Hasta La Gadget!

Sep 10

Audi RS 5 Cabriolet pairs sun with sports performance

Audi‘s latest sports droptop, the RS 5 Cabriolet, has been officially revealed, a 450HP sun-lover capable of a 4.9s dash to 60mph while simultaneously getting you connected to the mobile web. The new four-seater convertible packs a V8 FSI direct injection 4.2-liter engine handmade in Audi’s Hungarian plant, routed through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddles lurking behind the three-spoke, flat-bottomed wheel.

There’s also permanent quattro all-wheel-drive which can shift power between the front and rear (up to 70-percent to the front or up to 85-percent to the back) depending on road conditions. An optional sport differential can improve handling even more, with active power distribution between the rear wheels; meanwhile, if getting off the starting block is the most important thing for you, there’s a Launch Control mode.

Of course, a cabriolet is also intended to be looked at, and lower-speed swishing is made all the more eye-catching with a matt aluminum ringed single-frame honeycomb grille, LED and Xenon Plus lights, extra-large air intakes, and a matt carbon spoiler lip at the rear. The fabric hood drops in 15s and opens back up in 17s, is available in four colors – black, grey, red, or brown – and can be used at speeds up to 31mph.

Inside, there’s leather and metal aplenty, with power sport seats, an optional MMI navigation plu system with multifunction controls on the wheel, and a lap timer included in the info-screen system. Audi has used special leather pigments to avoid the seats getting too toasty in the sun – handy if you don’t like your legs to be burnt but refuse to give up those summer short-shorts – and there’s the option of integrated air-con funneled through perforations in the leather and Alcantara itself.

Standard equipment keeps much to the Audi A5, with adaptive cruise control, brake-assist, an optional reversing camera, integrated WiFi hotspot, and more, but there’s also a set of pop-up aluminum plates if the RS 5 flips over. The Audi RS 5 Cabriolet will go on sale in early 2013 in Germany, priced from €88,500 ($113k). International availability – and pricing – is yet to be confirmed.