BMW and Audi wheel out their big guns: one electric, one electrifying

German, all-wheel drive, fast… and there the similarities end. Do you go for Audi’s first electric RS, the e-Tron GT, or BMW’s ultimate M5, the wild £140k CS?

Two wildly powerful all-wheel-drive German performance cars, alike in dignity but entirely different in execution. If you needed proof that automotive development is at a crossroads, these two – the long-awaited production version of Audi’s battery-electric RS e-Tron GT, unveiled as a concept at the 2019 Geneva show, and the CS version of BMW’s very V8 M5 – are surely it.

WHAT ARE THEY? AND WHAT ARE THEY FOR?

If the e-Tron SUV is, like Merc’s equally conservative EQC, Audi’s battery-electric programme stalling for time before the main assault, the RS e-Tron GT is the infinitely more convincing vanguard. A four-seat coupe on the all-conquering Taycan’s J1 platform, the twin-motor RS will fulfil much the same role as the Porsche – a desirable, dynamic and rapid GT.

In terms of positioning, the RS e-Tron GT is a six-figure flagship (pricing is yet to be confirmed) to sit clear of lesser Taycans but beneath the Turbo and Turbo S. Rated at 590bhp and 612lb ft of torque, but with 637bhp available in short bursts for emergencies (takeaway’s getting cold, in danger of missing Countryfile, that kind of thing), this is both the RS division’s first EV and its most powerful production car to date.

But for all its shattering speed, this is a practical four-seater. Says design boss Marc Lichte: ‘The proportions the Porsche platform brings are awesome; short overhangs, low roofline, big wheels, wide tracks. The RS e-Tron GT sits 7cm lower than

the A7, but this is still a four-seater, even for tall guys like me.’

Arriving at the same time will be a non-RS e-Tron GT with 469bhp (523bhp on ‘overboost’) and 465lb ft of torque.

The new M5 CS is not a track car. Instead, like CS versions of the M2, M3 and M4 before it, the M5 CS offers increased performance and a sharper dynamic focus while stopping short of track-orientated compromises.

In terms of hardware, the engine, gearbox and all-wheeldrive system go unchanged over the existing Competition M5, but power creeps up, weight drops some 70kg and the entire car – from its stability control programming through its spring and damping rates (the ride height’s also been dropped 7mm) to its transmission calibration – has been fettled to help the M5 CS go harder, give more and hit higher highs.

WHICH IS FASTER?

The car from Munich kicks harder more of the time. The venerable turbo V8 is tickled to 626bhp – a modest increase over the existing M5 Comp’s 617bhp, and within a whisker of the V12 BMW built for McLaren’s mighty F1. In CS trim the M5’s 0-62mph time drops to 3.0sec flat, which takes a moment to get your head around. As does the price. You’ll recall that the M5 Competition is a £102k car. The M5 CS costs £140,780.

Not that the M5 CS is some knuckle-dragging dragster. ‘Our philosophy is increased performance but also with drivability,’ explains M’s head of engineering, Dirk Hacker. ‘We need a car that performs better but is also neutral, linear, consistent. It is very important that a normal customer is able to go nearly as fast as an expert driver.’

This little exercise – direct comparison with the most powerful car M’s ever built – might be the only time the e-Tron GT,

Direct comparison with the most powerful car M has ever built is the only time the RS e-Tron GT is likely to appear slow

in RS or standard guise, appears slow. While able to summon more power, the flagship Audi is heavier – it launches 0-62mph in 3.3sec (0.3sec tardier than the M5 CS) and the non-RS e-Tron GT 4.1sec. Both top out just north of 150mph, by which time your state of charge will be tumbling like a Ming vase knocked from a sideboard.

I LIKE THE LOOK OF BOTH, INSIDE AND OUT

Lichte reckons the RS e-Tron GT is the best-looking car he’s ever designed, and who are we to disagree? Inside, the cabin fuses traditional GT volumes (including a pronounced centre console separating driver and passenger) with bold design and progressive materials. Leather-free trim options abound, while the dash bears the Lichte hallmarks of strong horizontal elements and neatly integrated screens (plus more physical switches than the almost exclusively touch-controlled Taycan).

To the M5 Comp’s restrained good looks the CS adds a little less, well, restraint; M Carbon seats with an outline of the Nordschleife on their headrests, gold-bronze detailing, an extrovert sports exhaust, laser headlights that shine GT-racingcar yellow on low beam (whoo”!), exposed carbonfibre parts and a set of stunning 20-inch Y-spoke forged wheels, again in gold bronze, mounting Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber.

Not enough road presence for you? Then order your M5 CS in one of two exclusive Individual matt paint finishes, Brands Hatch Grey metallic or the Frozen Deep Green metallic you see here . Green please.

Interior CS-specific baubles include an alcantara wheel, carbon shift paddles and a smattering of CS badging, notably illuminated in the door sills, lest you forget you’re in something seriously special.