If I had to pick one car from the Audi stable that I'd want to own someday, it'd be the S5 Sportback. Back in 2018, I had that sleeper sedan for enough time to have practically lived with it, and it was the exact manifestation of what I enjoy the most in a car - handling. And all of it was down to the quattro system that I got to experience in all its glory. Previously, I'd also driven the RS5 Coupe, but despite the extra power and all the grip at its disposal, it didn't really do it for me. The sole reason for that was the ride quality, as one could feel each and every pebble cut through the seat even in the plushest suspension setting.
The reason I have mentioned all of the above is because the RS5 you see here, gleaming in that beautiful Sonoma Green, is no longer a two-door coupe but a four-door Sportback. To make sense of it, this makes the RS5 Sportback a faster and sportier version of the S5 Sportback. And that is exactly how it turned out, a heightened experience with more power, more electronics to exploit that, and complete with a more aggressive design.
I am a sucker for sedans and the proportions of the RS5 are just spot on. Yes, it probably has the same silhouette as the S5, but every line and crease seems so pronounced that it makes the car look more menacing. The bumpers have a very aggressive look with lots of grilles to vent air into the motor and also to the brakes for cooling. The car gets the latest headlamps featuring Audi's new LED signature DRL design. The same treatment has been done for the tail lamps, too. The car sits on 19-inch alloys due to which I had already started to mentally prepare for a harsh ride similar to my last experience. But I was soon proven wrong.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
Lexus ES - An Excellent Left-Field Option In The Luxury Sedan Segment
The word "smooth' doesn't quite cover just how refined the ES facelift is
Audi e-tron GT Faster Green
Thought it'd be a while before we saw an electric GT? Well, we're already there!
ALL GROWN UP
The refreshed Baleno is a much more mature, sophisticated car than its predecessor
EVALUATION?
An electric chat with Hormazd Sorabjee. No hashtags were harmed in the making of this story
GLORY BE
The Skoda Slavia comes as a breath of fresh air in an SUV-laden market
EASY RIDER
Is the Bounce Infinity E1 the e-scooter for the masses?
BEAUTY AND THE BARBARIAN
The Volvo XC90 facelift can almost do it all
SIX APPEAL
In a world obsessed with SUVs, we take two of the finest luxe limos in India to celebrate sedans
ELECTRIC FLUX
Is it time to embrace the dawn of electric motorcycles?
KODIAQ MOMENTS
Skoda's flagship SUV returns with a petrol heart
Small, Sporty, Satisfying
Highs: Sharply dressed, energetic acceleration, compliant ride. Lows: Snug back seat, infotainment woes, the VW Golf R exists.
We Built the World's First V-8 Tesla
The Rich Rebuilds team had a dead model S. They fixed it with a Camaro engine
Stepping Up On EV Growth
The South African electric vehicle (EV) landscape is set to accelerate in 2022 with a slew of new models. But with all its power and load-shedding issues, is South Africa ready?
The Fantastic Four
Audi’s speeding bullet that can go around corners
Contenders
MOTORTREND PERFORMANCE VEHICLE OF THE YEAR 2022
Tip of the Spear
Our inaugural pvoty evaluation ran the market's sharpest cars through the gauntlet in search of the best of the best
Audi's A3 Gets a New Suit of Armour
"Does the move upmarket pay off, or does it pay the price?"
CH Precision D1.5 SACD/CD/MQA-CD Player/Transport
There’s a school of thought that maintains that among all hi-fi components, the D/A converter is easiest to perfect or come close to perfecting. Just make sure that every sample is converted accurately, that there’s little rolloff in the audioband, that aliased images are suppressed almost completely, and that background noise is extremely low, and you have a top-quality D/A processor. Use of a high-quality DAC chip is assumed.
2021 Top Picks of The Year
Looking back on 2021, I can honestly state that it represented an improvement over 2020, though it didn’t end up being the full-scale return-to-normal everybody was looking for. A/V consumer and trade shows such as CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis were gutted. Supply chain logjams delayed the arrival of new gear, particularly in core categories like speakers and A/V receivers, both of which ended up underrepresented in our 2021 Top Picks of the Year list compared with previous years. But even with all the challenges, the wheels of industry continued to grind, with much fantastic gear coming in for us to test and recommend.
Canton Chrono 70 Loudspeaker - It's Chrono Time
Canton may be a speaker brand that’s relatively unknown in North America—no doubt due to the company’s products not being available in these parts for the past decade—but the German outfit has been doing business for almost 50 years. Headquartered about 25 miles north of Frankfurt, Canton is one of Germany’s largest loudspeaker manufacturers, offering a truly breathtaking spread of models across several product ranges.