Reacting to the R8’s small but encouraging market response, Audi India is all-set to launch the new RS5 Coupe to boost its premium high-performance image.
The Coupe will be available at an estimated price tag of Rs 1crore. Revealed at last year’s Geneva motor show, the RS5 Coupe gets a reworked version of the 4.2-litre V8 motor from the R8, with an increase in power output which is now 444bhp at 8250rpm, while developing a max torque of 43.96kgm at 4000rpm.
This gives the Coupe a 0-100kph time of 4.6sec with a limited top speed of 250kph. The power is sent to all four wheels via a seven-speed DSG unit. Audi has given the RS5 a new kind of centre differential which the company claims it can direct up to 85 per cent of the torque to the rear axle or 70 per cent to the front. In normal road conditions the power split is 40:60 front to rear.
Also a standard feature in the RS5 will be Audi’s drive select system which allows the driver to switch between three modes of operation – comfort, auto, and dynamic – that adjusts the steering weight, the shift points for the seven-speed S tronic, the sport differential, Dynamic Ride Control, the engine and the exhaust system.
The RS5 gets a newly-designed front splitter with bigger air intakes and will be offered with 19-inch wheels as standard and 20-inch rims as optional.
There’s also a retractable spoiler built into the tailgate which rises up at over 120kph.
Expect the Audi RS5 performance Coupe to hit the Indian market by the second-half of 2011.
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
