If I ask you to think of the most engaging compact luxury performance sedan, odds are you’ll point to the BMW M3, or maybe the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. Heck, you might even bring the AMG C 63 into the conversation, until you remember its four-cylinder ailment and ignore it once more. But it’s been a while since Audi was considered to truly be in the thick of things against its rivals. That’s changing, fast.
A first drive of the new RS 5 Sedan has given us reason to believe that Audi’s finally casting off its identity as a safe, slightly boring performance car manufacturer, and turning into an innovator once more. For the first time since the B7 generation RS 4, Audi may have a truly competitive M3 rival once more.
Base Trim Engine
2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 plug-in hybrid
Base Trim Transmission
8-speed automatic
Base Trim Drivetrain
All-Wheel Drive
Base Trim Horsepower
630 hp
Base Trim Torque
608 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
<3.6 sec
Segment
Compact Luxury Performance Sedan
Pros & Cons
- Supple ride, even on 21-inch wheels
- Handles like a significantly lighter sports sedan
- Beefy looks and muscular proportions
- Playful handling, finally a match for the segment’s best
- Hefty curb weight punishes drivers who push too far
- Numb steering
- Troublesome MMI has frequent connectivity issues
Audi invited CarBuzz to Austria to sample the new RS 5 on the road and track (briefly), engage with engineers about the new technology on board, and get an early glimpse into what the RS 5 can do before it lands stateside early next year. Here’s what you need to know.
First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Final US specifications and pricing have not been confirmed. Keep an eye on CarBuzz for our comprehensive Test Drive review when the RS 5 arrives in early 2027.
What Is It?
It may be called the Audi RS 5 Sedan, but this is technically the successor to the RS 4 lineage. Based on the latest generation A5/S5 (which is labeled a sedan despite a liftback-style body), it’s Audi’s first performance plug-in hybrid, and a rival to the forthcoming BMW M3 and soon-to-be-discontinued Mercedes-AMG C63 S E-Performance in the compact luxury performance sedan segment. Under its butch design, it shares its Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture with the A5, S5, Q5, and forthcoming Audi Q9, among others.
Exterior Looks: Look At Those Fender Flares!
Strengths
Weaknesses
- Wide body styling looks muscular and fully thought-through
- Sedan style hides practical liftback trunk
- Squat stance and balanced proportions highly reminiscent of B7 RS 4
- Optional design packages don’t look as good as base trim
- America not getting the station wagon – BOO!
There’s a lot of debate on whether Audi should’ve stuck with its sleeper performance image or not, but in the metal, this new RS 5 is beefy. I love it. As a fan of the B7 RS 4, this captures similar proportions with blistered front and rear wheel arches giving the RS 5 a hunkered down look. It’s a far bigger car than the B7 ever was, but proportionally, it’s spot on. Pair those arches (and they’re genuine, flowing into the rear doors, too), with a trunk lid spoiler, flared front fender vents and an aggressive front end, and Audi is onto a winner.
An optional Audi Sport Package swaps out some of the standard styling elements, like different front air intakes, but honestly, the standard design looks brilliant. This option also adds 21-inch double-six-spoke wheels with a black metallic finish, and the RS Sport exhaust system. However, should you wish, you can also add carbon fiber trim details that replace the aluminum-look mirror caps, air intake inserts, and standard spoiler.
From a paint perspective, US choices are still in the process of being decided. However, having seen the RS 5 in red, black, dark green, and a vibrant turquoise, it looks good in any shade.
Interior: Practical, Premium, But Still Too Screen-Obsessed
Strengths
Weaknesses
- Steering wheel is just chunky enough without being cumbersome
- Supportive, comfortable seats
- Liftback trunk more practical than traditional sedan trunk
- Too many screens
- Abundance of gloss black trim shows up dust and fingerprints
- MMI system frequently struggles to connect with wireless Android Auto
If you’re familiar with the current S5, then the RS 5’s cabin won’t really surprise you. The basic seat structure is the same as the S5, and although the upholstery is RS 5-specific, with some options for Neodymium Gold stitching on black leather or striking Diamond Silver/Mint Grey color combos (US arrival is at this stage uncertain), the seats are nothing new. Audi has no intention at this stage of offering a sportier bucket seat, so don’t go waiting for a carbon-shelled item.
That’s hardly cause for concern, however, as these seats offer plenty of comfort and support for a variety of body styles, with significant adjustment and heating to keep you comfy. The seating position is low, and visibility is ample for a car of this size.
By far the nicest element of the interior is the steering wheel. Flat-topped and bottomed and clad in perforated leather, Audi has nailed the steering wheel. I find M-car wheels far too chunky, but this is perfect to maintain a comfortable grip, and the design isn’t over-the-top or confusing to find satellite controls on. Two red buttons – Boost on the left and RS on the right – give you the option to turn everything up to 11 for ten seconds in the case of Boost, or switch between your pre-determined RS driving modes.
