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Payne: Audi RS5: ‘RS’ for Rocket Ship
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 29, 2024
Detroit — Electronics have democratized the automobile, leveling the playing field between mainstream and luxury makes. Jump into an Audi RS5, for example, and cockpit controls are as familiar as the Chevy Malibu I just rented at Hertz.
Digital instruments display, tablet console screen, temperature controls, automatic T-shifter. Tap the phone icon and sync your smartphone using Bluetooth. Activate wireless Android Auto? Tap the screen, done. “Hey Google, take me to the Renaissance Center.” Scroll the AM, FM and Sirius XM radio station icons, set your favorites. Scroll between them using the steering wheel buttons.
So what separates a luxury performance sedan?
WAAUUUUUUURRRGGH! I nailed the throttle and let loose the 444 horsepower under the long hood in front of me. WAAUUUUUUURRRGGH! The horses gulped air through the RS5’s huge black maw, twin turbochargers stuffing the air into six cylinders, then exhaling through twin rear tailpipes the size of ship cannons. WAAUUUUUUURRRGGH! The Audi devoured landscape before an interstate cloverleaf rushed into view.
Brakes, please.
Six-piston calipers (painted red so you know they’re serious) sunk their teeth into massive 14.8-inch rotors, slowing the runaway missile. I spun the Alcantara-sheathed steering wheel, throwing the beast into the cloverleaf as the electronic differential threw torque to the outside wheel for more grip, performance Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires screaming to find traction on cold Michigan concrete.
That’s what you get for your $80K Audi RS5. RS for Rocket Ship.
Inject RS steroids into an A5 chassis and you have a serious competitor to class icon BMW M3. I’m an M2 missionary as the best four-seat performance car in the land (the modern equivalent to the classic 2000 M3 E46 I once owned), but the sensational coupe is, admittedly, limited in utility with its two doors and tight backseat room. The 2024 M3 gains four doors and three inches of rear legroom to make it a better family sedan, though the backseat remains tight for six-footers.
My class favorite is the ferocious 2024 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing with its 668-horsepower, supercharged V-8, 33-inch dash screen and additional two inches of rear legroom so you can pack in the whole family for its 3.6-second, 0-60 mph rollercoaster rides.
But the RS5’s ace-in-the-hole is hatchback utility — a rare attribute in the luxury performance space. It’s what made the Acura Integra Type S hot hatch one of my favorite new additions to the auto stable last year. Hatchback utility, another two inches of legroom over the Audi, whip-like handling from its toned 3,200-pound chassis — 800 pounds lighter than the RS5.
However, the Type S doesn’t have a V-6 and all-wheel drive. On a quiet night in downtown Detroit, I engaged launch control at the Jefferson and Griswold stoplight. The Corsas scrabbled for grip on the cold road, but grip they did — though Audi’s claimed 3.8 second 0-60 mph dash wouldn’t be achieved this night.
The twin-turbo V-6’s acceleration is ballistic, and viscerally satisfying. Through the tunnel under Huntington Place onto The Lodge Freeway, the Audi cleared its throat with a satisfying BLAAAT! with each upshift of the eight-speed automatic gearbox. It’s addictive.
I bumped the T-shifter to the right into manual mode so I could manually shift more BLAAATs. BLAAAT BLAAT BLAAT! And again when you downshift. BLAAAT BLAAAT! Hot hatches bring out the kid in me. Only the CT5-V Blackwing’s V-8 offers more audio thrills.
When playtime was over, I settled into the Audi’s comfortable cabin.
Some automakers offer exotic, carbon fiber performance thrones, but I have found them uncomfortable in daily driving. The Audi’s leather and Alcantara seats are a better middle ground. The RS5’s ergonomics are also better sorted than other Audis I’ve been in of late.
Audi automatic T-shifters have been located too close to the driver’s leg, with the result that my knee would accidentally bump it into NEUTRAL with a sudden spike in revs — OOOWARRGGH! I had no such issues with RS5.
Speaking of ergonomics, Audi honked off some customers a few years back when it abandoned its remote-operated infotainment system for a touchscreen. Remotes have their advantages — especially in keeping your eyes on the road — and a few automakers have maintained them like Alfa Romeo, Mazda and Genesis.
But Audi’s surrender to a touchscreen world (a new generation of millennial, smartphone buyers rises) has been expertly done with quick screens that audibly CLICK to the touch so you know an icon has been engaged. The brand was a pioneer in digital instrument displays that are configurable and paired with smart steering wheel controls.
My biggest recommendation? That Audi adopt BMW’s head-up display that shows a digital tachometer when in TRACK mode (DYNAMIC mode in the RS5). Bimmer’s display complements the paddle shifters in MANUAL shift mode, so you can keep your eyes on the runway as the tachometer nears redline.
In the Rocket Ship, redline comes fast.
The RS increases horsepower by a significant 100 over the S5 — the other performance hatchback in the A5 model lineup. The “S” siblings are distinguished by the 3.0-liter turbo-6 over the entry-level A5’s turbo 4-banger.
I’m partial to the A5 and its hatchback utility over the A4 and its conventional sedan boot. Of course, Audi also offers Q5/Q6 Sportback/SQ5 utes that come standard with hatchback utility.
We crazy auto journalists will take performance SUVs to the track, and I’ve tested my share, including the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, Dodge Durango Hellcat, BMW X5 M and Alfa Stelvio Quadrifoglio. “After taking (the 349-horse SQ5) to the track,” write our friends at Motor Trend, “we can confirm it also handles like a champ on our figure-eight course.” But given the choice, I bet they would prefer an RS5.
Few customers will take their SUV on track, and for good reason: 4,500-pound utes have lousy handling dynamics. Put a 400-plus horsepower twin-turbo V-6 in it (Audi has resisted such a move) and it requires considerable skill.
Better to put that skill to good use in a proper, low-center-of-gravity RS5 sports sedan, which will give you the same hatchback utility — and more capable handling dynamics. And, yes, you might just take it to a track day.
In a democratic auto world, cars may seem alike in their digital tech. But they are definitely not alike in the suspension and engine departments. For the best of both worlds, put RS5 at the top of your Audi shopping list. WAUUUUURRGH!
Next week: 2024 Tesla Model 3
2024 Audi RS5
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger performance sedan
Price: $79,995 base, including $1,095 destination ($93,745 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 444 horsepower, 442 pound-feet torque
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.8 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 180 mph
Weight: 4,056 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 18 mpg city/25 mpg highway/20 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: All-wheel-drive stability, hatchback utility
Lows: Heavy for track use; gets pricey
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne