Chris Davies/SlashGear
- Good-looking styling and high-end cabin
- V6 and sport exhaust noise amazing
- The correct amount of punch for public roadways
- Much grip
- Capacious trunk
- Some security tech is optional
- Competitors have more power
- No handbook transmission
With car manufacturers speeding into electrification, you ‘d be forgiven for presuming the pickings were slim when it concerns sub-$100k gas-powered toys. Rather, those with a decent-sized toy budget plan however some sticking around needs around functionality discover themselves suddenly well catered for, not least with the 2024 Audi RS 5 Sportback. While its coupe-inspired four-door type might still activate branding concerns, letting nomenclature deter you would imply losing out on something truly enjoyable.
About as long as an Audi A4, the RS 5 Sportback overemphasizes its position by being somewhat lower and larger. It's good-looking, too, in such a way that some big-grilled competitors from other car manufacturers appear to have actually quit on. The Audi's maw is big, however proportional, topped with a captivating row of nostril-style hood vent slots. The diving roofline highlights the long dash-to-axle ratio; the entire thing looks tight and muscular, however not comedically so.
Chris Davies/SlashGear
Nineteen-inch wheels are basic (there are optional 20-inchers on this specific vehicle), and though the Nardo Gray paintwork might feel a little played-out by this point, there's no rejecting that the RS 5 looks excellent in it.
Chris Davies/SlashGear
The $10,300 Competition bundle opens a 180 miles per hour leading speed and includes sport direct steering and a coilover suspension system with sport sway bars. For the many part, however, it's a look plan, though an exceptional one: 20-inch bi-color 5-Y-spoke wheels shod in Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber, a sport exhaust system with matte black tailpipes, and lashings of matching trim, front and rear diffusers, and badging.
A soundtrack to enjoy
Chris Davies/SlashGear
It does not take long to be swayed by the RS 5's appeals, though with a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 engine under the hood, RS sport suspension, and Audi's splendid Quattro sport rear differential all basic, that's no excellent surprise. 444 horse power and 442 lb-ft of torque provided with a gurgling, farting, wailing exhaust note and a dinosaur's grunt from behind the grille: I'm all aboard the EV buzz bus, however there's still an unique location in my heart for something that seems like this specific drivetrain (and, for that matter, the weird-but-lovable sounds that come out of the five-cylinder Audi RS 3).
Chris Davies/SlashGear
It's quickly, too. No to 60 miles per hour shows up in 3.8 seconds, and the basic leading speed is an electronically-limited 155 miles per hour. Even in Comfort or Auto mode, with the 8-speed Tiptronic transmission in “D” not the feistier “S” setting, the RS 5 pulls with a desperate seriousness.
