Audi RS5 vs Porsche 911

What's the difference?

Good looking, good to drive, and good to simply sit in, the Audi RS5 range ticks plenty of premium boxes. Whether you can live with the practicality pitfalls of the Coupe is up to you, but if you can't, might I suggest taking a wander over to our RS4 Avant review?

In describing this 911, Porsche talks about the 'T-feeling'. It should be light and agile, delivering fun, driving pleasure, yet still suitable for everyday use.

Sure, the safety could be better and the warranty lags the market, but that stuff fades into the background when the T feeling takes over. What a great car!

I defy anyone to describe the RS5, and especially the Coupe, as anything but stunning. Seriously, the near perfect proportions and swept-back styling make it look fast even when it's parked. 

Up front, there's a new-look black-mesh grille that's been given a 3D effect, like it juts out over the road in front it, while the thing headlights have been carved back into the body work like they're been windswept under hard acceleration.

The 20-inch darkened alloys fill the arches, too, with a sharp body crease that runs from the front headlight all the way back to the bulging shoulder lines above the rear tyres accentuating the curves.

Inside, the RS5 is a sea of black Nappa leather and sporty touches, and we particularly like the chunky, flat-bottomed steering wheel, which both looks - and feels - great.

One of the most recognisable profiles in the automotive world, the 911 has evolved and grown over time but there's no mistaking it for anything other than Zuffenhausen's finest.

For the record, the current '992' 911 is a whopping 367mm longer, 242mm wider and 30mm lower than the 1963 original. And the majority of models share the same (1852mm) wide-body look, the Turbo and GT3 RS broadening that to 1900mm.

Multiple solid and metallic colours are available at no extra cost, three of which are exclusive to the Carrera T, but if you like our test car's 'striking' 'Python Green' finish, it'll set you back an extra $5700.

Car-spotters on the lookout for the Carrera T will need to tick off 'Agate Grey' accents on the tail-light grille, badging and mirror housings as well as a grey top tint windscreen, specific side graphics and Carrera S wheels in 'Titanium Grey'.

The cabin in our test car also has also been optionally upgraded with the 'Carrera T Interior Package' ($4120), which adds extra leather trim as well as coloured seat belts and contrast stitching.

Our car has also picked up the 'Adaptive Sports Seats' ($5510). Subjective call, of course, but I love the dark cloth seat inserts with tiny flecks of green. It's Porsche retro-cool, but somehow contemporary at the same time. Beautiful.

And the five-dial instrument cluster under a gently curved cowl is a 911 design signature, although the central tachometer is now flanked by twin 7.0-inch, configurable displays.

Ergonomically and aesthetically, this layout is hard to fault.

We only tested the Coupe, and I can tell you that the practicality perks on offer largely depend on where you're sitting.

Up front, you're spoiled for room in the two-door Coupe, with the two spacious seats separated by a sizeable centre console that's also home to two cupholders and a variety of cubbies, with extra bottle storage in each of the front doors. 

The back seat, though, is a little, or a lot, tighter, with come acrobatics required to even climb into it, given the Coupe only has two doors. The Sportback offers two more doors, which will surely make the process a little easier. 

The Coupe measures 4723mm in length, 1866mm in width and 1372mm in height, and will deliver a decent 410 litres in luggage space in the boot. The Sportback measures in at 4783mm, 1866mm and 1399mm, and boosts your luggage space to 465 litres.

Either vehicle has your tech needs sorted, with an abundance of USB and power outlets serving both front and backseat riders.

Even though the current 911 dwarfs the original '901' series of sixty years ago, it's still aimed primarily at accommodating the driver and front passenger, with '+2' rear seating a handy addition for kids, or adults in short trip emergencies.

In other markets, the addition of the rear seats is a no-cost option, whereas here they're the default fitment and removing them is the zero-dollar choice. Which makes sense because they add significantly to the car's usability.

Either way, a sports car of this type is never going to be SUV practical. However, when you look at it in the context of the Carrera T's competitors, this 911 does pretty well.

It feels appropriately snug inside, yet there's more than enough breathing space in the front and a liveable distance between driver and passenger.

For storage there are two slim compartments in each door, with a cavity for bottles, as well as a cupholder in the centre console and another pop-out holder in the dash on the passenger side.

As in most 911s, you can swap the centre console cupholder out with a small oddments tray insert which is a nifty piece of practical thinking.

There's also a modest glove box, a shallow lidded compartment between the seats and clothes hooks on the front seat backrests.

