Old meets new: Audi RS5 v original Audi Quattro

The mighty new Audi RS5 is a modern car that follows a well-trodden path for Audi: a four-seat coupe with four-wheel drive and a hugely powerful turbocharged engine to provide the excitement. Back in 1980 the original Audi Quattro was a revelation: but how well does the latest RS5 reflect its spirit?

Visually, the original still packs a punch. Helped in no small part to on-screen fame in TV’s Ashes to Ashes, lots of people recognise and admire the Quattro Gene Hunt so often fired up. The RS5 still has the flared wheelarches, but it doesn’t quite have the original’s attitude: it looks a bit too similar to the regular Audi A5 Coupe.

The Quattro’s engine is more distinctive too – although this is where progress really starts to show. The five-cylinder engine is turbocharged, but even in late-spec 20v guise, only produces 217bhp. Good job it doesn’t weigh much, so performance is still pretty rapid.

The four-wheel drive system sounds agricultural, the clutch is heavy and the gearbox is slow. Steering is also numb on straight roads, although it does weigh up in corners. Once you’ve acclimatised to the Quattro’s period feel, it’s faster than you expect, and a huge amount of fun.

The RS5 is way faster, of course. A twin-turbo 444bhp 2.9-litre V6 engine sees to that. It’s grippier, smarter and easier in corners as well. It is, however, less rewarding. IT doesn’t have the engagement of the original car, despite its obvious astonishing technological prowess.

They’re even more like night and day inside, too. The Quattro is plasticky and shockingly 1980s, with digital instruments that look archaic. The RS5 is space-age by comparison, with fantastic quality, lots of equipment and some jaw-dropping digital displays. Equipment is from another era too: you don’t even get air con on the original.

We best steer clear of comparing infotainment, too: there really is no comparison between a fully connected infotainment system and an old AM/FM tape player.

The old car is surprisingly roomy inside. It’s more compact on the outside, but less concerns about crash safety mean passengers are still able to sit in the rear in relative comfort, even if room for their luggage is much more compromised.

Where the original edges ahead is in prices: adjusted for inflation, it’s cheaper than the new RS5. It’s only likely to go up in value too, while the RS5 has only just begun its depreciation curve. Saying that, we’re sure the new car will cost less to run than the old one – and prove rather more reliable…