Abt’s new Audi RS5-R is tweaked for McLaren-matching power
German tuning specialist Abt has upgraded Audi’s hybrid RS3 to have more power than a McLaren Artura, with figures to match the 720S supercar
You might look at the new Abt-spec Audi RS5-R with a dose of cynicism not just because of its questionable design and colour tweaks, but because one continues to wonder exactly how much more power is necessary. The new Audi RS5 isn’t exactly wanting for power, at least if your glance at the numbers is only a cursory one – 630bhp and 603lb ft sound like numbers from the segment above.
However, the RS5’s weight is also pretty substantial, with our long-term test car coming out at 2419kg when we weighed it. Even at the 2390kg Audi claims, the power-to-weight ratio of 270bhp/ton is actually down on the Edition 25 Years RS4 of 2024. So maybe there is wiggle room for Abt to add some more performance without it feeling like overkill…
So a leap of 80bhp to a McLaren 720S-matching 710bhp is on the menu, as is a jump to 667lb ft, courtesy of the Abt Power S performance upgrade package. Abt has provided no details on exactly how the boosts are achieved, though from the brochure we can deduce that it’s all in the combustion engine, which rises from 503bhp on its own, to 583bhp. That checks out given that Abt specifies that the performance figures only apply with use of 98 RON fuel. Abt has also confirmed that an Akrapovic titanium exhaust is coming for the second quarter of 2027, as well as a further performance upgrade to 789bhp – as much as a Ferrari F12tdF.
The RS5 wasn’t a shy or retiring thing in appearance before and Abt has doubled down on the steroid-injected brute vibes for the RS5-R. It features a bladed front spoiler, louvres above the front wheel arches, mirror caps, side skirts, a new rear diffuser and larger bladed rear wing. The visual upgrades are available in either gloss or matt camouflage carbon. Again, there’s no word on what these changes actually achieve, though evacuating more air from the front wheel wells can’t be a bad thing. The car sits lower (exact amount unspecified) on its new 22-inch Abt EVO Performance wheels, with stiffer springs and anti-roll bars a part of the package.
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Prices for the upgrade make an already expensive car pricier still. In Europe, the €60,000-€70,000 price of the upgrade (depending on your choice of carbon and whether it’s a saloon or Avant) isn’t inclusive of the €7,000-plus fitting cost or the TUV approval cost. All the same, it’ll have rarity on its side – just 130 RS5-Rs are to be made available. The total price is the equivalent of £153,741 with the gloss carbon, though that’s with the German 19 per cent rate of VAT. Likewise, a matt camouflage carbon car costs the equivalent of £156,513.
