Advantage thanks to expensive technology

Audi advertises its vehicles with “Vorsprung durch Technik”. Even more technology is now available for the family sports RS 4 and RS 5: “We had a group of demanding, sporty customers who came to us and said that the RS 4 and RS 5 should be more geared towards the racetrack. After launching the current generation of the car, we decided to develop these racing versions,” explains Florian Mair, head of the Audi Sport model range. Unlike its three-door RS 5 Coupé and four-door Sportback twin, the Competition Plus variant offers a fixed steering ratio, modified differential setup, faster gear shifts and a manually adjustable chassis, among other things.

Visually, not much has changed except for the black Audi rings on the hood and trunk lid. Standard 20-inch wheels and exterior mirrors, front wing and side wings, as well as sill extensions and optic packages with rear diffuser, provide additional drama in both matte and glossy carbon. The eight kilos loss of the Audi RS 5 Competition Plus is more of a measure for evening conversations with regulars. The situation is similar with acceleration, as the sharpened Ingolstadt car now accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds – 0.1 (Coupé) to 0.2 seconds (Sportback) faster than before. At the same time, the top speed was increased from 250 to 290 km/h. The lack of a significant increase in driving performance in the sporty Audis is due to the 2.9-liter V6 turbo petrol engine making a maximum of 450 horsepower in all four sneakers.

Suspension can be adjusted manually

The Audi Sport engineering team developed a manually adjustable coilover kit to find the best possible balance between comfort and performance. The chassis of the RS 4 and RS 5 Competition Plus has been lowered by ten millimeters compared to the standard RS versions – the owner can also reduce it by another ten millimeters manually. Chassis engineer Andrei Filip explains: “These customers can put the car on a dynamo, remove the wheels, lift the hood and adjust the desired settings by playing with the vehicle height and rebound and compression phases, which gives them many options.” The RS 5 comes with a booklet and special tools to make this task easier. We’ll see later which Audi customer can actually help.

In addition, the new Competition Plus vehicles offer higher spring rates, three-way adjustable shock absorbers and stiffer anti-roll bars, aiming to make the vehicle’s handling more precise and agile. Unlike the simple Competition version with variable dynamic steering ratio, this one is fixed in Competition Plus, so the front axle responds more quickly to the driver’s wishes. The changes are always noticeable, as while in the standard RS 5 you noticed a tendency to understeer in tight corners towards the limit, this has now largely disappeared.

“We’ve tuned the throttle to open and close faster. As a result, the weight shifts further when raising the pedal and backwards when depressing, creating a vehicle action that benefits sporty handling,” explains Filip. The sportiest of all Audi coupés, however, it is particularly well balanced in comfort mode, where bumps and holes are easily ironed out without the need for driver intervention.

price hot

However, the question remains whether the two-pack is worth the generous surcharges. Because the regular Audi RS 5 Sportback from CHF 114,300 with 450 hp and the station wagon version of the RS 4 Avant from CHF 111,550 is an incredibly fast car for everyday use on the highway and on the racetrack. The competition package is CHF 8,650 each – the racetrack-friendly competition plus package increases the price by CHF 13,850. The bottom line is how relevant it is for the sporty driver to be a few seconds faster on the racetrack.