The first-ever Audi RS5 Avant will be motivated by a plug-in hybrid drivetrain – but fear not, the Bavarian company hasn’t dropped the ball like Mercedes-AMG, which went with four-cylinder power.
The new RS5 – which will be called a Sedan and the wagon-shaped Avant we’re so familiar with, instead employs an improved version of the old 2. Service in the previous RS4 Avant was serviced by 9-litre biturbo petrol V6, which is also known as 4 litres of diesel.
This line began with RS2 Avant of 1994, and the new RRS5 is effectively the sixth entrant in this series.
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RS2 had become the B5-series – a 2b5 series. by 1999, when it was around to be ? The steroidal twin-turbo V6 wagon is 7litres and has 280kW of grunt to match with a 6-litre twin turbo V6, which looks like’mistakable, non-regularly identical vehicles’.
Thereafter, the RS4 evolved through three more generations of evolution B7,B8 and B9 – with either naturally aspirated 4 being born. V8 engines, or latterly the 2 litres (or 2-litre) of . Biturbo 9-litre V6 .
But, if you put the RS4 into the mix after 27 years of service with that nameplate and 32 years in total – because Audi’s own convoluted in-house badging policies for ICE versus EV (a baffling system it has since returned on) is no longer.
In a way that’s the RS5, it’ll continue to be like the mid-size, super-fast Audi of the late 2020s and beyond.
You’re right, think of it as a direct competitor for BMW’s own M3 Sedan and Touring models.
But instead of relying on pure internal combustion, or even going down a milder hybrid route, Audi has now turned to the same plug-in hybrid (PHEV) status that saw the Mercedes-AMG C63 lose all its street cred when it switched to hybrid propulsion in 2022.
New powertrain
Here is the good news that the 2 are s. The 9-litre V6 is carried over, and even on its own it exerts more power than the old B9 RS4 – that car produced 331kW in standard guise then 346kW for the 250-off, ultra-limited 25 Years special edition which signed the r4 line off.
Audi argues here that the V6 is ‘all-new’ because it has been extensively modified, thus freeing up a new output of 375kW from the petrol engine alone. Despite its torque, it is no more than the case before and still hits an extremely high-ranking 600Nm (a rudely healthy) peak.
The sum-of-their-parts totals for the RS5 are a ginormous 505kW and 1060Nm assuming this is an electric motor of 130kW/460NM, while Audi nevertheless pegs the powertrain back to an ever so slightly more reasonable 470kW (and 825N) for both longevity and controllability.
Similarly, those numbers mean the new RS5 is more powerful than its supposed big brother. A stunning run-out GT variant of the C8-series RS6 Avant was only 463kW, but it produced slightly more torque from its twin-turbo V8, at 850Nm.
There is a price for all this sheer force, and that’s the weight of . Although the RS6 may be physically larger and hierarchically grander car than the R5 (as it is known for its electrical part of its PHEV setup) weight 205-220kg, this might be an even bigger model.
We’re talking 2355kg for the RS5 Sedan, and another 15kg for the desirable Avant.
Mind you A 22kWh (net capacity) lithium-ion battery pack allows over 80km of all-electric range no matter how you spec the RRS5(81–86 km official).
It is a full top-up of the power cells at the maximum rating of 11kW, and charging the battery by AC only (with no DC capability) requires two-and-a-half hours to complete it.
Sublime design
The RS5 is clearly the best sounding, and should be like holy stink. But it has lots of technical skills in its chassis and underpinnings that will hopefully help it re-induce the massive weight on its big mass.
A word on looks before we get onto that, a . We’ve seen the car up close and personal childcareman.xyz was one of a few media outlets invited to sneeze preview about the RS5 Sedan and Avant in Munich in early February. And it looks absolutely phenomenally amazing,’ .
The bodywork of the RS5, even under Audi-RS standards, is so intense that it’s very muscular. With its blistered wheel-arches and wider tracks, it is 90mm broader across the beam than any normal A5 model in the range.
It’s even 77mm fatter than the old RS4, which itself was no shrinking violet.
In its RS5, which is in the lead of C8-RS6 GT and features an extensive air–intake region at front that’s all black (and also has a complementary rear diffuser in same colour) – both tricks visually broadening the car.
In fact, so specialised is the bodywork on the RS5 that it only shares four items with the regular A5, such as the roof, the front doors and the tailgate.
Those who are keenly eyed will also notice that the RS5 has outlet vents at the trailing edge of its front wings – another development from the R6 GT is being developed.
The chequered-flag motif is unique to this RS model and all of its light signatures, including the high-level brake light.
The RS5 is an alloy wheel with large steel brakes behind the wheels of 20-inch as standard; 420mm discs up front and 400mm rotors at rear.