Connectivity and power options run to a pair of USB-C ports in the centre console box and a 12-volt outlet in the passenger footwell. Nothing in the back, which isn't a big surprise.

And the 132-litre boot is the only substantial cargo space, with enough room for several soft bags or a medium suitcase… even a mid-week grocery top-up.

Luggage-type storage inside the car is helped by the rear seat backs folding down to create a level platform.

But bear in mind there's no spare. A can of sealant and air compressor are on board instead.

We might be at the lower end of the 911 price spectrum, but cost-of-entry for the Carrera T is still north of $300K ($300,700 before on-road costs).

At that money there are some tasty alternatives circulating in the same price pool, like the BMW M850i xDrive Coupe ($298,100), Jaguar F-Type R ($283,020) and Mercedes-AMG GT Night Edition ($294,077), but the Carrera T stands up well in terms of included features.

On top of the performance and safety tech we'll get to shortly, standard equipment includes dual-zone climate control, 570-watt Bose surround sound audio, 'Porsche Communication Management' (PCM) including 'Online Navigation' (with voice control), 'Porsche Connect' with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and digital radio as well as four-way electric heated front seats and a heated leather-trimmed steering wheel.

There's also auto-dimming interior and exterior mirrors (the latter electrically-folding), auto rain-sensing wipers, a 10.9-inch multimedia touchscreen display, twin 7.0-inch configurable instrument screens, metallic paint, Carrera S alloy wheels (20”/21” up from 19”/20”) and LED matrix headlights. The combination of adaptive cruise control and AEB is a no-cost option on the dual-clutch auto version.

Overall, it's a nice balance between creature comforts and this car's focus on a pure driving experience.

Its a terrific engine, this - a twin-turbo 2.9-litre six-cylinder TFSI that will deliver 331kW at 5700rpm and 600Nm at 1900rpm, sending it thundering to all four wheels (because quattro) via an eight-speed tiptronic automatic.

That's enough, says Audi, to deliver a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.9 seconds in the Coupe and the Sportback. Which is very, very quick.

One of the saddest things about recent 911s is the fact that when you open the cover you can't see the engine unless you decide to break out the spanners and remove everything that's hiding it.

If you did, you'd reveal a 3.0-litre, all-alloy, dry-sumped, twin-turbo flat six-cylinder engine which remains unchanged from the entry Carrera model.

Featuring direct-injection and variable valve control, it sends more than 280kW (380hp) and 450Nm (from 1950-5000rpm) to the rear wheels through a seven-speed manual gearbox, or in this case, the no-cost optional eight-speed dual-clutch auto.

Suffice it to say, in a car weighing less than 1.5 tonnes, that's plenty of propulsion, and even though an engine hanging over the rear axle remains a peculiar 911 throwback, the white-coated boffins in Stuttgart continue to make it work brilliantly well.

The RS5 Coupe will sip a claimed 9.4L/100km on the combined cycle, and emit a claimed 208g/km of Co2. It's fitted with a 58-litre fuel tank. 

The RS5 Coupe will the same 9.4L/100km, but emit 209g/km of Co2.

Porsche's official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 10.8L/100km for the dual-clutch auto as tested, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo six emitting 246g/km of CO2 in the process.

During a week of city, suburban and some at times enthusiastic highway running, we averaged 15.0L/100km (at the pump), while the car's onboard computer indicated 16.1L/100km, which isn't out of line with the super- and turbo-charged V8s this car competes with.

Minimum fuel requirement is 98 RON 'premium' unleaded and you'll need 64 litres of it to fill the tank.

Using the official number, that translates to a driving range of around 590km, which drops to roughly 430km using our real-world figure.

With our time behind the wheel limited to the RS5 Coupe, we can only really report on how the two-door feels on the road, but given the prodigious power on offer, it's unlikely the addition of two doors is going to make the Sportback any slower. 

In short, the RS5 is thunderously fast, collecting speed with utter nonchalance thanks to this thick and endless-feeling supply of power unleashed whenever you plant your right foot.

It makes even the most ham-fisted attempts at cornering feel fast as lightning, with the power flow able to make up for every slow entry and exit by simply piling on pace between bends. 

But that's what you expect from an RS model, right? So perhaps more impressive is the RS5's ability to transform back into a relatively sedate urban cruiser when the red mist subsides. The suspension is firm, especially over rough road surfaces, and you do need to be a little careful with the accelerator to avoid that lurching feeling at every green light, but driven calmly, it doubles as a everyday car quite nicely.

Like in the RS4, we did find the gearbox felt a little quick to change at pace, shifting up or down at strange moments on the way into or out of corners, but you can reclaim control via the paddle shifters.

