Apr 23, 2010 10:03:38 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Board: Other Sports Cars
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Apr 24, 2010 8:29:50 AM
- temm
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Apr 26, 2010 10:32:45 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Re: Audi RS5 in Geneva
temm:
Thanks, a good and balanced review IMO.
Slightly disappointed that Audi has chosen to turn a RS-car into a GT
This Audi is for the person who wants to travel fast not merely go fast. Cover long distances with pace and stability whatever the conditions. It is a practical very fast car with impeccable engineering..
Very wise of Audi to give it these attributes. If Audi had the ambition to make a car mostly for sport entertainment they should have given it what I call Star Quality (an intangible charisma that goes beyond strong performance and beyond good looks) in order to sell it successfully. And this car doesn't have this Quality in sufficient degree IMO. As a GT it is very good.
Like in humans so in cars this Star Quality is difficult to define but you recognize it when you see it.
--
"Form follows function"
Re: Audi RS5 in Geneva
temm:
Thanks, a good and balanced review IMO.
Slightly disappointed that Audi has chosen to turn a RS-car into a GT
Temm, having lived with my S5 for almost 3 months now, I think that is because at its core the A5/S5 is fundamentally a GT car, and the RS treatment is not enough to change this fact. I see this as an advantage as you can select the Audi 5-series with the amount of edge / aggressiveness that you want, while maintaining a long distance GT style driveability. If you need more excitement or ultimate performance then a buyer should be shopping for a 997 or similar....
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2010 Audi S5, 2002 M Coupe
Re: Audi RS5 in Geneva
KresoF1:
Thank you Kreso, here's "all black" vs "normal":
--
10 PRINT "997.2 Carrera S rules"
20 GOTO 10
30 RUN
Re: Audi RS5 in Geneva
temm:
KresoF1:
Thank you Kreso, here's "all black" vs "normal":
Looks great in black. I would probably even keep the silver components in this case as they fit nicely with the rims 
May 27, 2010 8:00:35 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Jun 9, 2010 12:11:58 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Jun 13, 2010 12:22:41 PM
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Eunice
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Jun 17, 2010 5:40:04 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Jun 20, 2010 6:14:15 PM
- throt
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,, thought it would be longer with this new model.Aug 15, 2010 6:22:29 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Aug 23, 2010 9:44:45 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Oct 27, 2010 5:24:04 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Re: Audi RS5 in Geneva
***** Audi RS5 road test by Autocar *****
BACKGROUND
At the risk of inducing a mild state of déjà vu, we again find ourselves saying that we’re never quite sure what kind of car we’re going to get from an RS Audi: a smooth-riding, agile M3 beater such as the RS4, or something altogether less appealingly sophisticated, like the early RS6.
This is the second RS model to rival the current BMW M3 since the demise of the RS4, which was short lived but shone brightly during its all too brief time in production.
Like the RS4, the RS5 has a 4.2-litre V8 engine and permanent quattro four-wheel drive. Unlike the RS4 saloon and estate, the RS5 comes only as a two-door coupé.
What we know about this car already is that it posted a very respectable performance at our recent Britain’s Best Driver’s Car contest, impressing our testers to the extent that many thought it the best front-engined Audi since the RS4.
Whether it’s better than that model, though – or indeed better than the M3, which has been subtly yet convincingly revised since it and an Audi last locked horns – is the subject of today’s test.
DESIGN
The last time that BMW sent off its 3-series to M division, it came back with vastly different body panels in addition to a carbonfibre roof. No such luxury is extended to Audi's RS models, whose exterior in this case is modified over the handsome coupé on which it's based by the addition of flared wings all round and new plasticwork front and rear to help emphasise the RS’s potency.
Place an S5 and an RS5 alongside each other and you'd spot the subtle differences easily, but it's harder to pick out an RS5 as one of Audi's most prestigious sports models from a crowd except by noting some detailing.
Beneath the skin, however, lie some rather more senior alterations and a serious amount of technological hardware. Motive power comes from a 4.2-litre V8 that's closely related to both the V8 and V10 engines used in the R8 supercar. It makes its maximum output – an impressive and M3-eclipsing 444bhp – just 100rpm shy of its 8300rpm redline, yet peak torque from as low as 4000rpm, so it promises to be fast and flexible. It's the first Audi RS model to put its drive through a seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox.
More significant still, however, is an all-wheel drive system whose centre differential normally pushes 60 per cent (but can divert as much as 85 per cent) of the RS5's torque to the rear axle; there, an electronically controlled differential (standard in the UK, optional overseas) does the job of a mechanical limited-slip differential. Coupled to this is torque vectoring for all four wheels; it can apply the brakes to individual wheels, in effect diverting power to other wheels.
One last, slightly more controversial addition to this array of hardware and software makes its way onto our test car: Dynamic Steering, a £700 active steering option that alters the steering ratio dependent on speed; it's quicker at low speeds, ostensibly for easier manoeuvring.
ON THE ROAD
Comparing cars in this sector is a bit like comparing Olympic athletes: they can have a wide range of physiques, but at this level of competition the differences in their overall performance can only be measured in hundredths of a second.
So it goes with the Audi RS5 and its most natural competitor, BMW's M3. At 4.2 litres and 444bhp, the Audi has a larger and more powerful V8 engine than the 4.0-litre, 414bhp unit in the M-car.
But at 1855kg as tested, the Audi tipped our road test scales at precisely 200kg heavier than the M3 coupé did three years ago. And that, when it comes to outright straight-line performance, is crucial.
