Beautiful Styling… Brilliant Technology
Canadian Auto Press
Audi’s A5 won kudos and hearts merely for its beautiful design since its inception, followed up by the equally attractive yet more enticing S5. Now Audi reveals the absolutely intoxicated RS 5, and it will be hard to pass up by those with refined taste and a strong palette for top-tier performance.
2010 Audi RS 5
The new RS 5 sports a maximum of 450-horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque from a naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8. Audi calls it a “close relative” to the V10 that powers its flagship R8 sports car.
The RS 5 funnels all that power and torque through a paddle-shift actuated seven-speed sequential-manual S tronic transmission and an innovative compact and lightweight crown-gear centre differential that distributes it to the road via quattro all-wheel drive, of course, this iteration complete with a new torque-vectoring rear differential.
Performance? Hardly a lightweight at 1,725 kilos (3,803 lbs), the mighty RS 5 will sprint from naught to 100 km/h in a blisteringly quick 4.6 seconds and then continue uninterrupted to an electronically governed terminal speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). Ingolstadt will tweak the RS 5 for a top speed of 280 km/h (174 mph) if you ask nicely.
And what about that other, all-important performance figure? When cruising the highway the RS 5 can reportedly achieve a fuel economy rating of 10.8 L/100km, which is better than any competitive sports coupe, according to Audi.
The new RS 5 has a list of goodies too long to list, but driving enthusiasts will appreciate a sport suspension that drops ride height by 20 mm (0.79 inches) complemented by a unique standard set of 19-inch alloy rims wrapped in 265/35 performance tires; 20-inch alloys with 275/30 tires are optional. Framed by the wheels are powerful, internally ventilated discs measuring 365 millimeters (14.37 inches) in diameter at the front axle, clamped down on by eight-piston calipers; 380-mm (14.96-inch) ceramic carbon-fibre discs are optional. Performance-enhanced ABS is part of the package, of course, plus electronic stabilization program (ESP) that includes a sport mode that can be turned off entirely for those adrenaline junkies.
Will the new model be heading to North America? There is talk, but nothing official, although the RS 4 has loyal Canadian and American owners that would likely upgrade to an RS 5, and it’s also likely that the svelte new sheetmetal would lure in new buyers that would otherwise purchase an M3 coupe.