2027 Audi RS 5 black interior with red stitching.Audi
Infotainment: Too Many Screens
My biggest gripe with the RS 5’s interior is the reliance on screens. The dash is dominated by three of them, two in a curved display ahead of the driver, with a third passenger screen sporting limited functionality that I still can’t quite fathom, being anything more than a gimmick for first-time passengers toying around with it.
More physical control is a drum every journalist beats, but in a car designed to devour miles at speed, I want my eyes on the road at all times, not looking for a setting on a screen or talking to my car to change something. The screens are also magnets for fingerprints, as is the abundance of gloss black trim on the center console.
The system itself is quick to operate with minimal latency and plenty of smartphone functionality integrated. Wireless device charging and wireless compatibility for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are now expected in this segment, and present here, but as with so many other Audi MMI systems, I encountered a fair amount of trouble getting my phone to sync with the system once it had been disconnected after the first use.
Powertrain & Driving: OMG, Audi Found Its Sense Of Humor
Strengths
Weaknesses
- Pulls like a freight train in a straight line
- Hides its 5,192-lb curb weight with deft balance
- The sharpest front-engine Audi I’ve driven
- V6 PHEV sounds great
- Torque converter automatic clunky at full-bore manual shifts
- Significant weight punishes mistakes in a big way
- Numb steering at odds with an otherwise engaging package
- New torque vectoring system feels unnatural in RS Sport mode
Audi’s first high-performance plug-in hybrid system debuts in the RS 5, and the stakes have never been higher. Arriving as the middle-child between the four-cylinder AMG C63 and the forthcoming (and expected-to-be-hybrid) G84 BMW M3, Audi’s already won our hearts for offering two cylinders more than the AMG, but it needs to be good enough to stave off an M3 with a few more years to develop something strong.
On paper, the RS 5’s recipe is strong, with a 2.9-liter twin-turbo engine – one Audi claims is all-new compared to its predecessor – and a single electric motor generating 630 horsepower and 608 lb-ft of torque, fed through an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission to a default 40/60 front/rear quattro all-wheel drive system. That’s up 42% and 37%, respectively, on the old RS 5 Sportback with the competition package, dropping the zero-to-62 mph sprint time to 3.6 seconds (3.9 before). With the optional Audi Sport Package, the top speed is limited to 177 mph.
More power? Great. But there’s more weight, too, 5,192 pounds of it in total. That’s heavyweight territory, and more weight than the last W12-powered Bentley Continental GT Speed.
2027 Audi RS 5 Sedan Powertrain Specifications
Engine
2.9L twin-turbo V6 PHEV
Transmission
8-speed automatic
Drivetrain
All-wheel drive
Power
630 hp
Torque
608 lb-ft
0-60
Under 3.6 seconds
Top Speed
177 mph (opt.)
The Magic Diff That Makes The RS 5 More Playful Than Ever
But it absolutely does not handle anything like that figure would suggest, and Audi’s incredible Dynamic Torque Control (DTC) system is at the heart of why. Instead of the typical clutch-pack or Torsen differentials so prevalent in this segment, Audi’s developed a world-first electromechanical torque vectoring system for the rear axle. Leveraging the 400-volt plug-in hybrid powertrain, the system relies on electronic actuation of a complex mix of planetary gear sets to shift torque from left to right.
But unlike standard systems, which can only apportion torque when the car is on-throttle and power is entering the system, Audi’s genius setup operates even under braking, able to create a torque differential between the left and right wheels of up to 1,475 lb-ft. It can even induce negative torque on one side, creating true torque vectoring without relying on the brakes to slow an inner wheel.
It’s massively complex, but the results are pretty mindblowing. On the road, the system acts subtly on corner entry, only really making its presence apparent under sudden direction changes, where the front end pivots sharply, completely belying the almost 5,200 lbs of mass barreling through corners. But on track, where we were admittedly only handed the keys for a few laps, this differential gives the RS 5 a playful demeanor I have never experienced in a front-engined Audi product.
On throttle, the RS 5 is genuinely tail-happy, happy to hang its ass out sideways like a rear-wheel-drive car. But the magic happens when trailbraking into a corner, where you can initiate rotation, hold that rotation, and then gradually come out of it, seemingly in slow motion. Cars with 600+ hp on tap tend to feel snappy when you’re too liberal on the throttle, but with this system from Audi, it slows that reaction, giving the driver more time to respond, catch the slide, and control it.
