2019 Audi RS5 Sportback in Sonoma Green Is Anticlimactic

Don't get us wrong; it's a good-looking piece of machinery that carves a tiny niche for itself into the performance market. It's not a sedan or a coupe, since the trunk opening is a hatch. This also makes it a little bit more practical.

But it's all so... predictable. Remember the M3 and M4? Well, the sedan has much wider fender flares because the base 3 Series has narrow tracks. Also, the RS6 sounds better than all the other cars with the same 4-liter V8.

But here, the magic is missing. Under the hood is the same 2.9-liter bi-turbo V6 engine as you'll get in the coupe. The output is rated at 444-hp in America or a nice, round 450 in Europe. The 0 to 100 km/h sprint time is also the same, despite the Sportback being a little bit longer and heavier.

Going back to the M3/M4 analogy, each of those hot BMWs debuted with a brand new and very bold shade of blue or gold. But the RS5 Sportback presented itself in the same Sonoma Green we saw on its two sister cars. It's a lovely shade, but it's also being helped to stand out by lots of carbon fiber options like the chin spoiler, trunk aero, side skirts and a more.

Pricing will be announced later in the year. However, we expect it to cost around 5k more than the $70,000 RS5 Coupe. Competitors? Well, there technically aren't any. But we think the people who will consider this are also going to look into the Mercedes-AMG C63, which just got a facelift. There's also the new Mercedes-AMG CLS 53, which is down on power.