Audi confirms RS Q5 in the works

Audi’s chairman, Rupert Stadler, has confirmed his car-maker plans to expand the high performance RS range to include an RS version of the next-generation Q5 SUV.

Scheduled to go on sale some time in 2017, the new RS version will be developed by Audi’s high performance quattro division and benefit from a lighter, stiffer MLB platform the all-new Q5 range will sit on.

The new platform could make the second-gen Q5 an incredible 200kg lighter than the car it replaces, while at the rear the faster small SUV will benefit from a new five-link multilink rear suspension.

As well as the new platform, the hottest Q5 ever will also use an all-new engine, rumoured to be a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol that’s expected to produce at least 330kW.

This means that when it hits the road, the lighter all-wheel drive RS Q5 should reach 100km/h, from standstill, in less than 4.5 seconds.

Stadler reportedly announced the RS Q5 had been green-lit for production in an interview with British car mag, Autocar, and said that the decision to expand the high performance SUV range followed on from the success of the smaller small RS Q3.

“We’ve identified increasing demand for performance-based SUVs in all our key global markets, When we launched the RS Q3 we expected it to do well, but sales have topped our expectations. We think we can build on this with a larger and more powerful model”, said Stadler referring to the bigger RS Q5.

Production of the new RS Q5 will reportedly be alongside the next-generation Q5 at Audi’s new plant in San Jose, Mexico.

The RS Q5 is not the only high performance SUV Audi is currently known to be developing.

This Geneva motor show Audi is expected to reveal its new S Q7 -- a faster version of the Q7 that was introduced last year.

Expected to be the first production Audi to feature its newly developed E-boost electronic turbochargers, the new engine is rumoured to be an electronically turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 diesel.

Despite its relatively large capacity the new engine is thought to combine as much as 300kW with the fuel consumption of a 3.0-litre V6 diesel.