Selecting Dynamic wakes the inner sleeping demon. The RS5 is now on permanent alert for anything: tight corners, hard acceleration and serious switchbacks. The V8's rumble is more coarse and present, throttle is set on attack mode.
Fast everything
Perhaps the most satisfying part of driving the RS5 is hearing and feeling the shifts from the S-Tronic occur. If you've ever read a review on a Volkswagen GTI or know what it's like when an up-shift occurs (essentially, it's very quick and emits a satisfying “braapp” as it happens), you'll be able to understand this: a quick tap of the right hand paddle generates a deeper heavier “braapp” that is the intensity equivalent to death metal. And the cogs are swapped in lightning-fast style.
From a standstill, with all the right buttons depressed, this 1,725 kg (3,795 lb) super-coupe will cross the 100 km/h mark in only 4.6 seconds. I did not attempt this manoeuvre but from a rolling start at 60 km/h, 120 km/h came and went seriously fast. From inside the car, it didn't seem all that quick...
What goes fast must come to a stop. My tester was equipped with the optional front carbon ceramic brakes with massive callipers that provide tonnes of stopping power. Again, I was unable to exploit these brakes to their fullest extent however, I'm certain that track time at the wheel of an RS5 is in my future.
RS4 or RS5
The RS4 has two distinct advantages over the RS5 and they are a 6-speed manual gearbox and four doors. In any other respect, the RS5 takes home the trophy. Like some, not many, I prefer to row through gears on my own but the S-Tronic is a powerfully intelligent argument not to do so. As for the other two doors, why not a new RS4 for 2012? Audi?
 |
| Perhaps the most satisfying part of driving the RS5 is hearing and feeling the shifts from the S-Tronic occur. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com) |
Fast everything
Perhaps the most satisfying part of driving the RS5 is hearing and feeling the shifts from the S-Tronic occur. If you've ever read a review on a Volkswagen GTI or know what it's like when an up-shift occurs (essentially, it's very quick and emits a satisfying “braapp” as it happens), you'll be able to understand this: a quick tap of the right hand paddle generates a deeper heavier “braapp” that is the intensity equivalent to death metal. And the cogs are swapped in lightning-fast style.
From a standstill, with all the right buttons depressed, this 1,725 kg (3,795 lb) super-coupe will cross the 100 km/h mark in only 4.6 seconds. I did not attempt this manoeuvre but from a rolling start at 60 km/h, 120 km/h came and went seriously fast. From inside the car, it didn't seem all that quick...
What goes fast must come to a stop. My tester was equipped with the optional front carbon ceramic brakes with massive callipers that provide tonnes of stopping power. Again, I was unable to exploit these brakes to their fullest extent however, I'm certain that track time at the wheel of an RS5 is in my future.
RS4 or RS5
The RS4 has two distinct advantages over the RS5 and they are a 6-speed manual gearbox and four doors. In any other respect, the RS5 takes home the trophy. Like some, not many, I prefer to row through gears on my own but the S-Tronic is a powerfully intelligent argument not to do so. As for the other two doors, why not a new RS4 for 2012? Audi?
 |
| From a standstill, with all the right buttons depressed, this 1,725 kg (3,795 lb) super-coupe will cross the 100 km/h mark in only 4.6 seconds. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com) |