AUDI RS 5 SPORTBACK AND RS 5 COUPÉ AUDI SPORT EDITIONS PREPARE FOR LIFT-OFF

• Five-door, five-seat Audi RS 5 Sportback makes its UK range debut
• RS 5 Coupé re-joins the line-up
• Just 250 examples of each will be available in 2019 exclusively in Audi Sport Edition form and with the same £68,985 OTR entry price
• 2.9 TFSI V6 twin-turbo with 450PS and 600 Nm of torque, quattro drive
• Available to order now – first UK deliveries later this month

Audience participation in the enjoyment of the Audi RS 5’s 450PS of bi-turbo V6 power becomes easier from this month as the new RS 5 Sportback makes its debut. The latest addition to the UK Audi Sport range combines its sub-four-second acceleration capability and highly adhesive quattro-aided handling with five-door access to family-friendly five-seat accommodation and impressive luggage capacity, all contained within an elegant coupé silhouette. For keen drivers with a smaller entourage, the RS 5 Coupé also returns to the fold this month, combining the same blistering pace and handling tenacity in a classically striking two-door coupé format. Both versions will be exclusively available as Audi Sport Edition models offering an exceptional specification, and just 250 examples of each will be produced for the UK this year.

Externally, upgrading to Audi Sport Edition specification in both RS 5 variants entails adding larger 20-inch alloy wheels with an anthracite finish, fitting privacy glass, replacing aluminium-look exterior fittings such as the grille surround, window cappings and door mirror housings with high gloss black elements and installing the Audi Sport exhaust system to amplify the engine’s soundtrack. 

Inside, Fine Nappa leather and Alcantara combination upholstery with contrast diamond stitching for the RS super sports seats is exclusive to the Audi Sport Edition models, and they also gain Piano Black inlays and a panoramic glass sunroof. All this supplements an already generous equipment list that includes all-LED lighting, the fully digital Audi Virtual Cockpit with RS-specific displays, the Audi Smartphone Interface bringing Apple Carplay and Android Auto on board, MMI navigation plus with MMI touch incorporating LTE internet connectivity as part of the Audi connect package and driver assistants including the Audi side assist blindspot monitoring system, Audi hill hold assist and the parking system plus.

The Sportback cabin provides space for five people, and the square-shaped profile of the luggage bay with its useful width of exactly one metre allows passengers to make the most of the 480 litre luggage capacity. Folding down the rear seats with their 40:20:40 split ratio increases that to 1,300 litres.

Two turbochargers positioned centrally between the six cylinder banks guarantee exceptional response throughout the rev range in both RS 5 Audi Sport Edition models, and the full weight of the 600 Nm of torque that they help to muster can be brought to bear via the eight-speed tiptronic transmission and quattro drive to dispatch the 0-62mph sprint in just 3.9 seconds in both versions. At the same time, combustion technology employing the B-cycle process with central direct injection promotes a level of efficiency that is at odds with the prodigious power output.

Five-link front and rear RS-specific suspension provides optimal operating conditions for the centre differential-based quattro system, which distributes drive forces in a 40:60 front-to-rear ratio favouring dynamic handling with optimal traction. The system is also supported by the standard quattro sport differential, which precisely apportions torque between the rear wheels to promote even greater handling adjustability.

The Audi drive select adaptive dynamics system offers fine-tuning of the quattro drive and the sport differential, and can also tailor engine response, transmission shift points and steering weighting to suit the driver’s preferences through a choice of four modes – Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual.