The 2023 Audi RS5 Competition Adds the Wrong Kind of Imperfection - Jalopnik

It might look like this: the Audi RS5 Competition.

So the company went back to its R&D labs, retuned the car’s electronics, and swapped out dead weight for new, trick suspension.

But can a suite of late-stage upgrades really give a car character, or is it just a ruse to eke another $16,100 out of Audi buyers?

Full disclosure: Audi shipped me off to the southern coast of Spain to drive the RS5 Competition, where I got to dip my hands in the Mediterranean for the first time (and fill my shoes with sand in the process).

This isn’t a brand-new car – the Competition is an option package, not an overhaul?

So what does that option package get you.

The Competition package gets a unique three-way adjustable coil-over suspension as well as new weight-saving wheels and tires.

The Competition tune raises the RS5’s top speed from 174 mph to 180, and the whole package shaves a tenth off the car’s manufacturer-estimated 0-60 time – down to 3.6 seconds for the coupe, 3.7 for the Sportback.

Audi claims the 60-treadwear rubber, combined with ABS re-tuned for the increased grip, helps bring the car to a stop “up to” 6.5 feet sooner than a base RS5 – presumably one without the already-optional carbon ceramic brakes that the Competition includes.

The RS5 Competition also gets a revised steering rack, with a fixed 13.1:1 ratio.

Like most coilovers, the RS5 Competition setup is adjustable for preload (the tension on the spring with no weight on the suspension) and ride height.

The company also considered adding electronic damper adjustment, like what’s found on many other performance Audi models, but scrapped the idea due to weight – remember, that crucial 35-pound savings.

At some point, the trick suspension begins to feel more like a method of padding the Competition-pack MSRP than an effort at quicker lap times.

Like an Audi, and like an RS5.

Audi has one of the most cohesive design languages in the automotive world right now – every model is instantly recognizable as a sibling of the rest.

There’s no separate badging like you’ll find on BMW’s most performance-oriented models, making the Audi the subtler offering.

Beyond those, you’ll have no exterior indication of a Competition model.

Can a trick suspension and re-tuned electronics turn the highway-gobbling RS5 into something totally unique, something you can’t believe until you drive it.

Sure, the full-width vent in front of the passenger may look a bit cheaper than the benchmark for that style — the Honda Civic, an entire car that costs a mere $6,550 more than the Competition option package alone — but that’s the only hiccup in an otherwise gorgeous cabin.

The Competition steering wheel is a near-perfect size and thickness for spirited driving, wrapped in Alcantara to feel extra special.

The Competition name fires directly at BMW’s top-tier M cars, though the rest of the RS5’s specs fall short.

But the BMWs, for all their extra power, cost considerably less, starting at just about the same MSRP as the Audi before adding its $16,100 Competition add-on.

Of course, Audi will sell every RS5 Competition it can build.