Audi RS5 Cabriolet

With its Audi R8 engine, muscular good looks and four-seat cabin, the RS5 gives the whole family the chance to experience wind-in-the-hair supercar thrills. It’s not cheap, though, and it can’t match the ageing BMW M3 Convertible for engaging driving dynamics.

The Audi A5 Cabriolet has been around for nearly four years now, but this is the first time it has been given the go-faster treatment by the brand’s Quattro high-performance division. With a powerful V8 and grippy four-wheel-drive chassis, the new RS5 promises to be one of the fastest four-seater convertibles money can buy.

It certainly doesn’t hide its performance potential. Bulging wheelarches, a deeper front bumper and carbon-fibre rear spoiler give the Audi real muscle car appeal, while our model’s £1,350 optional 20-inch alloys replace the standard 19-inch wheels.

There’s been a similarly racy upgrade for the cabin, where you’ll find heavily bolstered, high-backed front seats, a thick-rimmed, flat-bottomed steering wheel and several RS5 logos. Yet elsewhere it’s standard A5, which means an excellent driving position, first-rate materials and exemplary build quality. Only the slightly dated dashboard design costs the Audi valuable points here.

Still, as you’d expect of a car costing £68,985, the RS5 comes with plenty of standard kit, including sat-nav, a DAB radio, xenon headlamps and Nappa leather seats. Also included is the same powered ‘Acoustic’ fabric roof as in the standard A5.

It’s packed with sound-deadening material, and makes the interior almost as quiet and refined as you’d get in a metal-roofed coupe.

Prod a button on the centre console and the roof whirs open in around 16 seconds, before stowing neatly under a panel behind the rear seats. And with the roof down you’re even better placed to enjoy the noise of the car’s incredible V8.

This 444bhp 4.2-litre engine is shared with the R8 supercar, and it delivers explosive performance. When combined with the four-wheel-drive transmission, slick twin-clutch gearbox and hi-tech launch control, it blasted the RS5 Cabriolet from 0-60mph in just 4.6 seconds. Yet it’s the soundtrack that really grabs your attention, turning from a muted rumble to a hard-edged roar as the revs rise, while the twin exhausts emit a symphony of pops and crackles with every downshift through the gearbox.

Our test car was fitted with the £1,700 Dynamic Ride Control adaptive dampers and £375 Dynamic Steering, both of which are designed to deliver a more engaging driving experience. Yet in its sportiest setting, the ride is too firm, and the steering is stiff and heavy. Leave the car in Comfort mode, and the controls respond more naturally, allowing you to exploit the RS5’s incredible grip.

The Audi is also impressively refined, and the wind deflector cuts out buffeting when the top is down. There are also four full-size seats and a 380-litre boot. The £68,985 RS5 isn’t cheap, but nothing else can deliver the same mix of performance, practicality and open-air thrills.