2027 Audi RS5 first drive: A performance PHEV with split personalities

Audi Sport’s new RS5 is the company’s first plug-in hybrid, pairing a turbocharged V6 with an electric motor. It shares its underlying chassis with the A5, but aside from the hood nearly every body panel is RS5-specific: aggressive wheel-arch blisters add about 3.5 inches of width, massive front intakes dominate the fascia, a diffuser houses two large oval exhausts, and rear OLED tail lights carry a checkered-flag pattern.

The RS5 Avant station wagon that we aren’t getting was noted as a more desirable shape, but the coupe’s detailing is striking. The powertrain centers on an all-new 2.9 L V6 with twin variable-geometry turbos in a hot-vee layout, air-to-water intercoolers, and short intakes, running a modified Miller cycle.

That engine makes 502 hp (375 kW) and 442 lb (600 Nm), about 60 hp more than the previous V6 while using roughly 20 percent less fuel.

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