SHARP Drives: 2027 Audi RS5 in Morocco

Marrakesh, Morocco: Historically speaking, Audi RS-badged all-wheel drive sedans have been ballistically quick, point-and-shoot technocrats — not particularly interested in engaging the driver. Somewhat aloof, one might say. “You work the pedals and the steering wheel, and I’ll do the rest” said your RS. Power oversteer was definitely not in its vocabulary.

Until now.

I’m unravelling some sinuous roads coursing through Morocco’s Atlas Mountains in a 2027 Audi RS5, and this car is going a long way to relegate RS’s historical clinical demeanour to, well… history. The new RS turns in quick, bites and powers out of bends with a satisfying and authentic rear-drive push. It’s engaging, balanced, cohesive and just plain joyful. (Damn fast too.)

Riding shotgun is Audi RS big kahuna Rolf Michl, managing director of Audi Sport. He and his close-knit team, who lovingly toiled for years on this breakthrough sixth-generation RS5, are like a bunch of excited kids, eager to show the world the fruits of their labour.

The 2027 RS5 is a milestone for Audi Sport — the high-performance arm of Audi — in that it is their first plug-in hybrid, and also the most powerful combustion-engine Audi production car to date. At its core is an all-new 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 working in conjunction with an electric motor within the 8-speed auto, kicking out a grand total of 630 horsepower and 608 lb-ft of torque. (The previous generation RS5 had a 2.9L turbocharged V6 that mustered 444 hp and 442 lb-ft.)

But here’s where this rowdy new-generation RS really separates itself from its predecessors. A centre-mounted Torsen differential can send up to 85 per cent of torque to the rear. From there, the fun begins thanks to a slick electro-mechanical rear-drive unit dubbed Dynamic Torque Control. Dull name? Yes, but it’s the RS5’s tire-smoking secret weapon. With its internal 8kW electric motor, DTC can apportion torque from side to side — up to 1,475 lb-ft when factoring in the unit’s planetary gear multiplication. If that sounds like a lot of grin-inducing, power-oversteering grunt, well… it is.

The previous day had us at a racetrack in Marrakesh where, in the most aggressive RS Torque Rear mode, the RS5 could hang its tail out is deliciously controllable drifts that will have you on a first name basis with your Pirelli purveyor.

A quicker steering ratio adds to the RS5’s precision, as does its instant throttle response and new dual-valve adaptive dampers that give the sedan an impressive bandwidth for everyday usability. In Comfort mode the ride quality is perfectly acceptable (even on these 21-inch rollers). Other modes — including Dynamic, Balanced, RS Torque Rear, RS Sport and RS Individual — ratchet up the rigidity.

On these rutted Moroccan mountain roads, Rolf Michl dialed up an effective Individual cocktail: steering and drive system in aggressive Dynamic, and suspension in Comfort to keep the wheels in better contact with the rough surface. For the racetrack RS Sport is the most precise. The front wheels are always on duty, even in tail-happy RS Torque Rear mode. All the cars here were fitted with optional carbon ceramic brakes, which do an admirable job of bringing all this German metal to a standstill.

And, well, that’s the thing: this is an awful lot of German metal. There’s always weight gain associated with hybridization, and here the 2027 RS5 checks in at 2,350 kg, up 550 kg over the old model. (That’s a lot, for those keeping score at home.)

The good news? The rear-mounted 22 kWh battery helps give the sedan a favourable 51/49 front to rear weight distribution, and it does drive much lighter than the scales would suggest. Miraculously, Rolf Michl and Co. have managed to ensure there’s nary a whiff of understeer when attacking corners in the 2027 RS5.

Did I mention the battery also provides up to 80 km of pure electric driving? It does, and it makes the all-new RS5 a compelling one-car solution.

It’s a convincingly cosseting luxury car, getting goodies like massaging/ventilated/quilted front sport buckets and killer audio, all wrapped in Audi’s new tech-laden cabin that debuted in the A5/S5 last year.

Dynamics and luxury aside, a big selling point for the ’27 RS5 will be its salacious good looks. Thanks to 40 mm fender bulges at each corner, this overachieving Audi squats on its 21-inch wheels like it’s ready to pounce. (And I would definitely go for the optional camouflage-look carbon fibre exterior treatment. So cool.)

And we must not forget the H-word: Hatchback. Audi is loath to use that term — they don’t even call this swoopy-back five-door a Sportback anymore — but pop the hatch and this RS5 Sedan puts all other direct competitors from BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Cadillac on the trailer when it comes to utility. There’s even also an optional trailer hitch to mount an e-bike rack or pull up to 1,900 kg.

If word of this fascinating new plug-in plaything from RS has your checkbook all aquiver, we’ll be waiting until sometime in 2027 to see the sixth-gen RS5 Sedan in North America.

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