Mat Watson reviews the new Audi RS5: is it better than a BMW M3?
Car changing is a big deal
Mat’s got his hands on the new Audi RS5, and he has one burning question: Is it a match for the BMW M3? To find out, he’s brought the BMW along as well.
This is the new Audi RS5, and I want to find out if more power is necessarily better. You see, this car has 189hp more than the old Audi RS5 Sportback, but it’s also more than 600kg heavier.
Does that extra weight spoil the fun? To find out, I’m going to test the new RS5’s performance, handling and technology, as well as compare it side-by-side with its deadliest rival: the BMW M3.
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New Audi RS5 review: engine and performance
Let’s start with the headline stats. The new Audi RS5 has a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine, just like the old car. However, this is boosted by an electric motor, and combined you get 639hp and 825Nm of torque.
Audi says it’ll do 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds, but after a few launches with my specialist timing gear the best I could get was 3.7 seconds.
I then jumped into the BMW M3 Competition. It has a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged straight-six with no hybrid system, putting out 530hp and 650Nm of torque. Despite being over 100hp down on the Audi, it was half a second quicker to 60mph. I managed it in 3.2 seconds.
How can that be? The answer is weight.
Thanks to the hybrid system, the new Audi RS5 weighs a whopping 2,355kg. The BMW tips the scales at 1,780kg, meaning it has a higher power-to-weight ratio – and that’s the number which really matters when it comes to performance.
I drag raced the M3 against the new Audi RS5, and the BMW was over half a second quicker down the quarter-mile. The RS5 isn’t off to the best start.
New Audi RS5 review: brake test
Despite being slower than the M3, the RS5 is still a very fast car – and that means it needs to stop well.
Weight is usually the enemy of braking performance, so to see how the Audi fares I measured how long it took to stop from 60mph.
This car is fitted with the standard steel brakes, whereas the M3 had the £9,000 optional carbon ceramics. This, combined with the extra weight, made me think the Audi would lose for sure.
However, the RS5 took 28 metres to stop, whereas the BMW took 32 metres. That’s a surprising win for the Audi.
New Audi RS5 review: design
This new Audi RS5 is much more aggressive-looking than the old version. It has a completely different front-end design compared to the standard A5 with a super-wide mouth. The grille is a bit too big for my liking, but at least all the vents are functional.
It’s actually 90mm wider than the standard A5, and that’s thanks to the massive flared wheel arches. The RS5 has really broad shoulders, and the rear end is just as aggressive. I like the big oval exhausts and the subtle boot spoiler.
I reckon it’s a good-looking car, and I prefer this saloon-shaped Sportback version to the Avant estate.
New Audi RS5 review: interior and practicality
Over the standard A5, the new Audi RS5 gets an octagonal sports steering wheel with some in-your-face red drive mode buttons on it. There are also some RS sports seats, red stitching, suede-like materials on the dashboard and red seatbelts.
The seats feel better than the standard ones you get in an M3, but overall I prefer the optional carbon buckets offered in the BMW. I also think the BMW has a better infotainment setup. The Audi has thick bezels around the screen and a naff, letterbox-like digital driver’s display. It’s easy to use, but the BMW’s screens look more impressive.
There’s plenty to like about the Audi in the back though. I fit in the rear seats with plenty of headroom and kneeroom, and it’s a bit roomier than the BMW. Fitting a child seat is easy as well thanks to the easy-access ISOFIX anchors, and there’s one on the front seat as well.
Unlike the M3, the RS5 Sportback has a hatchback tailgate which makes the boot much easier to load. At 331 litres, it’s around 100 litres smaller than the standard A5’s boot thanks to the electrical gubbins under the floor. A BMW M3 has 480 litres of space, but the Audi’s boot is still a nice, usable shape and size.
New Audi RS5 review: price and running costs
On paper, the new Audi RS5 looks like better value for money than the BMW M3. It costs £89,400, which is a couple of grand less than the BMW, but the starting price doesn’t tell the full story.
Right now through Carwow, you can save up to £16,000 on a new BMW M3. The Audi is so new that there are no offers available right now, but that will change further down the line.
That’s why it’s important to shop around before buying your next car, because you never know what sort of deals you’ll find.
However, the Audi does make a lot more sense for company car drivers. Because it has a useful 50-mile EV range, it’ll cost you £14,000 per year in Benefit in Kind tax. By comparison, the BMW will cost a whopping £39,000.
That plug-in hybrid system also allows you to pootle around locally without using any fuel at all. In fact, I managed to get to 70mph without the engine kicking in. With a cheap home charging tariff, that’ll save you a fortune in fuel.
New Audi RS5 review: chassis, suspension and driving
I used to have an Audi RS4, the predecessor to this RS5 following a naming switch-up, and I loved the way it combined everyday comfort with sporty, fun handling. This new RS5 feels a bit like that, but it’s not quite as good.
That’s down to the weight. The suspension has a slightly firmer edge to it in comfort mode compared to the RS4, and that’s down to the stiffer springs needed to manage the mass.
Audi’s also fitted it with uprated dampers and suspension links compared to the standard A5, and the axles are different as well. The result is a car which handles well, but it’s not quite as fun as my old RS4 because you can feel that heft pushing the nose wide when you drive it hard.
It’s also nowhere near as much fun as the BMW M3. I jumped into that car straight after the Audi, and immediately I just felt more in-tune with the car. It’s more agile through the corners, the steering is more communicative and the suspension deals with bumps better.
I think Audi’s engineers have done a really good job with the RS5, but they’ve been hamstrung by the need to make it a PHEV. It’s as good as it can be, and I prefer it to the plug-in hybrid BMW M5, but the weight spoils the fun for me. I think the M3 is much nicer to drive.
Mat’s final verdict on the new Audi RS5
That brings me to my final verdict on the new Audi RS5. Should you avoid, consider, shortlist or just go right ahead and buy it?
It’s a decent enough car, but I think it’s blunted by being so heavy. That’s why I think you should consider it, but I’d rather have the BMW M3. The RS5 may be impressive, and for company car drivers it makes the most sense, but the BMW is faster and much more fun to drive.
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