Audi Enters The Performance Arms Race

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday November 8, 2008

Jez Spinks

AUDI is expanding its RS range with more powerful versions of the A5 and TT coupes.

The German brand will abandon its policy of producing only one RS model at a time and unveil the TT-RS early next year, with the RS5 expected to follow within 12 months.

The two coupes will boost the RS range, transforming it into a genuine rival for the BMW M and Mercedes-Benz AMG performance arms. They will join the twin-turbo V10 RS6 wagon that has just launched in Australia. Currently, the fastest TT - the 200kW 2.0-litre turbocharged TT-S - sprints to 100kmh in 5.4 seconds but the RS version will cut that to 4.5 seconds.

The TT-RS will become a rival for BMW's Z4 M coupe and Porsche's Cayman S.

Like the TT-S, it will be available in both coupe and roadster guises and boast a rear-drive-biased all-wheel-drive system. Audi insiders confirm power will come from a new 2.5-litre (246kW, 450Nm) five-cylinder "twin-charger" engine that will be both turbocharged and supercharged.

It will be mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, while Audi's new seven-speed automated manual transmission should be available as an option. Fuel consumption will be kept below 10litres/100km.

Audi no longer produces five-cylinder engines, so the source is sister company Volkswagen. It is a fitting engine, considering five cylinders were used for both the father of the RS models, the 1980 Audi Quattro, as well as the first RS vehicle - the 1993 RS2 Avant.

The more powerful TT will feature the traditional RS black honeycomb grille (the TT-S has the chrome cross-hatch grille). Audi is also putting a third-generation RS4 on hold to focus on a flagship version of its A5 coupe, which was a sales success last year.

The German maker has already released details of its new S4 sedan, which shares its platform with the new RS5.

While the S4 places a 245kW supercharged 3.0-litre V6 under its bonnet, the RS5 is expected to bolt two turbochargers to the discontinued RS4's 4.2-litre V8 to generate 330kW (21kW more than the BMW M3).

The RS5 will come standard with Audi's new trick rear differential, which will be optional on the S4. While the AWD system apportions torque between the front and rear axles, the new diff distributes torque between the rear wheels.

The system is similar to the ones employed by the Saab Turbo X and BMW X6, sending more torque to the outside rear wheel to help push the car through a corner.

Audi will not confirm the TT-RS and RS5, though at the local launch of the new RS6 Avant, the marketing boss for Audi Australia, Immo Buschmann, admitted the company was exploring further RS models.

"We're currently looking at the market to see if there's demand to broaden the RS portfolio," Buschmann said. "Now that the market is growing, our competitors are now looking at more cars in that high-performance segment."

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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