Set to hit the track today for the first time in competition is an all-new RS5 race car. Competing in the Superstars Series in Europe, Audi officially unwrapped the car just hours ahead of the series kick-off.

Competing against everything from the Mercedes C63 and Porsche Panamera, to last year’s championship winning Maserati Quattroporte, the RS5 takes the is the successor to the RS4.

The action starts today at Monza in Italy.

GALLERY: Audi RS5 Superstars Series Race Car

[Photo credit: Stefano Ciabattoni]

A busy auto show can feel less like a civilized venue and more like a petting zoo, depending on how many people crowd in.

Joshua Smith, a loyal Audi customer drive three hours to the 2012 Chicago Auto Show to see the Audi RS5, hoping to get a closer look and even order one.

Unfortunately, when he got to the show the Audi representative refused to open the RS5. Smith felt understandably disappointed. He currently owns an S5, A6, and an A3 but thought the RS5 might make a good fourth. After such a disappointing experience, Smith drove home and sent a letter to Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen. What happened next was probably beyond his (and our) wildest imagination.

Smith received a lengthy response from de Nysschen explaining Audi’s reluctance to let show-goers sit in the RS5. First, it was a pre-production vehicle. Second, it was the only one that Audi of America had for the entire auto show season. Getting replacement parts would be a huge hassle if anything was damaged in the prototype. Nice as it was to respond, the end of the message is what most people are paying attention to now. It read:

“One of my team members will contact you shortly to arrange a private viewing of the RS5 for you. We will be pleased to truck the car to your home so that you can take a close look at this stunning driving machine. The car will be in Chicago until March 9th when it will be moved to the next Auto Show.”

When the RS5 showed up at Smith’s front door, it wasn’t alone. The entire truckload of show cars from the Chicago Auto Show: the RS5, S6, S7, S8, and A8 3.0T were all present. Even though it probably wasn’t the cheapest option for Audi, they certainly won back a loyal customer that became hesitant to purchase the RS5 after his poor car show experience. The free press can’t hurt either.

Watch the videos that Joshua posted on YouTube after the break.

GALLERY: Audi RS5

[Source: QuattroWorld]

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The 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year short list has just been announced, and women motoring writers from around the world will begin voting for their top picks.

Cutting a list of contenders from 300 down to 32, judges will now allocate points to the nominated cars that fall into four categories: Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Just one of the 10 criteria that cars are allotting points for is Child Friendliness, which is something vehicles aren’t usually judged on in a competition.

Winners of the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be announced before the end of March, and awards will be presented at the Paris Motor Show in September. You can check out the complete short list after below.

Family Car:
Ford Focus
Audi Q3
Kia Optima
Subaru XV
Mercedes-Benz B-Class
BMW X1
Mazda CX5

Luxury Car:
Range Rover Evoque
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Audi A6
Bentley Continental
Audi A7
BMW 6 Series
BMW 3 Series
Peugeot 508
Jaguar XJ

Sports Car:
Porsche 911 – 991
Jaguar XKR
Audi RS5
Renault Megane III
Ferrari FF
Ferrari 458 Spider
BMW Series 1 M
VW Golf R
Lamborghini Aventador
Mercedes-Benz SLK
Mercedes-Benz CLS AMG

Economy Car:
VW up!
Kia Rio
Kia Picanto
Honda CRZ
Honda Civic
Mazda 3 Skyactiv
Ford Fiesta Econetic
Hyundai Accent Diesel

A trio of Audi RS5 race cars will be joining the International Superstars Series this year, one of which will be driven by Gianni Morbidelli, a former Formula 1 racer who won the 2009 International Superstars Series championship.

The other two Audi RS5s entries are from German team MTM and Swedish team KMS. Audi Sport Italia will be providing support to both European teams and those two race cars are currently being prepared in Novara. MTM is set to have Thomas Schöffler behind the wheel of their car, a former VW Scirocco R-Cup series racer who competed last year in an Audi Sport Italia-prepared RS4. KMS will have Johan Kristoffersson behind the wheel of their race car.

