Only you need to choose the right drive select mode. Even without this, it rounds up the bends as well as it dispenses with the bits in between. The way this rounds up corners you almost expect to be epic, with a ride height 7mm lower than the S5’s, AWD that apportions torque 40:60 rearwards, and it can also shuffle torque to the outside rear wheel if the active sports diff is optioned ($3800). Should you be one of these hard-to-please types, ceramic brakes can be yours for an additional $15k. All emergency stops were completed in 33m or less, with a best of 32.52m. Huge, vented, drilled, they’re every bit the foil to such lively acceleration, with quite stunning power at the pedal. Like you’d expect great brakes and these aren’t they’re spectacular. For a sportster costing just the wrong side of $150k, you do have certain expectations. Rated at 8.9 the highest figure we saw out in the wild lands was 13.5L/100km, impressive for something with permanent AWD and such astounding acceleration. Moreover, if you’ve been shifting manually, a pull on the lever once again selects D or S transmission setting, depending on what you were in before you took to paddling.įuel consumption you’d expect to be better than that of a biturbo V8 and there you’d not be disappointed. One other trick aspect we’ve mentioned before but it does bare repeating the pullback on the shift lever that selects S transmission mode gives the SB a little supercharged energy, perfect for overtaking. Cars of this ilk have been shifting back to autos from twin-clutch transmissions. Quite how Audi gets this to shift as quickly as a twin-clutch transmission we’re not rightly sure but it swaps cogs not only in blazing fashion but so smoothly as well. A bit pointless here though.Ĭentral to its speedy character is a simply astonishing eight-speed auto. If you’re a speed freak you can tick the option box that delimits VMax from 250 to 280km/h. That’s matched by an overtaking time of 2.3sec, 0.1sec better than the RS 5, and 0.2sec quicker than the RS 4 Avant but then it is 50kg lighter. Likely that’s because we ran the numbers on a cool Autumn morning when it just felt like belting out some good ones. We got sprint figures in the high threes for the RS 5 Coupe and Avant so were expecting the same for the Sportback (claim 3.9sec) but it went one better, hitting the 3.5sec mark. No it’s not as stupendous sonically, even with its standard sports exhaust, but it still gets gone like only an RS can. People have moaned that it doesn’t sound as good as the RS 4 V8s of yore and it might not have the sturm und drang of the AMG C 63 but in an increasingly troubled world where emissions actually do matter, despite the self-centred naysayers, a biturbo V6 that still does the hustle business as well as a V8 makes plenty of sense. So think quick, no matter what the drive mode or revs selected. Alongside that there’s 600Nm of slingshotting surge, available pretty much right across the useable part of the rev band. Like the Coupe and Avant, it uses the Porsche-engineered 2.9-litre biturbo V6, pumping out a solid 331kW or 444hp if you want a more even number. It kind of compensates for the fact that there hasn’t been a sedan version of the RS 4 for a couple of generations. Think of this as being almost as practical as the RS 4 Avant, but slinkier, sexier. This long sleek RS five-door you see before you is the Sportback, which is Audi speak for a liftback. Anything with an RS badge generally gets the job done in fairly spectacular style. Some cars genuinely throw you for a bit of a loop, and here’s one we should have seen coming.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |