2015 Audi RS 5: Endangered Species

In many ways, the 2015 Audi RS 5 represents the last of a very specific breed of high performance car. I'm not saying that German luxury sports coupes are about to do the Cretaceous-Tertiary shuffle off of this mortal coil. Far from it. Instead, I'm talking about the philosophy that guided the current, and ultimate, RS 5's design, because when this all-wheel drive marvel retires from the North American market at the end of this year (to wait for the next-generation A4 and subsequent A5 to spawn their inevitable RS variants), there won't be a high-revving naturally-aspirated V8 to be found in the showroom.

Subtle Scorcher

There's really not much about the 2015 Audi RS 5's exterior appearance to suggest that it has more in common with a sport bike than its cross-town rival the BMW M3 under the hood. In fact, it would be easy to mistake the RS 5 for its more casually-quick S5 sibling, were one not able to pick up on the badge affixed to the somewhat more aggressive grille, the optional carbon ceramic brakes that were outfitted to my tester, or the pop-up trunk spoiler that adds a distinct crease to the car's deck lid. Flared wheel arches and a slightly wider rear track are about as extroverted as it gets with the coupe, but even these touches tend to melt into the Audi's silhouette.

Inside subtlety continues to rule: RS 5 logos are emblazoned on the seats, and there's a similarly-identified flat-bottom steering wheel, but you'd be hard-pressed to point out any other differences between the RS and S editions of the 5. Not that I'm complaining. I personally don't need hood scoops, fender-vents-to-nowhere, or towering rear wings suitable for balancing your milkshake at the local cruise night to validate the $92,000 sticker of my Teutonic sports coupe. I enjoyed the casual athleticism of the RS 5's first impression, with only its bright red paint job hinting at passers-by that maybe there's more lurking under my right foot than initially meets the eye.

Ditto the simplicity of the Audi RS 5's interior. The front seats were comfortable and supportive on longer drives, and even the rear of the two-door provided decent accommodations for two additional adults, which is a rare achievement for such a compact premium offering. The Audi MMI infotainment interface that comes standard with the car is dependent on your mastery of a rotary controller flanked by numerous navigation buttons, and while it does work, it's a little clunkier than some of its contemporaries.

No Real Compromises On The Road

One of the refreshing aspects of the 2015 Audi RS 5's suite of high performance equipment is that it's 'always on.' The naturally-aspirated nature of the RS 5's 4.2-litre V-8 means there's no calculated fiddling with boost levels required to grant you full access to the unit's 450 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque. You simply have to keep your foot in it all the way to the 8,250 rpm mark to trigger the unbridled aggression of its optional sport exhaust system, a rapid journey accentuated by the artificial sweetening of the Audi's soundtrack in the cabin and abetted by a standard launch control system that saw me hitting 100 km/h from a standing start in a frightening 3.9 seconds. You can blame the RS 5's all-wheel drive system for that particular demonstration of traction uber alles, a feature that also keeps the car surefooted if you substitute torrential rain for sunshine at a track day. If you want to fiddle with the steering ratio and throttle response you can do that too, with the ability to create an individual driving profile for the car, and there's the choice between standard Drive and quicker-shifting 'sport' algorithms for its seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission (capable of being overridden via the car's steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters).

The one aspect of the Audi's 'always on' personality that could grow tiresome is its suspension tuning. While the coupe is remarkably docile when cruising at slow speeds, the same can't be said for its stiffened shocks and springs, which are eager to bounce the car laterally over rough roads. I didn't mind - but you might.

Last Chance

The 2015 Audi RS 5 balances exceptional speed and precise handling with a suitably luxurious interior and clean, traditional styling, and it also throws in the bonus of four-season fun thanks to its quattro all-wheel drive system. The demise of the eight-cylinder engine has been predicted too many times now to be taken seriously, but it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to posit that a V8 singing all the way past 8,000 rpm is in clear and present danger of extinction. If you're tired of turbos and don't mind that Audi won’t let you specify a manual transmission - and if you can afford the stiff price of admission - snag an RS 5 before it’s too late.