{"id":255703,"date":"2026-07-13T04:35:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/car-uk-issue-765-april-2026-car-uk\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T04:35:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:35:05","slug":"car-uk-issue-765-april-2026-car-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/car-uk-issue-765-april-2026-car-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Car UK – Issue 765 April 2026 – Car UK"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Both of Audi Sport\u2019s closest rivals, Mercedes-AMG and BMW M, have launched PHEV performance cars to a mixed reception. The AMG C63 has been largely vili\ufb01ed by the fanbase on at least two fronts: its four-cylinder (rather than V8) engine, and its sometimes synthetic-feeling drivetrain. BMW, with its ultra-heavyweight M5, may have made an impressive performance car but in our experience it can feel too big and too complicated to enjoy as a daily driver.<\/p>\n

The new RS5 su\ufb00ers from a similar problem: a porky kerbweight, with the saloon clocking in at 2335kg, while the Avant adds another 35kg. For reference, that\u2019s around 500kg more than the B9 \u2013 a vast increase for a performance car, particularly when the larger, V8- powered RS6 Performance is around 200kg lighter. Looking at rivals, an M3 is around 100kg inside two tonnes depending on your spec, while an AMG C63 is around 2.1 tonnes.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s simply no getting around that extra bulk. \u2018It is a lot heavier, yes,\u2019 Michl admits, but he assures us \u2018you don\u2019t really feel it because it\u2019s so agile.\u2019 He prefers to highlight the positives that electri\ufb01cation bring: it can make a car much more communicative on the road and much more adjustable when you\u2019re close to hitting the dynamic ceiling. \u2018The most important thing is for it to feel natural in every [drive] mode, especially if you\u2019re touching the limits,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

\u2018It gives you a clear response to how it acts and we wanted to have a mode where you could really feel the electric power.\u2019 There\u2019s a new \u2018dynamic torque control\u2019 system applied to the rear axle, which Audi refers to as the \u2018invisible maestro\u2019 to the RS5\u2019s dynamics.<\/p>\n

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Of all Tesla\u2019s bold and controversial innovations (dizzying vertical integration, bagging unwanted factories from legacy makers, and blazing a trail on semi- autonomous tech to name but three), its decision to swerve the traditional franchise dealer system in favour of direct sales, online and through company-owned showrooms, proved particularly controversial at home. And while some more storied, powertrain-agnostic brands are pursuing variations on the direct-to-customer theme, it\u2019s the younger, electric-only brands \u2013 Lucid, Rivian, Polestar \u2013 that can\u2019t get enough of the bigger margins and greater control the model brings.<\/p>\n

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe wants to sell his cars in Europe. The R2, which launches in the US and Canada imminently, has been designed and engineered for success in Europe (which, as Scaringe points out, could at least make life easier by acting like a single entity \u2013 ah, yes, apologies\u2026). But while working with dealers would no doubt speed things up, Scaringe is convinced that, in terms of tumult, the 2030s will make the 2020s (which don\u2019t feel like a cakewalk, it must be said) look like a millpond.<\/p>\n

And if everything\u2019s about to be thrown up in the air, is now really the time for a car maker to cede control? \u2018We could go faster doing that [working with established dealers], but fundamentally we don\u2019t like it as a distribution model,\u2019 explains Scaringe. \u2018Let\u2019s put aside the fact that you\u2019re paying someone 15-ish per cent to sell your product, even though on a $50k car that’s a lot of money. The other challenge is that we say \u201cdealers\u201d as if they\u2019re a single entity.<\/p>\n

But the reality is you\u2019re going to have multiple dealers, all of which behave slightly di\ufb00erently and make it very hard to evolve as the customer model evolves.\u2019 Rivian was an early proponent of the rethink in electronics referred to as the shift to software-de\ufb01ned \u2013 a move away from hundreds of ECUs by di\ufb00erent suppliers, communicating in myriad languages via miles of wiring loom, to just a couple of centralised, in-house-developed software stacks. It\u2019s more efficient for a whole bunch of reasons, but it also future-proofs your vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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