Audi has launched a two-pronged attack on the Australian high-performance luxury segment with the new RS5 V8 Coupe and R8 Spyder V10 Convertible. The company flagged the duo off at Phillip Island Race Track as sales in the segment rebound after the GFC. Audi expects to sell 50 to 60 R8 Spyders in the Australian market in it's first year.
At $376,100 for the manual and $392,000 the R8 V10 Spyder, its nearest competitor is the Porsche 911 Turbo convertible. The R8 V10 Spyder is a stunning supercar powered by a 5.2 litre V10 engine developing 386 kW of power and 530 Nm of torque enabling the 0-100 km/h to be achieved in a mere 4.1 seconds. Transmission options are a six speed manual or a 6-speed R-Tronic auto with shifts via the lever or steering wheel paddles.
Equally as stunning is the new Audi RS5 fitted with Audi's normally-aspirated high-revving 4.2 litre V8 that found a legion of fans in the RS4 and RS4 Avant in 2006. This engine has been upgraded to produce less friction and now pumps out 331 kW of power, up from 301 kW in the RS4. Torque remains the same at 430 Nm and is available between 4000 rpm to 6000 rpm.
The RS5 raucously catapults it's way to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds. But, as we found at on the Phillip Island circuit, the RS5 is far more than just a sonorous V8 engine that revs out to a ridiculous – for a road car - 8500 rpm before the rev limiter kicks in. Top speed is limited to 250 km/h but Audi will increase this to 280 km/h on request. The RS5 is a technology tour de force. It will set you back $173,500, before on road costs.
Audi let us loose in both variants on the testing and technical Phillip Island track. The two cars are poles apart in price, appearance and markets. Surprisingly, we enjoyed the RS5 most with its incredible V8 roar, seven-speed DSG dual clutch transmission and hidden mechanical technology that can make ordinary drivers look good on the race track.
We were fortunate that Phillip Island turned on two distinct seasons during our half-day of testing: firstly rain and a wet track and lastly sun and a dry track, allowing the RS5's technology to be experienced first-hand. The RS5 Coupe is the first Audi to get a new development of the centre differential called the crown-gear centre differential. This differential is able to vary the distribution of torque between the front and rear axles in a split-second. As much as 70 per cent of torque can flow to the front axle, or as much as 85 per cent to the rear. It defaults to 60/40 ratio in favour of the rear.
The new crown gear differential works with Audi's new torque vectoring system which acts on all four wheels – remembering this as a quattro all-wheel-drive. For example if the load on the inside wheel is reduced too much that wheel is braked slightly before it can begin to slip. RS5 also boasts a standard sport rear differential which actively distributes power between the rear wheels.
In the real world we found as we entered wet, high-speed Phillip Island circuit corners the RS5 would slightly understeer before the technology kicked in transferring torque to the front wheels to literally pull the car out of the slide. We could not feel it but we suspect rear wheel torque was also shifted between the wheels to also assist in the cornering by adding extra grunt to the outside wheel.
We also found the DSG transmission – there is no manual shifter available - to be intuitive when left in auto, the faster-than-manual changes at just the right time, and when braking into Phillip Island's hairpinbends, going back through the gears and leaving a residual exhaust-change burble for the ears to savour. Like the RS4, this is a pretty special car.
The high-performance coupe comes standard with 19 inch alloys with 265/35-series tyres, optional 20- inch wheels with 275/30-series tyres and from next year will also have optional new damping technology, the mechanical DRC (Dynamic Ride Control) system. Audi drive select system also comes standard on the RS5 Coupe, allowing the driver to select between three modes: comfort, auto and dynamic and also for steering characteristics, the transmission, accelerator and exhaust system.
The R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro brings a new dimension to the Audi stable as a vehicle that raises the WOW factor above even that of the R8 Coupe. It's an all-new vehicle, not a version of the R8 Coupe. It's design cues are evocative and almost 1930s, yet do not come across as retro. Two silver cowls, for large air intake openings, give the elongated back a dynamic, purposeful profile. This mid-engined car looks like it means serious business. Unlike the R8 Coupe, the Spyder has classic large air intakes behind the doors and in front of the rear wheels. Spyder has a sports soft top weighing just 42 kg, keeping the vehicle's weight and centre of gravity low. The roof opens and closes in 19 seconds and is able to do this as speeds up to 50 km/h.
The V10 FSI engine lacks the V8 burble of the V8 in the RS5, but still the same has a deep roar which gains decibels as it is pushed to the limit – a substantial top speed of 313 km/h. We drove the R8 V10 Spyder variant fitted with a six speed R tronic which can be driven in auto or manual mode using the steering wheel-mounted paddles. The transmission is no match for the DSG dual clutch, but Audi is still developing a DSG to match higher output engines. This engine produces 386 kW of power at 8000 rpm and 530 Nm at 6500 rpm, so there are substantial rpm and torque issues involved.
AUDI R8 AND RS5 COUPE PRICING*
R8 Spyder V10 5.2 litre FSI 6-speed manual $376,100
R8 Spyder V10 5.2 litre FSI R tronic $392,000
R8 V10 5.2 litre FSI 6-speed manual $347,500
R8 V10 5.2 litre FSI R tronic $363,400
R8 V8 4.2 litre FSI 6-speed manual $268,500
R8 V8 4.2 litre FSI R tronic $284,400
RS5 V8 4.2 litre 7-speed DSG $175,300
(*Not including government or dealer charges)
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