Inverse Equation

Audi’s Redone The Rs5 From Grounds Up And Given It Great Looks, But It’s Swapped Its Charming V8 For A V6. Has It Lost The Charm That Made Us Give It The Top Honours A Few Years Back?

- Agasti Kaulgi

We all know, V8s have character. It’s not only the volume that the engine displaces, but it’s the finesse with which it churns the power out. It’s got the roar; it’s got the heft; it’s got the kind of charisma that can be paralleled to nothing else in the world. It’s got an identity and an individuality that can’t be mistaken for any other, and more so, if it’s allowed to breathe by itself without any forced induction, like in the previous-gen Audi RS5.

But those days are long gone, the number of sportscars that employ a V8 are depleting by the day. Two main reasons for that, with what I understand: smaller V6s are now capable of putting out as much power as V8s of the yesteryears, and the emission norms are getting stringent by the hour. And like most other sportscars, the Audi RS5 has also fallen prey to the engine downsizing game. The V8’s made way for a smaller V6. So, has it lost the game? Has it been watered down? Is it not likable any more? Well, well, well, you’ll have to hold on to your horses before I answer those questions and allow me to tell you more about the all-new RS5.

As you may have guessed by now, the RS5 is based on the A5, which in turn is a byproduct of the A4’s MLB architecture, and both the cars that I just mentioned before, have blown our minds with the flexibility and the dynamism they offer. But in the RS5, that platform has to deal with a lot of stress and… a lot of power.