It’s still drizzling the next morning, but at least we can take the cars out on the road as planned. I start off the day in a red “base” RS5 that looks mean as hell, but is totally docile at first. Upon startup, in the car’s Comfort or Balanced drive modes, the RS5 defaults to electric-only operation. A 22-kWh (usable) battery pack sitting above the rear axle provides juice for an electric motor mounted inside the transmission, which puts out 173 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque, the latter amount more than the A5’s turbo-four. Audi doesn’t have an acceleration claim in EV mode, but it’s certainly quick enough to keep up with around-town traffic, and it’ll do up to 87 mph. On the European cycle Audi says the RS5 has an electric range of 54 miles, which is a genuinely usable amount.
Driving on country roads and through towns the RS5 earns its luxury-brand badging well. The ride is firm but comfortable, the cabin is quiet, and the electric power delivery is effortless. There are a few regenerative braking settings, though the strongest is still far off from one-pedal driving. You can force the car to stay in electric-only mode, but without that button pressed (an actual physical button on the center console), the combustion engine will come on as needed. Aside from sharing the same displacement, everything about the twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 is new compared to the old RS5’s twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6.
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The engine makes 503 hp on its own, already nearly 60 horses more than the old RS5 Competition, and all together there’s 630 hp and 608 pound-feet of torque. Yeah, that’ll do. I can tell the engine is on in the calm modes, as there’s a nice, constant burbly sound and feel instead of an annoying buzzy drone like in some cars, but it’s not intrusive. The transitions between gas and electric power are pretty seamless, with no annoying behavior off the line, and there’s a bit of regen available in hybrid mode too. Put the car into Dynamic mode and the exhaust gets a little throatier, the chassis tightens up, and it suddenly feels like there’s a lot more power on tap, but it’s still measured enough for daily driving. Shifts from the 8-speed automatic are more prominent than the near-imperceptible ones in the lesser modes, but far from jarring.
Audi says the RS5 will hit 62 mph in 3.6 seconds, but that feels conservative in practice. No matter the drive mode the powertrain is quick to react to my inputs with prompt downshifts and a surge of torque. Pressing the red boost button on the steering wheel immediately activates maximum power, dropping gears and hiking the revs. It works the same in any drive mode, returning to whatever setting you were in after the 10-second boost is up, and if you’re in EV mode it’ll instantly fire up the engine and have it primed for you to floor it. It’s quite exciting, and the special countdown timer and graphics that pop up in the gauge cluster look cool. Here’s a funny stat — after two and a half seconds of “spontaneous acceleration,” Audi says the new RS5 will have traveled 74 feet, while the outgoing car will only have gone 48.
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When I turn off of the main road and onto one of the many amazing twisty mountain passes on Audi’s drive route, I put the car into RS Sport mode using the red button on the right side of the wheel. (There’s also a configurable RS Individual mode, and an RS Torque Rear mode that I don’t touch as it turns off stability control and essentially makes the car rear-wheel drive, and the roads are slick.) This really wakes up the optional RS Sport exhaust, which has a really sharp bark to it, loudness with an overrun that doesn’t feel artificial. The really good powertrain noises are all the turbo whooshes constantly flying around, though.
RS Sport actually has more of a balanced handling setup and focus on traction than Dynamic, which is more rear-biased. Typically I find Audi’s steering to be too overly light for my tastes, and while the RS5’s rack is light, it’s more satisfying to me than the prior generation’s or what you get in an RS6. It does get more weighty in the sportier modes, and the rack is quick, accurate and progressive. Further up the mountain the drizzle turns into an active snow flurry, with the roads getting even slicker and the temperature getting colder. The RS5 still feels sure-footed despite the summer rubber, but best to go back into Comfort mode.
