2026 Audi RS5 | UK Review

Well, it wasn't in the UK - but who are we to quibble with a second go in Audi Sport's first plug-in hybrid?

By Cam Tait / Thursday, 18 June 2026 / Loading comments

Much has been made of Audi fumbling the RS5 name. As you’ll know, its new super saloon and estate would have been called the RS4 had it not decided to rejig its nomenclature for the umpteenth time, which saw EVs badged with even numbers and combustion models odd. That’s no longer the case, but it means what was once the RS4 is now (and likely ever more) the RS5. Despite a change of name, the competition remains very much the same. BMW’s M3 Competition may be getting on a bit, yet it remains the class leader. And while the four-pot Mercedes-AMG C 63 was a dead end, the company is known to be working on a new V8 to fit the impending Euro 7 regulations, so you can bet your bottom dollar that’ll find its way into the next C-Class.

With that in mind, Audi has prepared the RS5’s assault on the M3 and whatever C 63 replacement Mercedes is working on with a smorgasbord of showy numbers, as we found out during our first drive back in March. The one you’ll have no doubt registered is the 2,370kg kerb weight for the Avant (or 2,350kg for the saloon tested here), making it nearly 500kg heavier than the equivalent M3 Touring and saloon. Yikes. The reason for its immense heft is that, unlike the M3, the RS5 is a plug-in hybrid and therefore has to lug around a 22kWh battery under its boot floor (which does eat into luggage space a fair bit). The benefit is up to 54 miles of electric-only driving, dwarfing the mere seven miles the C 63 S E-Performance offered, and provides 177hp worth of electric assistance to the combustion engine.

As Mercedes sales figures prove, a punchy hybrid system is nothing if it’s not paired with the right engine. For the RS5, Audi is sticking with V6 power in the form of a 2.9-litre twin-turbo unit. You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s the same engine as the old RS4, and while there’s been a degree of carryover, Audi says 60 per cent of the parts are new to the RS5. That includes variable-geometry turbos, an upgraded fuel system and, for the first time on an Audi RS product, water-cooled intercoolers. Alone, the engine develops 510hp; factor in the transmission-mounted central electric motor and you get a combined 639hp and 608lb ft of torque. That’s delivered across both axles via an eight-speed automatic and a Torsen limited-slip differential, sending up to 85 per cent of the power to the rear wheels. And back there you'll find an all-new electro-mechanical torque vectoring system that can distribute up to 1,475lb ft of torque either side for a more playful rear end.

Having already sampled the RS5 on Moroccan roads, all that remains for us to do is give it a go on home soil. And to do that, Audi’s decided to host the RS5’s UK debut in the famously British French Riviera on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix (go figure). It’s the company’s inaugural season in the sport, of course, and given its F1 machine and hot new saloon/Avant are both powered by hybrid V6 with turbo assistance, Audi apparently couldn't resist bringing the two together. So a full verdict on the car from the correct side will have to wait; happily, the Route Napoléon is just a stone’s throw away from the circuit, and the surrounding roads often feature on the Monte Carlo rally, so as substitutes for a B road go, it's a good one.

Before setting off, however, you need to earmark a good five to ten minutes to get your head around all the kit available to you. The RS5 has four (!) buttons for the powertrain; the two on the steering wheel are a boost button for brief bursts of all the power and all the torque, plus a dedicated RS mode, while the centre console has selectors for the full suite of drive modes and a switch to toggle EV-only running. By default, it’ll start up in electric mode, because that’s the way it's been homologated - but hit the RS button and the V6 roars into life with far more fervour than the old RS4. It’s remarkably loud for a car that should be whisper quiet by regulation, while the slight vibrations transmitted through the wheel and seat point to the engine being very much the centrepiece. A strong first impression has been made.

Things only get better when you’re up and running, not least because it feels every bit as rapid a 639hp twin-turbo V6 ought to. In the RS modes, the electric assistance provides a good deal more grunt while feeling completely in sync with the combustion engine, filling in the gap between you pinning the throttle and the turbos spooling up, as well as smoothing out gear shifts. Yes, the trademark flatulent crackle with every upshift is still present, and while it sounds half decent on tick over, it’s nowhere near as tuneful on the climb up to the 7,000rpm redline. Nevertheless, it’s unquestionably a more characterful and more urgent powertrain than its predecessors.

