Audi RS5: Collaboration with Porsche?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Audi RS5: Collaboration with Porsche?

Rumors are coming up that Audi and Porsche are looking into an engineering collaboration for the Audi RS5, similar to the truly great Audi RS2 in the 90's. Our take: bring it on!

Porsche has made plans to revive its close ties with Audi, following the sports car maker’s takeover of the Volkswagen Group.

Well placed sources say that Porsche bosses are keen to restart the kind of engineering collaboration with Audi that produced the RS2 super-estate in the mid 1990s.

One of the first Audis in line for a Porsche makeover, once the company directors give the green light, is said to be the upcoming A5 Sportback, a more practical version of the A5 coupé with two more doors and a bigger boot.

By using the guts of the RS5, due out next year, Porsche and Audi could create a four-wheel-drive 4.2-litre V8 super-estate.

The RS5 is tipped to produce 450bhp from the V8, so Porsche may find other ways of improving performance, such as cutting weight.

In an interview with Autocar, Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking said he was puzzled that Audi had not continued working with Porsche after the success of the limited-run RS2. He revealed that it was something Porsche would have been keen to continue.