When your competitor is the BMW M3 and it’s so close to your factory that you can smell burning rubber, taking to battle requires something close to perfection. Especially when your adversary is truly a legend with intrinsic technology and a name that hangs in the history of motoring.

And so Audi, with the current interest surrounding its brand, is preparing itself with the lovely A5, adding the letters “RS” and reflecting the masterpieces that have recently emerged from the German company, such as the RS4, the R8 or the V10 RS6.

The challenge to the M3 is far more explicit now, with both V8 high revs, coupès and twin-clutch shift, but the true revolution is in the traction with BMW choosing rear wheel, and Audi splashing out into all-wheel drive.

New information on this ferocious coupè arrives from Ingoldstat and Autozeitung. The car won’t have much in common with the more easygoing S5, though some technical aspects will be the same. As with what occurred with the S4 and the RS4 B7, the two models in the future will be quite distinct.

The RS should be more sincere but radical, compared to an S, and the lowered body, 20-inch wheels and nasty looking air intakes attest to this. While on one hand the overall mass increases, on the other the weight decreases through an intelligent use of alluminium and magnesium. This should see about 50 kg saved, keeping weight to 1580 kg. Among the options offered will be a carbon-ceramic braking system.

Intelligent suspension has been included, along with launch-control and rear sports differential will be coupled with the all-wheel drive, achieving greater driving feel. Autozeitung anticipates that that at the heart of the vehicle will be a V8 4.2 FSI engine, completely updated with direct injection system, reaching about 470 hp. All of this should guarantee the RS5 performance in line with the future M3 CSL, but at a lower price.

Via | Autozeitung

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