Audi RS5 Coupe

- Ash Westerman

IT’S THE power figure that first grabs your attention. Not because the RS5’s number is huge; more because it brings a curious sense of deja vu.

Let me explain. The previous gen 4.2-litre atmo V8 that powered the original RS5 (introduced in 2010) delivered a soaring, supersonorous 331kW. In the interests of reducing consumption, Audi binned that engine, co-developed (with Porsche) this new 2.9-litre V6 with a pair of turbochargers nestling between its banks, and tuned it specifically for the RS5 application, and managed to extract – yes – exactly 331kW.

What are the odds? According to Audi Sport’s head of technical development, Stephan Reil, ‘coincidence’ is not a concept his department deals with. “Our target was to match the outgoing engine,” he explained to me at the RS5’s launch in the French Pyrenees mountains.

“It’s important that customers know they are getting vastly more torque, much better consumption, with no reduction in power.”

But why not more than 331kW?

I had to ask: is Audi Sport declaring an official withdrawal from the power war that rages in every high-performance segment? That 331kW figure is well short of the 375kW that Alfa extracts from a similarly sized turbo V6 in the Giulia QV, and is likewise 44kW down on rival Mercedes-AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 C63 S.

Reil just shrugs. “We believe 331kW is ample for this car. Besides; customers buy power, but they drive torque.”

We leave it there, feeling fairly certain Reil and his team have a little up their sleeve for the inevitable Plus version.