A. sentence, or 21-inch rims are available; carbon brakes and a bowed one-in-four inch tyre is also provided as well with the offer of (i.e. And given the weight of the RS5 overall, there is a ‘segment-first’ here that opting for these newer anchors involves carbon discs fitted on the rear axle and front.
In other high-power Audis with this option, such as the RS3 for example, selecting carbon brakes will only convert front-wheel discs to the material.
The carbon option on the RS5 will reduce 30kg from the car’s kerb weight, which is small drop in 2 weeks. What is the true meaning of 4-tonne ocean in all reality? Nevertheless, these will be fitted to many customers’ needs.
Bespoke interior
The RS5 has many interesting features inside, such as bucket seats, a Dinamica-clad steering wheel with 12 o’clock marker and displays, graphics and details that are unique to the car.
Yet this primary interface remains centered on Audi’s ‘Digital Stage’ arrangement, which is also used for the touchscreens and TFT panels of its own design. Many will be attracted to the tech-heavy status this confers, others may perhaps rebuke the lack of any physical buttons and controls in some places.
The PHEV setup of the RS5, too, is another disadvantage and that’s also affected practicality. A battery pack is under the boot floor, so even the Avant can claim to very modest cargo-capacity figures of 361 litres with all seats in use and 1302L with the second row folded away.
Watch the Sedan (it’s a five-door fastback, but we’ll keep Audi’ in this case’. The numbers of its are trimmed back to 331 and 1170L, respectively. Having been in both cars, and having sat at the same time we can confidently say that headroom in the rear is noticeably reduced during the Sedan as it was for the Avant.
However, a historical perspective of the RS5 Sedan may be an interest to you because it is relative rare. Apart from the B7 generation of the RS4 (which was sold as a saloon, an estate and s convertible), every other RF4(and indeed the R2) has only been offered by Audi as an Avant.
This new, sleeker-looking RS5 is the first time since the late 2000s that you can get any body type other than the wagon for this M3 challenger.
More RS goodies
This is the job of a fast-shifting eight-speed Tiptronic torque-converter auto, which moves onto the hardware and channels such power and torque to all four wheels via Audi’s highly recommended quattro system.
Audi’s claiming that there is another world-first with the rear axle on the RRS5. It has Dynamic Torque Control (electro-mechanical vectoring), and it’s the hybrid of this, which Audi believes is unique in the market.
In just 15 milliseconds, a small 8kW/40Nm permanent-magnet electric motor on the rear diff can apparently shunt up to 2000Nme of torque to wherever it is required; this means that the Audi RS5’s quattro system is ‘state-of-the-art iteration of the long–serving, all-wheel-drive tech.
But this will not only limit understeer but could allow for a greater torque to be thrown at the outside rear wheel in some modes and settings, perhaps suggesting that there is ‘drift’-mode type scenario of the RS5?
Besides the monster powertrain, huge brakes and fancy fast-acting quattro diffs, the RS5 has an Audi RC Sport chassis with twin-valve dampers and five-link suspension front and rear, a sports exhaust system toting ‘an array of two ginormous oval-shaped outlet for making the most of the V6’s voice (and re-tuned steering with rape rapid and direct 131 ratio)?
The price of the RS5 Sedan and Avant is not yet known, but we’re still uncertain about what it will cost here in Australia as for its prices; when this was off-sale last year, the old B9 RA4 went from around $165,000.
The PHEV RS5’s package is very technical, so we think the drive-away cost of the Audi will be significantly higher once final figures are announced.
We’re going to be releasing both body styles in our market, and we’m very much looking forward to trying the RS5 out for size (to see whether it can contain its bulk or deliver a truly exciting drive for Audi fans)?
Watch this space to find out when we get behind the wheel.
Six of the best: From RS2 to RS5
- 1994: Audi RS2 Avant, 2.2 5cyl turbo, 232kW/410Nm, 0-100km/h 4.8sec, V-max 262km/h, 1595kg
- 1999: B5 Audi RS4 Avant, 2.7 V6 biturbo, 280kW/440Nm, 4.9sec, 250km/h (limited), 1620kg
- 2006: B7 Audi RS4, Sedan/Avant/Cabriolet, 4.2 V8, 309kW/430Nm, 4.8-4.9sec, 250km/h (limited), 1650-1845kg
- 2012: B8 Audi RS4 Avant, 4.2 V8, 331kW/430Nm, 4.7secs, 250km/h (limited, with option to raise to 280km/h), 1795kg
- 2018: B9 Audi RS4 Avant, 2.9 V6 biturbo, 331kW/600Nm, 4.1sec, 250km/h (limited, with option to raise to 280km/h), 1790kg
- 2026: B10 Audi RS5, Sedan/Avant, 2.9 V6 biturbo PHEV, 470kW/825Nm, 3.6sec, 285km/h (limited), 2355-2370kg
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