New car buyers may want a particular model, but they might not always have the budget to get their first choice. Automakers are offering consumers the widest variety of choice in history and this feature will help give you insight into some comparable, affordable alternatives to more upmarket cars.
You want an Audi RS5 Cabriolet. Who wouldn’t want an RS5 Cabriolet? Seriously, what’s not to like about a convertible with 450 horsepower, a V8 that spins sonorously to 8,500 rpm and an all-wheel-drive system that makes the entire plot at least quasi-practical through all four Canadian seasons?
Well, if you are tempted, you better get a move on over to your local Audi dealer because the RS5 droptop will be discontinued after the 2015 model year as part of Audi’s remake of its A5. Judging by the sporadic nature of RS availability in Canada, there’s also no guarantee it will return any time soon.
If you do rush down, what you’ll get is one of the last high-revving, naturally-aspirated performance engines available from a German luxury automaker — BMW and Mercedes-Benz went the turbocharging route — that will go down as one of the truly great V8s of the modern era.
With 450 horsepower and exceedingly comfortable screaming to 8,500 rpm, the RS5 is obviously a serious performer. But there’s a duality to its comportment that’ll let you poodle your elderly grandmother around town without her even suspecting you’re a weekend hooligan, the exhaust note in “Comfort” mode but a whisper as long as the revs are kept below 4,000.
Flip it into “Dynamic” mode, however, and there’s a bark to every downshift as if you’re gearing down for the Eau Rouge corner at Spa-Francorchamps. Ditto for the seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission; in “Comfort,” it does an enviable impersonation of a torque-converted automatic, but when the going gets fast, the gearbox gets quick and abrupt.
Married to Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system, the RS5 is a practical yet sporty convertible. Truth be told, anywhere short of a racetrack the RS5’s handling is more than up to snuff. Steering is light yet linear and the firm suspension keeps roll to a minimum, while there is plenty of grip from the meaty P275/30R20 performance tires.
But — and you’ve probably figured this out from my comment that the RS5 is being discontinued — it’s an aging design. The chassis rigidity, always a concern for a convertible, isn’t quite as good as newer competitors. Like so many Audi’s, the RS5 also carries a lot of weight up front — in this case about 56 per cent — and if you take it to the track, there will be a fair amount of understeer.
At 2,040 kilograms, the Quattro system that gives the RS5 its unique all-weather capability also makes it heavier than the direct competition. There’s also the small matter of it costing $96,000 — my tester was optioned up to a seriously eye-watering $105,140.
Of course, if you’re shopping this snack bracket, cost shouldn’t be a huge factor and the RS5 offers all manner of attractions — chief amongst them that glorious high-revving V8 and, again, that all-season Quattro system — that might help render its age and price non-factors.
You’re a (rich) hooligan who just wants to go fast. The most obvious competitor to the RS5 is BMW’s M4 Cabriolet. Lighter, faster (4.6 seconds from zero to 100 km/h compared with the RS5’s 5.1) and scalpel-like in its ability to apex hairpins, the M4 Cabriolet is a veritable track weapon compared with the RS5. Returning to its roots after a brief flirtation with eight cylinders, the M4 is once again powered by BMW’s iconic inline six.
The latest revision — just last year compared to the 2012 introduction of the RS5 and the 2008 unveiling of the current A5 family — is also lighter than its predecessor and more focused in the ability to go corner harder, faster and with greater ease. That the BMW will outperform the RS5 is without question.
That said, the M4 only motivates its rear wheels, and despite a sophisticated electronic traction control system, it will never be as winter-friendly as the RS5. As well, to boost that iconic inline six to a competitive 425 horsepower, BMW had to resort to twin-turbochargers and, even though some of its trademark scream is left, it’ll never be the rip-snorter Audi’s 4.2-litre V8 is. The BMW, does, however, make up some of the deficit by making the M4 available for $84,500 — more than $10,000 less than the RS5.
Hey, I ain’t got $84,500 let alone $96,000. For $30,399, one can get a perfectly serviceable sporty convertible in the form of a Ford Mustang. Oh, it won’t have the romance nor the power of the Audi’s V8 for that price, but if you really need that much moxie al-fresco, you could always move up to the GT. Even at $48,449, it’s half the cost of the RS5.
At 435 horsepower and sporting double overhead cams, performance is hardly shabby. It also comes, catering to all you purists out there, with a six-speed manual and since Ford recently upgraded the rear suspension to an H-arm with integral link independent system, ride and handling arm much improved.
There’s also such high falutin’ electronic goodies on offer as adaptive cruise control, blind-spot-detection, and collision warning systems — all things one would expect on a convertible that could at least pretend to compete with the high-tech Audi. Like the M4, however, the Mustang is only available with rear wheel drive, albeit with an Electronic Line-Lock system that locks the front brakes but releases the rear binders, letting you do giant, smoky burnouts to your heart’s content. Ford may have finally dumped the archaic old solid rear axle, but the Mustang, GT version at least, is still a primeval beast.
Don’t need all that power, but I still want a sporty Audi convertible. The new A3 is the best small car Audi makes and the Cabriolet version actually has many advantages over the more expensive RS5. For instance, the A3 features the latest in Audi interior design with less complication than the older RS5, trick new air vents and an upgraded MMI telematics system. Despite being a whopping 228 millimetres shorter, the RS5 and A3 cabrios share the exact same rear seat legroom specification: 810 millimetres.
Oh, to be sure the number of pistons has been cut by half and the peak power by even more — 220 versus the RS5’s aforementioned 450 — but an A3 Cabrio costs $42,600 (again, less than half) and consumes far less gas — a semi-miserly 8.9 L/100 kilometres overall versus a truly gluttonous 12.9 for the RS5.
Nor is the A3, despite its tiny 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, particularly lethargic; 6.3 seconds from zero to 100 km/h is hardly slow. Besides, if you want more, get on the honker to your local Audi Canada and encourage them to start importing the 300-hp S3 version of the Cabrio, good for a 5.4 second scoot to 100 km/h — barely 0.3 seconds behind the RS5. And yup, all A3 convertibles come with Quattro all-wheel-drive.
