Quicker Audi RS5 Coupe also cheaper

Audi’s upgraded RS5 Coupe will not only be quicker and more efficient when it arrives in Australian dealerships later this month, but also $13,400 cheaper than before.

Available to order now for $161,900 plus on-road costs (down from $175,300), the facelifted RS5 Coupe is still around $7000 more expensive than its most direct rivals in the similarly auto-only Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe ($154,800) and BMW’s M3 Coupe -- which costs $155,000 as a manual and $162,300 in automatic form.

And it's quicker than before to boot. The upgraded RS5 Coupe now sprints to 100km/h one-tenth of a second quicker in 4.5 seconds thanks to minor weight reductions and running changes to its seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The change sees the RS5 split the C63 (4.4sec) and M3 (4.6sec) two-doors.

Audi has improved combined fuel consumption to 10.5L/100km – 0.3L/100km less than before, thanks largely to the fitment of electro-mechanical power steering. This is substantial more efficient on paper than the Benz and BMW (12.0 and 11.9L/100km respectively) despite the added weight, complexity and traction of all-wheel drive.

Audi Australia says the RS5 Coupe’s radical price repositioning is a reflection of both sharper pricing for its two key rivals and the model’s midlife model makeover, which follows the launch of the updated A5 Coupe, Sportback and Cabriolet models in May.

Before it was sliced by $2000, the entry price of BMW’s latest M3 Coupe was $157,000 when it was launched here in October 2007, while the CLK63 AMG Coupe was last sold at $208,767 – over $50,000 more than the C63 AMG Coupe that replaced it in October 2011.

“It’s a combination of competitive pressure and the mid-lifecycle change,” said Audi Australia General Manager Corporate Communications, Anna Burgdorf.

“It’s our one and only opportunity to make it as competitive as possible. We need to be competitive in Australia. Everyone else has done it and we’d run the risk of losing customers if we didn’t do it too.

Audi sold 225 RS5 Coupes Down Under in a little over a year, between October 2010 and December 2011, when final deliveries of 25 limited-edition models took place.

As we’ve reported, the facelifted RS5 Coupe (which has already attracted more than 50 pre-orders in Australia) arrives in late July after a six-month hiatus with a host of cosmetic and mechanical upgrades.

Chief technical revision is the fitment of the same electromechanical steering system as seen in the new A6 and facelifted A4 and Q5, but the RS5’s glorious 4.2-litre direct-injection petrol V8 is unchanged, delivering the same 331kW at some 8250rpm and 430Nm between 4000 and 6000rpm.

Up front there are new wedge-shaped headlights with Xenon beams and narrow LED daytime running light strips, a subtly redesigned bumper, revised single-frame grille with bevelled upper corners and a new bonnet with sharper creases, along with a reshaped bumper and tail-lights at the rear.

Extra standard equipment includes Attention Assist drowsiness detection, leather-clad door armrests, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and an upgraded MMI infotainment system from the new A6, featuring Bluetooth streaming and updated navigation. Other interior updates include a redesigned gearshift lever and ignition key, and updated steering column stalks.

There is now also an optional Dynamic Sports package priced at $4490 and comprising Sports Suspension Plus with Dynamic Ride Control, a Sports Exhaust system with blackened exhaust outlet trims and choice of either aluminium- or titanium-look Rotor-design 20-inch alloy wheels with 275/30 tyres.

Two new Audi exclusive trim packages are also on offer for the 2012 RS5, including Valcona leather in a choice of either diamond quilting ($14,990) or contrasting red leather elements (from $9400).

The RS5 Coupe continues to ride on 20mm lower and firmer suspension than the standard A5 Coupe, and rides on newly designed 19-inch forged aluminium wheels with 265/35 tyres.

A ceramic-fibre braking system remains an option over the RS5’s standard brakes, which comprise gloss-black, eight-piston front callipers clamping 365mm discs. Top speed remains electronically governed to 250km/h, but Audi will increase that to 280km/h on request.

The improved RS5 Coupe is the first in a series of fresh S and RS models to come from Audi Australia, including the new S6 sedan and S7 Sportback in November – both powered by Audi’s new 4.0-litre TFSI V8 – and the new RS4 Avant in the first quarter of next year. The latest S8 limousine has also been ruled out for Australia.

Around the same time Australians will be offered the latest Audi Connect infotainment system, as well as the all-new A3 – but only in the five-door guise due to debut at the Paris Motor Show in September, not in the three-door guise already on sale in Europe. The only version of the new A3 three-door Australians are likely to see is the S3, which is also due to debut at Paris.

Before the end of this year, however, both the new A4 Allroad and A6 Allroad will hit local dealerships in late October, before the facelifted Q5 range arrives in December. Topping the upgraded Q5 line-up will be Audi’s first diesel-powered S model, the SQ5, in mid-2013.

The SQ5’s all-new bi-turbo 3.0-litre diesel engine will be seen here before then, however, in the new A6 and A7. Audi’s most recent launches were the facelifted A4 and all-new A1 Sportback last month.

Watch this space for Carsales’ first drive of the freshened RS5 Coupe and facelifted Q5 range, including the brawny new SQ5.

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