If there’s one OEM organization that knows how to do attitude, it’s Audi Sport. While BMW M and Mercedes AMG have often struggled to strike the right balance between understated and in-yer-face, often inadvertently forcing customers into the arms of the aftermarket to get their cars to look right, Audi’s RS cars always push the right aesthetic buttons.
For models like the RS4 and RS6, huge swollen fenders have become an expected part of the repertoire, and these spy shots prove that philosophy isn’t about to change. The swollen front fenders feature a pair of vertical vents just ahead of the front doors that could be there to let high-pressure air (or just brake heat) escape from the wheel housings, and while this prototype’s rear arches are simply tacked on for testing purposes and don’t represent the final shape of the fenders, they do give us an idea of how humongously wide the rear track is.
These images of the successor to today’s RS4, which will switch to the RS5 name so that Audi can free up even numbers for EVs, also show large intakes in the RS-specific front bumper, as well as the segmented DRLs and flush door handles fitted to the regular 2025 A5 Avant we’ve scooped previously.
Related: Hardcore Audi RS6 Spied With Angrier Face And Bigger Rear Wing
Twin oval exhaust tailpipes confirm the RS5 will still feature combustion power, but the charging flap visible on the passenger-side rear fender tells us that the hot compact wagon is switching to plug-in power. That’s something its AMG C63 arch rival has already done, but while the AMG downsized from a V8 to an inline four, the Audi will retain twin-turbo, 2.9-liter V6 power. And since Audi’s RS team never likes to be outdone in any spec-sheet face-off, we suspect it will have to deliver as much muscle as the 671 hp (680 PS) C63, or at least come close, by the time its electric motor’s horsepower has been accounted for.
If it does, that will represent a giant leap over the 444 hp (450 PS) served up by today’s RS4. It will also leave BMW’s 503 hp (510 PS) non-hybrid M3 Touring looking more than a little undernourished until it gets its own hybrid powertrain several years from now.
