CNET First Drive Review 2023 Audi RS5 Competition
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CNET First Drive Review 2023 Audi RS5 Competition
2023 Audi RS5 Competition First Drive Review: That's More Like It
A new Competition package transforms the Audi RS5 into the car it should've been all along.https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2...COS-05-10aaa0b
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Counterpoint: https://jalopnik.com/2023-audi-rs5-c...iew-1849617800
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I love the chrome/polished wheels though of the competition pack. I read somewhere the U.S is only getting a black version (booooo). Which brings me to my next point, I do agree with some of the comments in the jalopnik article about the all-black everything aesthetic being passé. Black with chrome accents and badges look awesome. Or maybe I’m just getting old.
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I love the chrome/polished wheels though of the competition pack. I read somewhere the U.S is only getting a black version (booooo). Which brings me to my next point, I do agree with some of the comments in the jalopnik article about the all-black everything aesthetic being passé. Black with chrome accents and badges look awesome. Or maybe I’m just getting old.
— John
Last edited by Nikon1; Oct 7, 2022 at 09:17 AM.
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Yeah, Audi tried to get the boring out of the RS5 and make it more interesting, but they went into the wrong direction. It's still not a track car, so giving it a manually adjustable coilover suspension and semi slick Corsa tires makes no sense. It needed a new suspension, I've said that for a while, but it should have been a proper adaptive suspension that retained comfort, auto and dynamic settings, but be much better tuned than the DRC with its three fixed settings that are either overdamped or underdamped. AMG tried the manually adjustable coilover in the GT R Pro, which arguably is much more of track car, but even they went back to an adaptive suspension for the even more bonkers GT Black Series and having driven it, it makes all the difference. The lack of emotion is fundamentally designed into the RS5 as Jalop said. The engine is just too meh, and lacks drama. The dynamics are better now, but basically suck on the road, because you have to get out and manually adjust the suspension every time you wanna switch between comfort and dynamic. This package missed the target, IMO, and still doesn't make the RS5 a car I would want over my C63 or a BMW M3/4.
Last edited by superswiss; Oct 7, 2022 at 09:34 AM.
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Yeah, Audi tried to get the boring out of the RS5 and make it more interesting, but they went into the wrong direction. It's still not a track car, so giving it a manually adjustable coilover suspension and semi slick Corsa tires makes no sense. It needed a new suspension, I've said that for a while, but it should have been a proper adaptive suspension that retained comfort, auto and dynamic settings, but be much better tuned than the DRC with its three fixed settings that are either overdamped or underdamped. AMG tried the manually adjustable coilover in the GT R Pro, which arguably is much more of track car, but even they went back to an adaptive suspension for the even more bonkers GT Black Series and having driven it, it makes all the difference. The lack of emotion is fundamentally designed into the RS5 as Jalop said. The engine is just too meh, and lacks drama. The dynamics are better now, but basically suck on the road, because you have to get out and manually adjust the suspension every time you wanna switch between comfort and dynamic. This package missed the target, IMO, and still doesn't make the RS5 a car I would want over my C63 or a BMW M3/4.
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So here is why I actually like Audis from the factory over BMW M, M lite (m340i) and AMG's, and I have driven them extensively. Day to Day, Audi's are more comfortable. I don't track my car and do enough driving on not the greatest roads that really appreciate a less jarring ride. And day to day, in traffic, even on country roads, you would be hard pressed to notice a big difference in performance between an s5/4 and M340i/C43 (previous gen not the new 4 cyl ones) without driving like a lunatic on public roads. Just my two cents.
