Sitting atop the A5 platform, the RS5 brings relentless ferocity and focus to the table. In an increasingly turbocharged world of sports cars, where even the likes of Ferrari are succumbing to the adulterated idea of forced induction, the RS5 prides itself for being a naturally aspirated machine. Slightly understated, yet unmistakably aggressive, extremely performance focused, featuring a sporty coupe shape, the RS5 looks utterly exclusive, especially on Indian roads, where finding a two door car by itself is rarer than finding a pot of gold under a rainbow. We took this crazy machine painted in a resplendent blue to Lonavala, and realized how insistently purposeful it was.
Is the RS5 in pictures here a brand new model?
The RS5 was originally introduced in the year 2010 at the Geneva Auto Show. It’s designed and developed by Audi’s Quattro division, which specializes in making the fastest cars adorning the four interlinked rings. The model we test here was introduced in 2012, a year before it was launched in India. Why do we test it now? Well, quite simply because you never refuse to test a 450 bhp car. And we were offered one, so there.
So what sort of metal brings to life those 450 ponies?
The RS5 sports a high revving 4.2 liter V8 naturally aspirated petrol engine. Featuring FSI direct injection, the powerplant, as mentioned before, dishes out 450 horses (444 bhp to be accurate) @ 8250 RPM. Twist is rated at 430 Nm @ 4000 RPM. Impressive numbers, all of those, except probably the torque. Then again, you’ll get to rev this car to the top of a rainbow and back, unlike those turbocharged machines which boast a higher torque, but fall flat the moment you try swinging the tacho needle for a six.
What kind of real-world performance does that hardware and those specs translate into?
It’s fast, very fast. Though not as insanely, beguilingly and overwhelmingly as its bigger RS7 sibling, the RS5 is fast enough to scare your mommy-in-law bloodless if you so wished. The 0-100 sprint takes a hint more than 4.5 seconds with the top speed restricted to 250 km/h. Ask the Audi boys nicely, and they would increase it to 280 km/h for you, for a little extra money, of course. And the RS5 wouldn’t frown one bit while taking you to those silly speeds. Transmission duties are taken care of by the sublime 7-speed dual clutch S-Tronic transmission. The engine transmission combo is one of the best you’ll find anywhere on the planet. The hardware thrusting that coupe forward is worth its weight in gold.
So it goes real fast. Does it look as good?
The current version of the RS5 received some design changes over its predecessor for a sharper appearance. The idea was to give this coupe a more planted, athletic and muscular stance on the road. The single frame grille on the car got its upper corners chamfered for the effect. The powerful, wide bonnet gets two pronounced creases emanating from the A-pillar and merging into the grille to achieve a daunting face for the RS5.
The wedge shaped LED headlamps make the front look sharp. The radiator grille’s insides are done in a honeycomb mesh pattern in a satin silver finish – adding to the car’s appeal enormously. An RS5 badge finished in silver, red and chrome stands guard to dispel any doubts in the minds of the cynics. Big wide side air intakes finish the job of giving this manic Audi the face to instil some fear in the eyes of the man looking at the RVMs ahead.
A chrome lined greenhouse, a mildly dropping roofline and uniquely styled 5-spoke 20 inch wheels define the profile of the RS5. Two tone ORVMs, painted in silver and black, a mild character line running across the length of the car and strong haunches are a few other details. Not much, those elements, when you look at them in isolation, but all of it comes together beautifully to make the RS5 one transcendent design exuding aggression without even trying. Look closely and you may also notice the spoiler that’s flush with the boot deck, and comes out as the 120km/h limit is breached.
The taillights and the rear bumper have also been redesigned. The big twin-exhausts, flanking the satin lined diffuser resonate the controlled belligerence witnessed in abundance up front.
What wonders do you get to witness inside?
Let’s start with the changes over the previous version. The leather wrapped, dimpled, multi-function steering wheel is new. The controls including the ignition key, the knob of the gear selector lever, steering column stalks, buttons for Audi drive select and the optional MMI navigation plus have been redesigned. And did we mention, we absolutely love the globular drive selector lever which looks sporty and is equally fantastic to hold.
The interior, as a whole is a study in black. It’s a sporty car and doesn’t want to make any family oriented pretensions. High-quality black leather covers the seats and most other places. The heavily bolstered front seats get integrated headrests and have RS5 badging embossed at neck-level. Under-thigh support for the front seats can be electrically extended.
Pedals are finished in shiny steel with rubber grips. RS5 badging can be found in more than a couple of places inside the cabin. Sound output is via Bang & Olufsen and as always is the case with the brand, immaculate. As driver and co-passengers, you’d be surrounded by features. The central dashboard is familiar Audi, though the buttons and controls on the door panels are slightly different.