Audi RS5

Annoying niggles aside, this turbocharged V6 German supercoupe has the long game, and its rivals, well and truly mastered

- Ian Eveleigh

I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT TO expect of the RS5. I thought I’d be in for a few months with a quick, comfortable and well-equipped machine, but one I would probably not give a second thought to once the loan was over. How wrong could I have been? Instead it got completely under my skin. It was a car I would think about every time I was driving something else, and one that, now it has returned to Audi, I miss hugely.

Given the often lukewarm reviews of this latest RS5 (though not in evo), you might wonder how this could be the case. The answer is that this car plays the long game. It might not grab you by the collar during a brief test drive or shine brightest in a group-test scenario, but live with it, see how it can deliver in every single situation you put it into, and slowly but surely it starts to make perfect sense.