Intel: B9 Audi RS 5 Will Have 475 bhp Twin Turbo V6 plus Other A5 Info

We’ve stumbled across some very interesting intel today about the next-generation Audi RS 5 in a greater report on the A5 lineup. We’ll get to the more pedestrian stuff, but it is clearly the RS 5 information that’s grabbing our attention. It’s not just that the RS 5 is the most lustworthy of the A5-S5-RS 5 range, but also because said information also includes news of a 475 bhp twin turbo V6.
Source of the Rumor
Most of our info today comes from a very reliable source in journalism – Georg Kacher via CAR Magazine. He’s filed a piece about the A5 lineup. You can find that full story here but here’s a quick rundown.

• MLB-evo B9 Will Be Lighter. Audi is focusing hard on pulling weight out of the next-generation of longitudinal architecture, so much so that the cars will shed about 100 kg over current versions and a more radical ‘ultra’ spec will go even further.
• B9 by 2015. The first coupes will come by 2015, Cabriolets 6 months later and Sportbacks by 2015.
• Mainly 4-cylinders for A5. Expect the 2.0 TFSI to be the major offering. A V6 TDI will also be offered.
• 6-cylinders with turbo tech for S5. Kacher claims 328 bhp and 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
• S-tronic with new spec. Expect a new 8-speed version of Audi’s twin-clutch box.
• e-tron could happen. Plug-in hybrid versions of the A4 are expected and this will likely carry over.
• RS 5 with twin turbos. While he offered no displacement or technical details, Kacher did hint that the engine would be 475 bhp and that’s ahead of the current V8.

Other Intel?During an Audi Tech Day a while back we got a closer look at Audi’s MLB-evo architecture in an early form. It is a revolutionary approach that uses aluminum, magnesium, hardened steel and even carbon fiber in a virtual patchwork possible via new methods of multi-material bonding. Each piece is optimized for the quality it needs – lightweight, strong, etc., etc. This move will help Audi pull weight out of all models using the architecture and will be particularly appreciated in high-performance and high efficiency applications.
As for design, we’re hearing by a source who’s seen some mockups of the next car that the overall look is “VERY good”. Based on what we’ve been told by Audi Design boss Wolfgang Egger, the current generation of design language will evolve into something more akin to the emphasized volumes look seen in the Audi crosslane concept.
As a result of this design shift, we do not think our render is very accurate. Pressed for time, we quickly modified a render we’d done a while back meant to speculate on what the current-generation car might look like. The move allowed us to have a photo to run quickly with this story, but it borrows heavily from the latest RS design cues from cars like the RS 7 and RS Q3, and these are designs that will have assuredly evolved by the time the B9 RS 5 hits the market.