The United States
and Canada are the first countries to get ABT Sportsline’s new RS5-R Sportback,
even before the company’s home market of Germany. Following last year’s SEMA
Show debut for the RS5-R Coupé, ABT is now applying the same widebody,
high-performance treatment to the RS5 Sportback — which gets renamed RS5-R
Sportback in the process. The first vehicle in a limited run of only 50 units
worldwide was built by ABT together with its U.S. partner TAG Motorsports.
As with the ABT
RS5-R Coupé, the Sportback gets the same power upgrade which boosts the
2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 engine’s output from 444 hp to 503 hp and the maximum torque from 600 Nm to 689 Nm.
The power and torque
gains are achieved courtesy of the separate ABT Engine Control (AEC) unit, an
additional water radiator kit, rear muffler package, and air intake cover.
Besides the engine tweaks, hardware upgrades also include the ABT height
adjustable suspension springs as well as ABT sports stabilizers on both axles.
These modifications ensure the RS5-5 Sportback will be equally agile in corners
and in a straight line.
From a visual
standpoint, the modified car adds plenty of upgrades compared to the stock RS5
Sportback. The aero package is obviously the highlight and it includes many
components in glossy carbon such as the front lip spoiler, front flics, grille
frame, wheel arch vents, rear spoiler, and rear skirt add-on.
At the rear, ABT
also fits a muffler with 102 mm diameter carbon tailpipe trims. The
10×21-inch ABT Sport GR wheels round off the exterior upgrades. Inside, the
Bavarian tuner keeps it down low as changes only include an ABT shift knob
cover in carbon fiber, ABT door sills, ABT integrated entrance lights with
RS5-R logo, and an “ABT RS5-R 1 of 50” badge.
