2019 Audi RS5 Sportback Is A Spoonful Of Yes Please

A five-door hatchback that clocks 0-60 in under four seconds.

Audi pulled the sheet on its mean, green, 444-horsepower grocery getting machine at the 2018 New York International Auto Show, and it’s basically the RS4 sedan Americans always wished they could have. Like the RS5 Coupe, the 2019 Audi RS5 Sportback is propelled by a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 blasting out 444 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque, manifesting in a 0-60 mph run in under four seconds, and a top end of 155 mph–174 mph if you opt for Audi’s Dynamic Plus package.

Besides room for all your friends and 17 cubic-feet of trunk space for your groceries, the RS5 Sportback makes use of Audi’s eight-speed Tiptronic paddle-shift transmission which feeds the Quattro all-wheel-drive system featuring a trick rear differential. Most of the time, the AWD system distributes 60 percent of the power rearward, but the front end can take 70 percent if necessary, while the rear can receive up to 85 percent when prompted. From there, 100 percent of available torque can be vectored side to side in order to optimize traction.

In order to distinguish it from the S5, the RS5 Sportback is over half-an-inch wider on either side, sits more than a quarter-of-an-inch lower to the ground, gets larger air intakes, and sports those gargantuan oval tipped exhausts. As standard kit, the Sportback gets 19-inch wheels with 20-inchers available as an optional extra. Sonoma Green Metallic is also on offer as an exclusive paint option. Inside, the five-seat coupe gains RS sport seats with a honeycomb pattern in fine Nappa leather, and a flat-bottomed RS multi-function sports leather steering wheel with red contrast stitching. RS emblems feature on the seats, the steering wheel, the sill panels, and on the gear lever.

Audi’s virtual cockpit displays special RS readouts like tire pressure, torque, and G-forces. When the transmission is flipped into manual mode, the shift light display pops up. Pricing for the RS5 Sportback isn’t available at this time, but expect it to be nearly identical to the coupe’s $69,900 MSRP in North America. It should begin arriving in Audi showrooms later this year.