FOUR NEW AUDI RS MODELS FOR 2013

Audi’s quest to overtake BMW as the number one premium car maker in the world took a slight knock last quarter as it delivered 11 904 fewer cars globally than Bavaria. Nevertheless that will not keep the good four rings down as it plans to accelerate its mission by bringing out four new hi-performance RS models in 2013.

Said cars are the RS Q3, RS 6 Avant, RS 7 Sportback and the RS 5 Cabriolet. We are very excited about the first three, but while the RS 6 Avant looks to be a very useful performance tool, it may not reach Mzansi at all, due to our natural aversion to station wagons.

Audi executives in Europe said that RS models, which traditionally were brought out about two years before a model range was due for complete replacement, would not be launched much sooner. You’ll now get our RS version no later than 2.5 years into a new model’s life cycle, or just before the facelift.

This is excellent news, because it means that the all-new A4, due out in 2014, will show off its new RS 5 and RS 4 versions at the very latest in 2016, instead of what would previously have been 2019. It also means the next RS 3, with about 270kW, can now be expected before the middle of 2015.