At 1470kg the 911 Carrera T is 35kg lighter than the entry-level car it's based on, thanks largely to reduced sound insulation, lightweight glazing and a more compact battery.

Yes, the rear seats are fitted to our test example, which sends the scales back up a bit, but the reduced sound deadening still raises the standard sports exhaust's glorious rumble through the cabin.

Porsche claims 0-100km/h in 4.0 seconds for the auto and 4.5s for the seven-speed manual. Yep, it's quick!

Peak torque (450Nm) is on hand from 1950-5000rpm, which means there's always substantial mid-range punch available, with the dual-clutch auto's eight ratios also helping to keep things on the boil.

I love a manual gearbox as much as the next person, but this dual-clutch is ultra fast yet refined with the wheel-mounted paddles adding to the fun.

The 'Driving Mode' dial on the steering wheel enables selection of 'Normal', 'Sport', 'Sport Plus' and 'Individual' modes, with each selection displayed in the instrument cluster.

And given the 'Sport Chrono Package' is standard the 'Sport Response' button in the centre of that mode dial acts like a push-to-pass function, delivering a 20-second burst of maximum performance response from the engine and transmission.

Suspension is by struts at the front and multi-links at the rear, with ride height dropped by 10mm and the standard 'Porsche Active Suspension Management' (PASM) system able to adjust the dampers through 'Normal' and 'Sport' modes.

Ride comfort is harsh, even in the most comfort-focused setting, but that kind of goes with the Carrera T territory.

The steering is pretty much perfection. Precise and accurate, with amazing road feel, it allows the old 'think your way through corners' syndrome.

Speaking of which, this car chews up and spits out twisting B-roads without a hint of drama. The front end sticks and refuses to let go, the big 305 rear rubber following suit.

It remains resolutely planted, balanced and adjustable on the throttle, the standard torque vectoring set-up and locking diff turning go-fast wannabes into bonafide apex predators.
  
Standard rubber is Z-rated Goodyear Eagle F1 (245/35x20 fr - 305/30x21 rr) which is 10mm wider than the already generously shod 911 Carrera.

Braking is suitably beefy with 330mm ventilated and cross-drilled rotors all around clamped by four-piston aluminium monobloc fixed calipers front and rear.

We got the bit between our teeth at various stages of this test and can confirm the brakes are able to wash off speed rapidly and consistently with a reassuringly firm yet progressive pedal.

Under the heading of miscellaneous observations, the optional 18-way adjustable Adaptive Sports Seats fitted to the test car are brilliant. Comfortable for cruising, they can be dialled up to King Kong levels of grip when required.

A super useful feature is the ability to adjust the passenger seat with the driver's seat controls. So convenient for setting things back to normal after the co-pilot has cranked forward to accommodate a rear seat passenger.

The GT sport steering wheel is just right in terms of its diameter and grippiness and the overhead 'Surround View' function helps when manoeuvring a low and wide-hipped car like this one.

Although it hasn't been assessed by ANCAP, it's safe to say the 911 isn't at the leading edge in terms of active safety.

There's 'Lane-Change Assist', which is effectively Porsche's take on blind-spot monitoring, the combination of adaptive cruise control and AEB is a (no-cost) option on the dual-clutch auto version only, and tyre pressure monitoring is included. But common features like lane departure warning and rear cross-traffic alert are missing in action.

That said, in wet conditions the 911 will prompt the driver to engage the aptly named 'Wet Mode', which lowers the activation threshold of the ABS, stability and traction control systems, softens drivetrain response, and to improve stability, the degree of diff locking is reduced and the rear wing raises to its maximum position.

If a crash is unavoidable, the airbag count is six - dual front, dual side (thorax) and side head airbags for the driver and front passenger.

There are ISOFIX anchor points for baby capsules or child seats in the two rear positions.

Audi vehicles are covered by a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is feeling more than a little underdone when compared to some competitors.

Services are due every 12 months or 15,000kms, and Audi allows you to pre-pay your service costs for the first five years, at a cost of $3,050.

Porsche's three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty is off the pace now, although the paint is covered for the same period, and a 12-year (unlimited km) anti-corrosion warranty is also included.

'Porsche Roadside Assist' provides 24/7 coverage for the life of the warranty, and after the warranty runs out is renewed for 12 months every time the vehicle is serviced at an authorised Porsche dealer.

The main service interval is 12 months/15,000km but no capped-price servicing is available, with final costs determined at the dealer level (in line with variable labour rates by state or territory).