For the purposes of this test, so closely aligned are the two rivals that we also took along a Competition Pack-equipped M3 to the RS5's performance testing session.
The RS5's launch control and four-wheel drive traction enables it to hit 30mph in a belting 1.8sec (BMW 1.9), but it is an advantage it cannot hold even to 60mph, which the Audi reaches in a very creditable 4.6sec. The thing is, the BMW is even quicker, with a 0-60mph time of 4.5sec. At 100mph (10.7sec in the Audi) the M3 holds a two-tenths advantage.
In truth, these are such small differences that they prove relatively unimportant, so let's not take anything away from the RS5, because it's a car with an exceptional drivetrain.
You'd swear it has more flexibility than the M3 at low to medium revs (though its 30-70mph time of 7.6sec in fourth is 0.6sec slower than the BMW's) and with an 8300rpm redline it has a tremendously broad spread of power, a cracking throttle response and a thrilling soundtrack.
Left to its own devices, the S-tronic gearbox is pretty smart, but there are also paddle shifters that allow full throttle without kickdown for richly baritone-accompanied acceleration, while shifts are barely perceptible in both automated and manual modes.
We frequently find that performance Audis brake well enough once but then quickly start to fade. At MIRA's test tracks, the RS5 was better than most in this respect, resisting fade well.
Along with the plethora of adjustable drivetrain features, the RS5 also allows its driver to tailor the dynamic experience. The RS5 has electro-magnetically controlled dampers that can be set to Comfort, Auto or Dynamic mode and gives its driver the opportunity to adjust the steering, engine response and sport differential over a similar range.
Technology and choice overload? Perhaps. We tended to place the steering in a lighter setting (you get no more feel with heavier steering), let the dampers make up their own mind, increase the throttle response, and put the sport differential into a more dynamic set-up. Then we'd just leave things at that, and we'd be surprised if owners routinely tweaked settings much beyond this.
The first reassuring thing about the RS5 is that, unless you're determined to make it otherwise by selecting inappropriate damper settings, it rides pleasingly deftly.
It has a sporting demeanour, of course, which means that its body movements are small and frequent rather than long and ponderous, but it brushes aside imperfections with the same kind of ability as the M3. Hundreds of miles could pass beneath its wheels without its owner, entirely in comfort, realising that the other side of its personality existed.
But boy, the RS5 is able if you’re pressing on; it's a properly quick point-to-point mover. Body movements remain tight, grip and traction are as high as you'd expect and, in extremis, you can feel the various machinations beneath the body apportioning power to where it most needs to go (as explained in ?'On the limit').
All the chassis sophistication in the world, however, can't disguise the 12 per cent extra weight the Audi carries in comparison with its BMW foe. During this test we drove the two back to back across one of the world's most demanding test roads. The RS5 eked out a small speed advantage over the M3, but only by retaining better traction in slower corners.
But when it came to going, stopping and grip, the more agile M3 had the edge. More crucially, though, the BMW was also the more entertaining car to drive.
LIVING
If the changes to the outside of the RS5 appear tame, wait until you look at the cabin. There’s a pair of spectacularly supportive front chairs, but apart from those and the odd flash of 'RS' brightwork, you could be in any A5 cabin from the range.
So you don’t necessarily feel you’re in a flagship sports car, but neither does it give us any great cause for complaint. Perceived material quality is as good as that of other cars in the segment and ergonomically the Audi is fundamentally sound.
Perhaps the MMI control system, which we once thought class leading, could use a little update of its functionality, and the steering wheel, with its grille-aping detail, maybe looks more 'fat' than 'phat'. But these are fairly petty niggles. The chances are than any drivers who can't get comfortable in an RS5's cabin are themselves rather curiously proportioned, and while rear passengers won't be writing notes home because of the capaciousness, it's far from bad for a medium-sized coupé. The boot has an impressive 455-litre volume and the rear seats can be folded to increase carrying capacity.
With a basic price of £57,480, the Audi RS5 demands a premium over the £53,275 BMW M3, although £2590 of that is eroded by attaching a seven-speed, dual-clutch M DCT gearbox to the M3 (or £3315 if you opt for the Competition Pack, which we would). Similarly, the RS5 demands a tiny insurance premium, by virtue of being in group 44 rather than the M3’s 43.
The Audi does supposedly, and actually, offer better economy; we didn’t manage to match the official 26.2mpg consumption figure (we never do), but 22.0mpg is a reasonable average for a 444bhp, 1855kg super-coupé and an improvement over the 19mpg we recorded in the (pre-EfficientDynamics, manual) M3 we tested back in 2007. The RS5 is predicted to retain 47 per cent of its value after three years, two per cent less than an M3.
VERDICT (**** 4 stars)
Taken in isolation, the RS5 is a success not just as a front-engined Audi, but by the standards of any premium sports coupé, capable of isolating its occupants from the more tiresome elements of long-distance driving, but engaging them when circumstances dictate. Its breadth of ability expands wider than those of both Nissan's utterly focused GT-R and, conversely, the overtly cosseting Mercedes-Benz E-class coupé.
For a front-engined Audi, the RS5 has new-found levels of throttle adjustability and a near GT-R level of drivetrain complexity, but only in extremis, when you can feel torque shuffle from corner to corner, would you know it. Should it be more engaging? Arguably, a little, and without active steering there's a chance it might be more immediate in its interaction.
Even so, the RS5's biggest problem is the existence of the more agile, more able V8 coupé with a propeller on its nose.
...thanks to Autocar!
Nov 11, 2010 2:07:10 PM
- JZ
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