Soft-Top, Hard Cash: 2013 Audi RS 5 Cabriolet Prices Announced

If you're a high-performance Audi faithful who's just got to feel more wind through your hair than a lowered window can provide, your 2013 RS 5 Cabriolet awaits. Take note, though: For the price difference of that soft-top compared with the coupe, you could buy a used convertible 2003 Audi Audi A4.

Audi announced pricing this week for the new RS 5 Cabriolet, which will go on sale next month for a whopping $78,795, including an $895 destination fee. For comparison, that’s a full $11,000 more than its 2013 coupe counterpart and $17,000 more than the 2013 Porsche Boxter S. To be fair, the rear-wheel-drive Porsche won't provide anywhere near the 450 horsepower or 317 pounds-feet of torque that the all-wheel-drive RS 5's 4.2-liter V-8 — good for a zero-to-60 time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 174 mph — boasts.

Not expensive enough? A $6,000 stand-alone package offers ceramic brakes on the front rotors for superior braking performance.

2013 Audi RS 5 at Roebling Road Raceway: Photo Gallery

While the draw of the 2013 Audi RS 5 ultimately is the sporty driving experience, says Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder, its looks drive the point home. Nowhere is that more evident than the aggressive front end's expansive grille. Other features include an automated spoiler that raises and lowers for greater down force; an aggressive RS 5-exclusive diffuser; and single, ovular tailpipes on each side. That's in addition to optional 20-inch wheels, faux-aluminum accents and carbon-fiber interior inlays. Wiesenfelder got behind the wheel of the lower-riding, all-wheel-drive coupe at Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah, Ga. Check out Cars.com photographer Evan Sears' gallery below.

Audi to Bring RS5 to U.S. in 2012

What do you do when the big news you have to announce impacts a few dozen people in the U.S.? You add a little extra for hundreds more.
 
That’s what Audi did when it announced pricing for the 2011 Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 Quattro. The sexy drop-top version of the R8 will cost $161,000 to start when it goes on sale in the U.S. in August.

The hand-built sports car won’t sell at high levels, but it’s not supposed to. For a more attainable rush, Audi fans were told that they’ll be able to get their hands on an RS5 coupe … in the 2012 calendar year. Yes, they have to wait another year and a half for the 450-horsepower V-8 that will be the only RS on the market in the U.S. The S5 is currently the only high-performance trim of the A5 available at a price of $53,100. We expect the RS5 to top the list price of the last RS 4, which for 2008 stickered at $66,910.