Audi RS5 News

Audi Australia has announced sharp pricing for its second-generation RS5 Coupe, due in December, with the bahn-storming sports car to kick off from $156,600 before on-road costs.

Audi has lifted the lid on its second-generation RS5 Coupe at the Geneva motor show.

It’s no secret that Australians buy a higher proportion of high-performance models like BMW’s M, Mercedes-Benz’s AMG and Chrysler and Jeep’s SRT models than most markets, and Audi is taking full advantage of this with its Audi Sport range of models. With an unprecedented seven RS models now available, the R8 supercar and S-badged versions of almost all of its models, the German brand saw a 172.2 per cent increase in local Audi Sport model sales during the 2013 financial year. This resulted in a total of 1121 units, and a shift from 3 to 7 percent of Audi’s record total local volume of 16,009 units.During this same period, BMW’s M models dropped 1 percent, and Mercedes’ AMG rose 34.3 per cent, and the total Audi Sport volume sits between BMW M’s 623 units and Mercedes AMG’s 1650 units.With the subsequent additions of the RS6 Avant, RS5 Cabriolet, S3 Sportback, RSQ3, RS7 Sportback and the upcoming S3 Sedan and S1 hatch, Audi could be a serious threat to AMG’s top-fiddle status.“We have a renewed focus on Audi Sport, and the central theme of this comes from the 30 years of quattro GmbH last year”  Audi’s Australian boss Andrew Doyle says.In addition to the new quattro GmbH-developed Audi Sport models and the brand’s ongoing motorsport activities, Australia has become the second market after the UK to adopt the ‘Audi Sport Sales Concept’, which will see dedicated Audi Sport-themed areas established in several Australian dealerships. These ‘shops within a showroom’ will feature décor based around the Audi Sport red rhombus motif, and showcase a range of merchandise, wheels and accessories.To ensure buyers of RS models appreciate the full breadth of their vehicle’s performance, each will now be invited to participate – free of charge - in the Audi Driver Experience program with driver trainer and ex-Top Gear Australia host Steve Pizzati.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

...to scope out Pikes Peak.

The droptop conversion is much as expected and the car also carries over the mechanical package from the coupe with a thumping power plant and major body tweaks to advertise its performance potential.

Audi is preparing to spear its RS and S models into Australia. Top of the wish list, the RS4, will return in its new A4 body early next year - but only as a wagon. Ask the question about a sedan and Audi goes quiet. “There's no official word about an RS4 sedan,” says Audi Australia's Anna Burgdorf. The RS4 will get the same 331kW V8 as the RS5, recently tested in Germany by Carsguide. Also new for Australia in November this year will be the S6 and S7 with a 4-litre V8 - dubbed TFSI - which is a derivative of Audi's existing 4.2-litre V8 mill. The 4-litre has cylinder deactivation to save fuel and is the same engine - though slightly different tuning - as found in the latest Bentley Continental. Bentley offers the V8 as an option to its ongoing W12. Europe will debut the S8, which also gets this 4-litre V8, but it is yet to be confirmed for Australia. “It's unlikely,” Burgdorf says. “There is a customer trend to sporty sedans (think S7 and Mercedes CLS) and that's indicated by our sales of the A7. The S7 may have more interest than an S8.” Audi launched the A4 in June and will now prepare the A4 and A6 Allroad models for an October debut. The second generation Q5, with a new 2-litre turbo-petrol engine option, in December. The A3 arrives as a five-door in the first quarter of 2013 and an S3 version will follow. The sports version of the Q5, the SQ5, is here about June 2013. Audi has since May 2011 sold a hybrid version of the Q5 in Europe. Though also intended for sale in the US, the 180kW/480Nm wagon isn't on the Australian shopping list. “It is likely to be too expensive for us,” Burgdorf says. “It also gets the same fuel consumption average as the new 2-litre petrol engine so there's no advantage for Australia.”

Battle lines are drawn in the luxury car market as Audi stuns with a massive $13,500 reduction in its hot-headed RS5 Coupe. Audi Australia spokesperson Anna Burgdorf says it’s all about being competitive. “We need, in Australia, to be competitive - everyone is doing it,’’ she says. “There is no question how competitive Australia’s car market has become. If we’re not flexible (on price and equipment), then we run the risk of losing sales to rivals - and we’re not going to do that." The heavy-hitter philosophy party answers why Audi has such a huge model range - “we have to offer the customer whatever they want," Burgdorf says - and why models such as the RS 5 are so important as halo cars. The RS5 presents a new concept for Audi - electromechanical steering - and standard equipment including Attention Assist (a driver alert system), a flat-bottomed steering wheel and an upgraded MMI central control now with Bluetooth streaming. There are some body highlights to identify this mid-life makeover, but the drivetrain remains the same - a 331kW/430Nm 4.2-litre V8 petrol attached to a seven-speed dual-clutch auto then driving all wheels. Neil Dowling is testing the car in Germany now and will report on its road manners later.  

Kids aren’t usually a factor in Car of the Year judging.  But child friendliness rates highly with women buying cars – and with women judging cars.The countdown has been kicked off to decide the Women’s World Car of the Year, and the kid factor is one the judges pay a lot of attention to.“Statistics show that women drive children in cars significantly more often than men – and that means women need to take that into account, both when buying and as judges of cars,” WCOTY president Sandy Myhre said from New Zealand.“Any woman who has grappled constantly with child seats and belts and children considers those things when looking at buying a car.  Men might too but the fact is, women drive children in cars more than men.“Women would not consider that aspect in a Porsche 911 more than a bloke. The point is, it can be considered in these awards - and that is one of the points of difference in these awards.”Myhre points out that significant research into buying habits show that in addition to buying for themselves, women have a major influence in household purchase decisions for big ticket items.Ford Australia, for example, says their research shows that women are behind the majority of purchases of the Territory SUV – either as single women buying one, or in influencing the joint decision with their partner. “A report from Mattingly & Associates in Australia concluded, in part, that businesses that didn't understand this influence would be hard-pressed to stay in business.  That report was aptly called 'When I've Made Up Our Minds',” Myhre says.However, the kid factor is just one of the criteria by which the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be judged.There are four categories in the Women's World Car of the Year – Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Points are allocated to each of ten criteria: driveability, engineering, comfort, child friendliness, style, interior, storage, dashboard efficiency, carbon footprint and colour range.The 20 judges from eleven countries have submitted their own personal short list and more than 300 cars were suggested. These individual choices were then whittled down to form a master list of 32 in terms of popularity. Judges will now allocate points for these cars from a criteria list.The announcement of the winning cars in each category and the supreme winner will be made before the end of March. The supreme award trophy and category certificates will be presented to the car companies concerned at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 – the Paris Motor Show – in September. The supreme trophy will this year be made in The Netherlands. Category-winner certificates will be designed at Peartree Studios in Colerne, UK.The first winner of the Women's World Car of the Year was the Jaguar XF in 2010 and the trophy made in South Africa was presented at the Jaguar boutique showroom in Knightsbridge, London. In 2011 there was a dead-heat between the Citroen DS3 and the BMW 5 Series. The two trophies made in India were presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011. 

Power for the beast is expected to come from either the same 4.2-litre V8 found in the RS5, or a twin-turbo V6 with similar outputs.The prototype also shows the lights and grille that will appear on all models in the A4/S4 range.

This one is the droptop RS version of the A5 coupe, which means severe chassis stress for a car to be powered by a 4.2-litre V8 with 330 kiloWatts.