Frank Stephenson Reviews the Audi RS5 Design

Frank Stephenson is a car designer whose successes outnumber the Beatles’ hits, with work including the Escort RS Cossie, the first BMW Mini, Maserati MC12, numerous Ferraris and the McLaren P1. He now leads his own consultancy, Frank Stephenson Design. Here, he gives his assessment of the Audi RS5.

Audi RS5: Autobahn presence

For decades, the rapid German estate has been an autobahn fixture. At 120mph and above, a low, broad, purposeful shape appears in the mirrors, prompting an instinctive move aside. The newest RS5 continues in that tradition, although it no longer slips beneath the radar as discreetly as RS models once did. In the name of progress, the former ‘4’ has become a ‘5’, yet the formula remains broadly unchanged.

It is still intended as a single-car answer to every aspect of life: practical, quick and now electrified to an extent. It can even be specified with a tow bar. Walter de Silva described the first-generation A5 as the most beautiful car he had designed, and proportion continues to be the RS5’s strongest asset.

Audi RS5 proportions and practicality

Its profile is exactly right. A lengthy bonnet, comparatively low glasshouse and muscular haunches lend the car poise and equilibrium. Although it houses a substantial battery pack, its silhouette remains sleek, avoiding the tall-sided heaviness affecting so many current hybrids and EVs.

The battery pack sits at the back of the cabin, allowing the roofline to stay low. The proportions are excellent. Audi knows how to shape an estate car.

An 80mm wider track permits dramatically flared wings and assertive air outlets. The front bumper is now 95 per cent grille... prepared to swallow slower-moving objects.

Grille, lighting and rear design

Up front, the single-frame grille extends outwards and incorporates a sequence of layered intake elements. The lighting is equally complex: highly advanced matrix LED units with impressive capability, although their visual identity seems overworked.

The chequered-flag theme, transferred and repeated from front to rear - including within the third brake light - feels more ornamental than enduring. Earlier Audis achieved elegance through simplicity; this treatment is more cluttered.

At the rear, it is all theatre. The exhaust outlets - vast, elliptical and mounted centrally - are unlike anything else on the road outside hypercar territory. Their location reduces the apparent width of the rear while making their own scale seem even more extreme.

That, essentially, sums up the new RS5. It remains an attractive car. In many respects, it is precisely what an RS5 ought to be. It simply works a little harder to ensure that you notice it...

Audi RS5 design details

A superb chamfer around the headlamps highlights the wider body relative to the A5. The single-frame grille has expanded to absorb the side intakes. The headlamp graphic is technical, but is it sufficiently distinctive? This angry front end is considerably more imposing than earlier RS products. Subtlety is gone.

The chequered-flag pattern is distinctive, but has it been used too extensively? The enormous tailpipes would not look out of place on Artemis. Broad arches give the car immense presence, while the RS5 receives a unique rear door. Take note, BMW. The wheel design is straightforward, clean and unmistakably Audi, with six spokes recalling the original TT.

Verdict: HOT