![]() It coped perfectly well with the combination of poorly-maintained Sydney suburban roads, 80km/h and higher runs and everything in between. In Comfort mode, it’s extremely manageable on a day-to-day suburban drone, something I did a lot of given the rules in a local government area of concern in Sydney. This car had the optional-but-should-be-standard dynamic damping. ![]() This car had wireless Apple CarPlay but also USB Android Auto. Under the armrest, there’s also a wireless charging pad. You get bottle holders in the doors that actually hold bottles and a pair of cup holders in the centre console. The optional Alcantara steering wheel is absolutely lovely, too, as is the same material on the seats and the shifter. You sit lower than you do in the Avant but pretty much the same as the coupe, so if you feel like you’re missing out, you’re not (as long as you don’t look behind you). The front seats are sensationally comfortable, look great and have a ton of adjustment. I think the Sportback is the best of the three Audis, combining the five-door coupe looks with a hefty boot and space for four. ![]() Unlike its rivals, it’s not available in a four-door sedan option, but again, neither do the other two have five-door coupes. Here in the mid-size segment, you’ve got a choice of three RSes – the RS4 Avant, RS5 Coupe and RS5 Sportback. The RS5 ships with 20-inch alloys, Matrix LED headlights, keyless entry and start, heated and folding rear vision mirrors, foot wavey boot opening, a panoramic sunroof (why?), rear privacy glass, Nappa leather seats, electric front seats with memory and heating, three-zone climate control, LED ambient lighting, Virtual Cockpit digital dash, wireless phone charging, 19-speaker B&O-branded sound, adaptive cruise, around view cameras, head-up display and a space-saver spare. It’s worth pointing out that the original pricing of the RS5 from 2019 was more than $7000 higher than it is now, so that’s unusual and if my research is correct, it’s become better-equipped since then too. No, it’s not as direct a BMW rival as it might be if the M4 Gran Coupe existed, but it doesn’t and we just have to sulk about that. But the right kind of not far off – it’s priced lower than the BMW M3 Competition and I can tell you without even looking it’s cheaper than a C63 AMG (okay, I checked, it’s cheaper). Pricing and FeaturesĪudi comes out punching with a starting price of $153,900 for the RS5 Sportback, which is a hell of a start but not far off the price of its M and AMG rivals. It’s also loaded with gear and tech to (hopefully) match the price and with that reinvigorated competition from its German rival as well as the constant stalking horses from AMG and Alfa, the RS5 Sportback has much to contend with in the second half of its life. Low and sleek, it shares all of the Avant and Coupe underpinnings, with the Porsche-developed 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 and a sophisticated driveline full of Quattro, ZF and limited-slip diff goodness. While it’s not the most practical RS – that goes to the RS4 Avant – it’s better looking than its coupe counterpart and manages to not just fill the gap between the two cars in the range, but feels like it stands alone. The hoons at Audi Sport just threw a few black bits and air intakes on. It is almost unquestionably one of the prettiest cars on the road today, eschewing the look-at-me-and-my-pig-grille antics from Munich and sticking with a sober, elegant but exceedingly pretty set of lines. From the day Audi unveiled its gorgeous A5 Sportback, it was inevitable that it would get the RS treatment.
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