Driving Sports

A view only Europeans will enjoy, for now.

Outside of the Audi R8 supercar, I've found little emotional attachment to the current Audi lineup. Granted, the A4/S4/RS4 is excellent in all its various configurations and the 6-badge is definitely worth a look for any successful executive, but for me the relationship was purely platonic.

That all changed the day I met the Audi S5. It was a test day at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and, though we had just been acquainted, the little coupe was more than willing to show me some fun: Quick and agile with a delightful air of sophistication. If I were to carry this analogy even further, I’d say the S5 was the mythic hot librarian to the R8’s porn star persona.

Guess what? Turns out the smart and attractive S5 has a twin sister, and she knows Kung Fu, too. Awesome.

Set to make its debut at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, this is the Audi RS5. Not yet confirmed for North America, we’ll have to just sit back and drool as we wrap our head around the figures: 4.2-liter naturally-aspirated V8 putting down 450 horsepower through the seven-speed S tronic transmission, mated to the Quattro all-wheel drive system.

A relative of the R8’s highest-spec V10 motor, the V8 uses common-rail direct injection derived from Audi’s Le Mans race experience. Maximum horsepower is achieved at a mind-bending 8,250 rpm, while maximum torque (318 lb-ft) is ramped from 4,000-6,000 rpm. That’s enough oomph to move it’s muscular 3,803-lbs body to Olympic sprinter speeds: a claimed 4.6-seconds from 0 to 62mph. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.

In spite of these impressive figures, it’s not a total gas hog. In fact, the new RS5 sucks down petrol at about the same rate as a Mazda RX-8, an estimated 21.78 US mpg. This is in part due to design efficiencies, as well as extra gearing afforded by the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Unfortunate for control freaks, no “true” manual transmission is going to be offered.

The all-wheel drive system employed in the RS5 is Audi’s advanced Quattro system. This can put down up to 70-percent of the power to the front, or 85-percent to the rear. In everyday conditions the car runs with a 40:60 rear-bias to give it a decidedly sportly feeling. This is quite unlike the A4 Quattro, which feels like a ham-handed front-wheel drive car most of the time.

Moving even further down the curve, the RS5 sports beefy 265/35 tires wrapped around 19-inch alloy wheels. Stopping comes courtesy of 14.37-inch ventilated discs grabbed by RS-emblazoned aluminum calipers.

For now, it seems that this action starlet will have to be admired only through her various media appearances. She’ll be available to European customers starting this spring for the US-equivalent of $105,000. So even if and when the RS5 is available in the US, it will be at quite a hefty premium over the S5 – possibly twice the price of the $52,000 base US-spec, V8 354-hp, Audi S5 Quattro. But even if the RS5 is unobtainable, doesn’t it somehow make the S5 even more attractive knowing just how good she can get?