That’s especially true when you dial the RS5 back into one of the more pedestrian modes. It’s here where the electrical element becomes more apparent, often defaulting to battery power at lower speeds to conserve precious fuel. Even the electric motor has a character of its own, emitting high-pitched sounds akin to someone tuning an old radio. And when the combustion engine does come into play, it’s so seamless that the step change from EV to hybrid power is almost imperceptible. That means that when you’re running in electric mode and need to make an overtake, a quick press of the boost button immediately brings the engine to life without a moment’s delay, launching you towards the horizon with considerable force.

But what if you don’t have any battery power left? That’s a question I put to Audi’s engineers at the RS5 launch and, initially, they couldn’t wrap their heads around it because the idea of owning a plug-in hybrid and not charging it baffled them. However, the 420mm and 400mm discs can be counted on to provide ample regen, and there was still plenty of charge left in the battery after a good three to four hours of driving. And even if you do run out of power, there’s still 510hp to play with, which is still 60hp more than the old car. The brakes themselves are managed by a new brake-by-wire system, which can feel a touch on the grabby side but is otherwise intuitive to use and provides the sort of immense stopping power you'd want in a two-and-a-half-tonne missile.

Speaking of the elephant in the room, you'll want to factor in the knock-on effect of running an RS5 long-term - the 285/30 bespoke Bridgestones surely won't come cheap - but the RS5’s ability to disguise its weight is predictably uncanny. Booting the throttle mid-bend results in all manner of chassis contortions for the car to rotate. A far cry from the more understeer-prone RS4s of old, and that’s mostly thanks to Audi’s aforementioned torque vectoring system. Powered by its own 8hp electric motor, the system works to shrink the wheelbase, making it seem more agile than it has any right to. You don’t need to be on it to benefit from its footprint-shrinking ability, either, as the system noticeably tucks the rear in at lower speeds as if it had four-wheel steering.

Of course, it helps that the RS5 gets a quicker steering rack, too, resulting in the sort of reactive turn-in that we’ve come to expect from Audi’s performance cars. Okay, so it’s hardly alive with granular feel (again, no great surprise), but it does at least feel authentically connected to the front end and attains heft credibly, which wasn’t necessarily the case on the old model. The damping, however, is a real highlight, with the RS5’s adaptive two-valve setup soaking up Napoléon’s more unkempt stretches with ease. There are four different settings to choose from, the raciest being significantly firmer though far from fidgety, and there’s excellent body control in even the softest setting - which is where you’ll probably want to leave it back home.

That’s all configurable through the RS5’s massive 14.5-inch centre touchscreen, which dominates the dashboard but isn’t nearly as harsh on the eye as the tablet-like panels used by other manufacturers. It’s intuitively designed and quick to respond, making the initial setup of the Individual setting a breeze - and once that’s done, you can muck about with the different drive modes through physical buttons. Granted, there’s a lot of gloss black plastic, and some of the interior trim feels a little second-rate, but all the key touch points feel nice to the touch. The seats are a real highlight, though, being both supportive and sporty while at the same time feeling significantly more comfortable than the carbon-backed buckets you get in the equivalent M car. And I’d take an oblong wheel with nicely sized grips over a round wheel that’s been overly padded.

Then there’s the electric-only running, which isn’t especially punchy but certainly serviceable for short to medium-length journeys, and the RS Torque Rear that, frankly, requires a bit more room than the narrow, twisty and mostly blind corners of Route Napoléon to properly exploit. But every bit of new tech that’s gone into the RS5, from the hybrid system to the trick new diff, is tangible at all speeds - you’ll just need a fair amount of space to get the most out of them. And a fair amount of cash, too, because it’s £89,400 for the saloon and £90,150 for the Avant, and that’s before you’ve reviewed the extensive options list (carbon ceramics for £8,990, anyone?). But given the soon-to-be-replaced M3 costs roughly the same and a Merc C 63 is, well, currently absent from UK forecourts, there’s a case to be made that the RS5 might yet muscle its way ahead of those it’s trailed behind for the best part of a decade. At least while BMW’s next M car remains under wraps, that is…

SPECIFICATION | AUDI RS5 (B10)

Engine: 2,894cc, V6, twin-turbocharged, 22kWh battery, electric motor
Transmission: eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 639 (combined)
Torque (lb ft): 608lb ft (combined)
0-62mph: 3.6 seconds
Top speed: 177mph
Weight: 2,430kg
MPG: 68.6-70.2
CO2: 94-92g/km
Price: £89,400