Audi RS5 Sportback
Why 6.4: DougScore 68, real pace and hatchback practicality. It is bought to be used, but the RS personality is more clinical than charismatic.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Sound
The 2.9 TFSI is smooth and finds a faint hard edge near its 6,700 limit. But it replaced a 4.2 naturally aspirated V8 that ran to 8,250, and most of what you now hear is piped through the speakers. One of the clearest downgrades in the index.
6-cylinder · turbocharged · 6,700 rpm redline · rated 4.5 / 10 for engine sound
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €69k (2019) → €41k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
Child seats · ISOFIX
Rear outboard ISOFIX and top-tether anchors are standard.
The A4/A5 B9 platform this RS5 shares follows the same Audi pattern as the A3/A6/A7/Q8 of the same era — front ISOFIX available as an option, not standard.
Based on the shared B9 platform's contemporary Audi range pattern rather than an A4/A5-specific equipment table pulled directly.
Euro NCAP Audi A4/A5 (2015-16) child-occupant report, cross-referenced against the confirmed A3/A6/A7/Q8 option-front pattern (owner-community sourced, not manufacturer documentation)
The long version
The RS5 Sportback is what happens when the enthusiast answer has to survive school runs and winter. It is quick, handsome, practical and hard to fault; it is also hard to romanticize. That balance is exactly why it belongs on the index. These cars get driven at normal rates and depreciate like premium daily hardware, not collectibles. The involvement sits in the middle because the car is effective first and memorable second.