AUDI RS5 SPORTBACK

Sleek and rapid coupe, but with added pragmatism

- PETER ANDERSON

ENGINE 2894cc V6, DOHC, 24v, twin turbo

POWER 331kW @ 5700-6700rpm

TORQUE 600Nm @ 1900-5000rpm

0-100KM/H 3.9sec (claimed)

WEIGHT 1695kg • PRICE $153,9004.0 Rating

LIKE: Effortless performance; accessibility; practicality; luxurious

DISLIKE: Adaptive dampers optional; cabin is too similar to cheaper S5

IT SEEMS EVERYONE bangs on about a particular sports car’s back catalogue and how the current one just doesn’t live up to the name. In the case of the RS5, the moaning is centred around the lack of a rumbling V8 and the Volkswagen empire’s often-maligned twin-clutch transmission.

In that order, Audi replaced the V8 with a Porsche co-developed 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 with way more power and torque and paired it with ZF’s sublime eight-speed automatic transmission. The first time we drove this car, which happened to be around The Bend Motorsport Park near Adelaide, it was clear the right choices had been made. But that was the track. The road beckoned.

Some months later and one exhilarating day out in a part of the world best known as None of Your Business, the good news was confirmed. But with one caveat – you really wanted the quattro sport differential. It didn’t transform the car, but it gave it more of an edge.