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Audi RS5 Twin-Turbo V8

We have to admit to not buying the hoo-hah over the Audi RS4 sedan in the press recently. This time last week the breaking news was that Audi had ceased production of the RS4 sedan. Then came the explanation which was that production hadn’t ceased but i


We have to admit to not buying the hoo-hah over the Audi RS4 sedan in the press recently. This time last week the breaking news was that Audi had ceased production of the RS4 sedan. Then came the explanation which was that production hadn’t ceased but it would at the end of 2008 in time for the introduction of the RS6 and in-line with Audi's tradition of providing only 'one RS model at a time'.

Like we said at the time, where does that leave the RS5 coupe? No-one would believe that it will wait in the wings until 2011 when the RS6 is finally shelved. Yet the RS5 has been seen testing and details of its specification written about only recently.

In fact Car Magazine recently went ‘to-air’ with the pictures you see here and some very interesting specification information which they sounded rather certain of.

How does a twin-turbocharged 4.2-litre V8 with 335Kw/650Nm plus and 0-100km/h in around 4.5 seconds sound? Car Magazine reckons that this head-banging Audi RS coupe is the real deal and has already been fully-developed by Quattro, Audi’s in-house performance car engineers.

So if an RS5 coupe does exist, where does that leave the 'one RS model at a time' policy? We can’t help thinking that it is one of those rules that’s made to be broken, much like the Japanese gentleman's agreement over limiting power outputs.

Conspiratorially, we also note that the rumours over the RS4 sedan’s demise are conveniently close to the pending debut of BMW’s E92 M3.

Are Audi concerned that the new M3 will have the edge over their RS4 sedan? Perhaps Audi want us to think that the RS4 is nearing its ‘twilight year’ in time for the lime-light to be stolen and inevitable comparisons with the new M3 to be made against a quicker and better balanced RS5 coupe?

Maybe… or maybe not, but we sense some BS going on around the home of RS down Ingolstadt way. If it all results in an RS5 coupe with a twin-turbo V8, then we are of course prepared to overlook the shenanigans.

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