As the current owner of a B9 RS4 Avant, and a self-confessed wagon tragic, I’ve been watching Audi Sport’s next move with more than casual interest. And now it’s here: the new Audi RS 5, packing a plug-in hybrid powertrain making 470kW. Yes, you read that right. The RS has gone electric. Well, partially.
Before the purists start sharpening their pitchforks, let’s get into what Audi Sport has actually done here, because it’s more interesting than you might think.
The Numbers That Matter
The heart of the new RS 5 is a familiar friend: a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6, now making 375kW on its own. Pair that with a 130kW electric motor and you land at a combined system output of 470kW and 825Nm of torque. The sprint to 100km/h takes 3.6 seconds. With the optional Audi Sport package, top speed climbs to 285km/h.
And here’s the bit that’ll either excite or horrify you: it can drive up to 87km on electric power alone in the city. Your RS, silently creeping through school zones. The times, they are a-changin’.
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As for weight, the new RS 5 Avant tips the scales at 2,370kg. The outgoing B9 RS4 Avant sat around 1,790-1,850kg depending on spec. So you’re looking at roughly 500-580kg heavier, which is a significant chunk. That’s the battery tax.
The Clever Bit: Quattro Gets A Brain Upgrade
The real headline here isn’t the hybrid powertrain. It’s what Audi has done with the all-wheel-drive system. The new RS 5 gets what they’re calling “quattro with Dynamic Torque Control,” which is a fancy way of saying it has electromechanical torque vectoring at the rear axle. A world first in a production car, apparently.
In plain Australian-English: a small electric motor in the rear transaxle can shuffle torque between the left and right rear wheels in about 15 milliseconds, which is roughly a tenth of the time it takes you to blink. The system recalculates the ideal torque split 200 times per second.
The centre differential now has preload too, meaning it’s always at least partially locked, which should noticeably sharpen turn-in compared to the outgoing car.
There’s also a dedicated “RS torque rear” driving mode that sends most of the power to the outside rear wheel, which is Audi’s polite way of saying it’ll let you drift it on a closed course. When you’re in this mode or RS Sport, the battery holds at 90 per cent charge to ensure there’s always full electric grunt for the torque vectoring system.
Let’s Talk About That Face…
Right, the design. And I’m going to be honest here because that’s what we do.
The side profile is pure Audi. Those flared guards, about nine centimetres wider than the standard A5, give it that properly muscular RS stance we all know and love. The air intakes behind the front wheels are a tough detail. And the rear end? Follow-me-home stuff.
The new diffuser with centrally mounted oval exhaust tips, the chequered flag OLED tail lights, the vertical red reflector in the diffuser as a motorsport nod… It’s genuinely more striking than my B9.
But that front end is going to take some getting used to. The three-dimensional honeycomb Singleframe grille with the darkened Matrix LED headlights and their chequered flag DRLs should work on paper. And individually, the elements are all fine. But something about the way the grille sits with that misplaced logo makes it look like the whole thing is falling off the car. It’s an odd one.
I’m not saying it’s bad; I’m saying I need to see it in a car park, in the flesh, in the right colour (Nardo Grey) before I make up my mind. Sometimes these things grow on you. Sometimes they don’t.
The optional Audi Sport package does help matters, with larger front intakes and a more aggressive rear diffuser, plus diamond-cut 21-inch wheels and ceramic brakes with bronze calipers. There’s also an exclusive Bedford green metallic paint which, combined with Serpentine green contrast stitching inside, makes for a seriously compelling spec.
The Wagon Question
Yes, it comes as an Avant. And yes, that’s the one I’d have. The RS 5 Avant starts at €107,850 in Germany, with the sedan a touch less at €106,200. Order books for Europe open in the first quarter of 2026, with deliveries expected from the northern summer.
Australian pricing and availability haven’t been confirmed yet, but given Audi Australia’s track record with RS models, expect it to land on local shores eventually. Expect it to exceed $200,000 in Australia.
What I REALLY Think…
Look, as someone who loves their current RS4 wagon dearly, the idea of a plug-in hybrid RS initially feels a bit like finding out your favourite pub has gone gastro. But the more you dig into the engineering here, particularly the torque-vectoring rear end and the preloaded centre diff, the more it becomes clear Audi Sport hasn’t just slapped a battery onto an RS and called it a day.
I’m genuinely intrigued.
The twin-valve dampers, the new rear axle developed from scratch, the 200Hz torque vectoring calculations… this is serious hardware. And if the electric motor genuinely improves throttle response and fills in the gaps where a turbo V6 traditionally falls flat, the RS 5 could end up being the sharpest RS car Audi has ever built.
The real question is whether it still sounds and feels like an RS when you’re giving it the beans. That, unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until we get behind the wheel to find out.
