V6 Power and Two More Doors – the new Audi RS5 Sportback

Audi stole the show at the New York Motor Show after they revealed the all-new Audi RS5 Sportback. The four-door coupe joins the RS5 coupe and the RS4 Avant in an attempt to dominate the mid-range sports car market, which includes the likes of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe, among others.

“The Audi RS 5 Sportback is more than just a trade fair novelty – it offers something new,” says Audi Sport chief Michael-Julius Renz. “Our interpretation of a five-door performance coupe has neither predecessor models, nor a direct competitor.”

The RS5 Sportback inherits the honeycomb-grille and aggressive bumpers of the RS5 coupe. Larger air vents and a larger matt silver splitter element above the word ‘quattro’ on the grille differentiate the Sportback from the coupe model. The headlights gain Audi’s new signature air ducts, while the rear sports wider fenders, a fixed spoiler and a gloss black diffuser that houses two oval pipes.

The Audi RS5 Sportback is also lower and lighter than a regular A5 Sportback. Weighing in at 1840kg, the Sportback boasts an impressive power-to-weight ratio of 180kW per tonne. A total power output of 331kW is delivered by Porsche-co-developed 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine.

An 8-speed automatic transmission feeds power to all-four wheels through a specially tuned version of Audi’s quattro four-wheel drive system. The system defaults to a 40:60 rear-wheel biased split between the front and rear axle, however it is capable of sending up to 85% of its power to the front wheels, or up to 70% of power to the rear wheels when necessary.

The interior of the Audi RS5 Sportback gains Audi Sport seats, a sport flat-bottomed steering wheel as well as Audi’s virtual cockpit. Boot space is claimed at 480-litres, which is bumped up to 1300-litres with the rear seats folded down.

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