The new Audi RS5 race cars are expected to make their first shakedown laps within a few days. The German automaker will be competing against eight other brands in the International Superstars Series including BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Lexus, Maserati, Mercedes, and Porsche.

GALLERY: Audi RS5 International Superstars Series

[Source: GT Spirit]

Audi released a video of their new generation RS5 during some glorious snow drifting and exhaust-burning desert runs. Liken, if you will, an engine to a guitar. Within that vein, it seems Audi has mastered tuning their instrument.

The new generation S5 made some Audi enthusiasts nervous and sent others into an excited frenzy. Why, you might ask? The German automaker decided to swap their throaty V8 for a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 that makes more power, yes, but might lack the allure some drivers may crave. Thankfully the RS5 featured in the clip, does actually keep the up-rated V8 engine.

Enjoy the eye and ear candy below.

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With Audi already now sporting an A5 and S5 cabriolet in its lineup, it’s almost a no-brainer for them to release an RS5 cabriolet variant to battle it out with BMW‘s M3 convertible.

It looks like the RS5 Cabriolet may become a reality sooner than later too, as Carscoop has gotten their hands on Audi’s official trademark filings for the convertible RS5 sports car. The images show off the facelifted RS5 sans roof, featuring seating for four and looks to sport the same soft top the current A5 and S5 convertibles have.

It will also be no secret what will be under the hood of the RS5 Cabriolet, with Audi pretty much confirming that it’ll be powered by the same 4.2L V8 with 450-hp and 317 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to Audi’s seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch transmission and quattro all-wheel drive system, just like the RS5 coupe.

GALLERY: Audi RS5 Cabriolet

[Source: Carscoop]

Audi is exploring the possibility of bringing more RS models to the American market, after years of on-and-off importation of select vehicles like the RS4 and RS6.

Both the TT-RS and RS5 are slated to be introduced for the 2012 model year, and the vehicles will be priced well above even the most expensive TT and A5 models. Like BMW’s M cars, the the RS models are sold in low volumes but are relatively high margin vehicles for Audi. The average transaction price for Audi vehicles has risen steadily since January of 2010, while rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW have seen theirs fall (though their transaction prices are still higher overall)

Peter Scwarzenbauer, Audi’s U.S. sales head, suggested that future RS products could make their way to America, but declined to specify what was in the pipeline.

[Source: Left Lane News]

Audi will make the final decision to build the beautiful Quattro concept in six months. But in the meanwhile, they’re pushing ahead with further developing it…you know, just in case.

The company first mentioned that they would decide whether or not to produce the Quattro in two or three months. But now, the decision has been delayed even further—Audi is finding difficulty in justifying it in this current market, given the tenuous balance between price and performance targets.

The car would be built in low volumes, and would be difficult to turn a profit on; after all, sports coupes are never high sellers, appealing more to enthusiasts than corporate accountants. All of the body panels are completely unique, and its platform would have to be heavily modifed from the RS5 as a possibility. Even after Audi makes a decision in six months, the company says it would still be three years before production starts, just to get everything right.

The fact that Audi is still working on readying the Quattro concept, which cost an estimated $5.2 million to build, means that those within the company are very keen to see it on the road. Not at that price, of course. Other performance targets they are considering include a curb weight of just around 2800lbs, mimicking the original rally-storming Quattro coupe. The turbocharged inline-five engine from the TT-RS will be used, pumping out 400 horsepower and 354 lb/ft of torque.

And given the overwhelming response, Audi could certainly keep enthusiast momentum going by tantalizing them with rumors of production—only so many of us can afford an R8.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Despite costing over $500 million dollars to get it into production, VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn favors putting the Audi Quattro Concept into limited production, as a sort of halo vehicle for the brand.

