for you, or you can use the paddles which seem to be connected directly to your brain, selecting the next gear seemingly before you consciously thought about it.
Build quality is superb and the equipment level is excellent. The interior is a lesson to lesser manufacturers on how to build a car interior. It’s not flamboyant or unnecessarily fussy, but is a very nice place to be. The seats hold you like only a mother can, the instruments are intuitive and unlike a modern Mercedes, you have what you need and not endless, pointless menus and options you simply don’t need. Of course you can personalise the displays and you have various views to choose from, but they are coherent and structured to display relevant information that enhances your driving experience.
The exterior is beautiful. It’s not elegant and graceful like something from an Italian stable, but looks purposeful and even menacing. It is instantly recognisable as an RS branded car, and draws more attention that you can believe. Handsome and refined, the RS5 is a masterpiece that has been honed over generations. It’s a sharp, purposeful car that can cruise in comfort or become an ruthlessly efficient sports car that will take you from A to B, wherever they may be, as fast as you can handle.
Basic price – £75,760.00 GBP
Optional equipment – £7,115.00 GBP
Price1 – £82,875.00 GBP
ROTR (recommended on the road price) – £84,935.00 GBP