And that’s merely in Dynamic mode. There’s still RS Torque Rear mode, in which it forces torque to the outer rear wheel to initiate slides. Audi’s too modest to call it drift mode, but that’s exactly what it is, and Audi’s given the RS 5 a drift analyzer so you can see how well your slides are scored. It’s a fun side to Audi we’ve seldom seen, and one Audi’s CEO has told us is just the beginning of the brand’s road to technological redemption.
DTC isn’t just for hoonery, though. In RS Sport, it prioritizes traction, which, especially on the way into corners, creates some interesting sensations as you can feel the torque shuffling left and right to maximize grip. It almost feels like the rear end is corkscrewing as you trailbrake into a corner, and then on the way out, it gives a little wiggle as it finds the bite point and catapults you forward.
The system flatters drivers by dancing with them, and makes this RS 5 feel lighter than the model it replaces. It’s brilliant. Until you get overconfident and carry too much speed into an off-camber corner, and then there’s no trick differential or sticky tire compounds in the world that can overcome the physics of over 5,000 lbs trying to get airborne. Trust me, I found out the hard way, and the engineer responsible for the system, sitting in the passenger seat, was quick to point out that physics still apply, as you can see for yourself in the clip below.
Ride Comfort, Braking, And On-Road Experience
That diff, as magical as it is, is largely locked away at insane speeds – or at least that’s when you become most aware of it; it behaves subtly in ordinary conditions. That’s a small fraction of the environment most RS 5 buyers will find themselves in. In day-to-day scenarios, there’s still lots to be impressed by. With so much weight on board, you’d expect stiff suspension, or perhaps even air suspension, to carry the load. But Audi uses a pretty standard adaptive damper and spring setup with dual-valve technology.
It’s firm, as any performance car will be, but harshness is removed from the equation with the suspension in its comfiest setting, and even in Dynamic while driving the pockmarked roads of the Austrian Alps, the ride was far from jarring. Undulating roads with tight turns for miles on end put the standard steel brakes to the test (carbon ceramics are an option), and at no point did they ever lose their feel or feel like they weren’t up to the challenge.
Dynamic driving images of the 2027 Audi RS 5 in Progressive Red MetallicAudi
Through these roads, the chassis also got a solid workout, with the suspension performing particularly well under sudden heavy compressions, carrying the RS 5’s mass extremely well. It never shrinks around you to feel like a family-sized Miata, but it absolutely doesn’t feel like a 5,000-lb sedan.
The steering, while direct, accurate, and with perfect weighting, suffers the numbness that has become so prevalent with EPAS systems. All the textured feedback I received as the driver came through the seat, with none of that felt through the wheel itself. It’s nothing new, but it’s something I hope changes, as an extra layer of interaction with the RS 5 would make the experience that much better.
Dynamic driving images of the 2027 Audi RS 5 in Progressive Red MetallicAudi
As for the powertrain, it’s got a hit like a freight train. Pin the throttle and the 161 hp and 339 lb-ft from the electric motor are deployed almost instantly, torque-filling while the twin turbos spin up to deliver the V6’s full 503 hp and 443 lb-ft. The e-motor feeds into the transmission, so even in electric mode – which affords 52 miles of driving range under WLTP test conditions – you still rifle through the eight gears to get up to speed.
It’s plenty quick enough, and with a characterful growl from the six-cylinder engine. Sure, some of it is likely coming through the speakers, but it sounds organic, and vastly better than the soulless four-pot in the now-defunct AMG C 63 S E-Performance.
Verdict & Pricing: Audi Sport Has Its Mojo Back, Baby!
I’ve driven a variety of Audi RS models in my time in the industry, many of which have left me feeling cold and yearning for the glory days when the B7 RS 4 and its naturally aspirated V8 showed what Audi could really do. But this new RS 5 has given me a glimmer of hope that Audi Sport’s best days are not behind it. My concerns over the weight of the PHEV model going into this drive event were quickly disproved, and a brief stint on track after a few hours on alpine mountain passes has left me hungry for more.
That’s something no Audi Sport product has done for me since the R8 GT’s intoxicating V10 soundtrack filled my ears around a racetrack in Spain.
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My few gripes aside – the screen-filled interior and lack of steering feel being chief among them – the RS 5 Sedan has left a strong first impression. It’s an Audi that knows how to have fun and wants it driver to as well. If this is just the start of Audi’s next-generation of performance engineering, then maybe its best days aren’t behind it after all. Bravo, Audi.
Of course, it all comes at a cost, but final US specifications and pricing are still under consideration. The RS 5 Sedan only arrives stateside in early 2027, where it will inevitably carry a starting price of six figures. An item’s value, as always, is whatever someone is willing to pay for it, but with no price in mind, Audi’s delivered a thoroughly impressive sports sedan.