In an interview with Motor Trend, Winterkorn stated his desire to produce the Quattro, which would be based on the same platform as the Audi RS5, and has already endured 3 years of development work. The biggest difference between the existing RS5 and the Quattro is their respective weights – the RS5 weighs around 3800 pounds, while the Quattro is expected to weigh 2900. The lightweight body and 5-cylinder powertrain help shed pounds and bring the car much closer to the 1980′s Audi Quattro than the more luxurious RS5.

[Source: Motor Trend]

While we’re still anxiously awaiting the release of Audi‘s RS5 in America, tuners in Germany have already gotten their hands dirty with the car and finding gobs of horsepower with very little effort. While the stock 450-hp figure already seems potent enough, especially given how beautiful the RS5′s styling is, SKN has already taken the 4.2-liter V8 past 500-hp with a simple ECU re-tune and Milltek Hockenheim Edition exhaust system.

Actual horsepower figures and pricing hasn’t been released by SKN yet, just that they’re already finding the real potential of the RS5. Suspension wise they lowered the car on a set of Bilstein PSS10 coilovers and mated a set of 20-inch BBS CH-R wheels onto each corner. The 20×10.5-inch wheels are wrapped with Pirelli P-Zero rubber in a 285/30/20 size.

It’ll be a little bit longer until we’ll see the RS5 in America, and with the price tag it comes with it’ll be interesting to see how popular it’ll become. But there’s no question that we should be seeing plenty more from the aftermarket for Audi’s new player in the sports coupe segment.

GALLERY: SKN-Tuned Audi RS5

[Source: Automarket.ro]

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Audi has just unleashed a massive new gallery of photos showing the new RS5 in all its stunning glory – and in several different colors. Taking the already steamy A5/S5 design to an all new level we think you’ll agree that absolutely every one of these pics is worth a look.

And soon you’ll be able to appreciate the car up close (if you’re lucky) with recent reports that the RS5 will be offered in North America. The RS5 takes every aspect of the already amazing S5 and ups the ante with a 450-hp 5.2-liter V8, 19-inch wheels, a lowered suspension and massive brakes. Combined with Audi’s S-tronic dual-clutch 7-speed transmission, quattro all-wheel drive and a 3,803 lb curb weight the RS5 can accelerate to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds. There’s also Audi’s drive-select program to control different levels of throttle response, steering, transmission gear changes, the sport differential and even the exhaust system.

Other highlights include an electronic limited slip differential, that slows the inside wheel in a turn when wheel spin is detected. Plus, an optional sport differential will be made available, distributing power between the rear wheels. The RS5 even features Audi’s new crown-gear differential, which allows for up to 70 percent of the power to be distributed to the front wheels, or as much as 85 percent to the rear wheels.

GALLERY: Audi RS5

With sale of the Audi RS4 ceasing several years ago, North America has been wanting for a high-performance Audi for some time and, finally, that drought is about to end. According to a report by Car & Driver, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has confirmed the recently unveiled RS5 will be sold in North America.

The RS5 takes every aspect of the already amazing S5 and ups the ante with a 450-hp 5.2-liter V8, 19-inch wheels, a lowered suspension and massive brakes. Combined with Audi’s S-tronic dual-clutch 7-speed transmission, quattro all-wheel drive and a 3,803 lb curb weight the RS5 can accelerate to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds. There’s also Audi’s drive-select program to control different levels of throttle response, steering, transmission gear changes, the sport differential and even the exhaust system.

Other highlights include an electronic limited slip differential, that slows the inside wheel in a turn when wheel spin is detected. Plus, an optional sport differential will be made available, distributing power between the rear wheels. The RS5 even features Audi’s new crown-gear differential, which allows for up to 70 percent of the power to be distributed to the front wheels, or as much as 85 percent to the rear wheels.

The RS5 should go on sale later this year as a 2011 model and C&D estimates pricing around that of the M3 – although we have to think it will be a good chunk more expensive than the Bimmer.

When it does arrive, the RS5 might not be the only RS model in North America with several reports indicating the TT-RS will make its way across the pond (to Canada at least).

GALLERY: Audi RS5

[Source: Car & Driver]