A bitter sweet melody

I was given the opportunity to spend some time with the Audi RS5 cabriolet, one that I would not decline. However, when I went to collect the car I was informed that I would be the last motoring journalist to test this car as it was to be sold soon. I was also told that it was the last RS5 in the media fleet. My heart shattered as it dawned upon me that this was possibly the last time I would be driving an RS Audi with this fantastic engine. I needed to give the RS5 a fitting send off. I needed to take it to a place where I could, for the last time, immerse myself in what makes the RS5 such a great car. A ribbon of tarmac found between Lydenburg and Sabie known as Longtom Pass was undoubtedly the ideal place to say good bye.

I left early in the morning, the silence broken by the burble of the RS5. I made my way through the small town of Dullstroom where I stopped for a quick coffee. The Audi attracted much attention in its red dress, it is one sexy car this. However, don’t be fooled, this  by its appearance, the RS5 cabriolet is still as wild and dramatic as the RS5 coupe, well, actually the experience is even better with the big open space above your head and lets not forget that there is so much more noise.

I left Dullstroom and headed out to Lydenburg. The sky was blue and the roof was down, it was a surprisingly perfect day for open top driving. As you leave Lydenburg you head straight into the Longtom pass, a long and twisty mountain pass that is not only beautiful but rather dangerous as well. This is what the RS5 was designed for. I pointed that 4.2l V8 in the direction of Sabie-well I think it was the right direction- and opened the RS5’s vocal chords.

Put the RS5 into Sport mode and the sublime 7-Speed S-Tronic gearbox uses every bit of the V8s rev range to produce pure aural magic. On up-shift the engine blips, releasing a big bass note that flutters as it leaves the exhausts. On down-shifts you would be forgiven in thinking that there is a superbike behind you. All this sound is amplified even further when you have rock walls on either side of you.

Inside not much has changed and the RS5 cabriolet still boasts the same high quality interior as the current RS5 and RS4 models.

The high-revving V8 FSI develops 331kW and 430Nm from the 4.2litre power plant which launches the Audi RS5 Cabriolet from zero to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds,  at sea-level that is.

This car on this road was an experience that I would never forget. The speeds at which you can go through corners is insane and the levels of grip offered by the Audi give you so much reassurance. The grip levels are thanks to the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system which reliably transmit power to the road. The chassis also boasts a wide array of high-tech solutions, such as the sport suspension plus with Dynamic Ride Control (DRC) as well as a torque vectoring system. I personally found that the RS5 cabriolet actually felt better when it came to its handling characteristics than the coupe. The chassis feels easier to manipulate than the coupe and that is rather surprising as ride quality is normally lost when chopping the roof off of a car.

I arrived in Sabie round about lunch time and I decided to stop at a little restaurant. While sitting there I couldn’t help but fall in love with the RS5 once again. Sure there are more powerful cars out there which are more precise than the Audi but that doesn’t bother me. I’m drawn to the RS5’s character, not its performance figures. I would want one in a heartbeat and that’s when I remembered that I had to return it. I felt rather sad, I love this car, it was going to get sold to someone who might not love it as much as I do, and that’s unfair on the car.

As I walked back to the car I got all excited again, I had to go back through Longtom to get home. I put the roof down once again, aimed for the horizon and nailed it to the floor one last time.