CAR WARS! High-performance Shootout: Audi RS5 vs. Mercedes-AMG C63 S —WHICH One Are YOU Taking Home?

When considering the latest and greatest all-new, German coupes, the Audi RS5 and Mercedes-AMG C63 S should come to mind. While the BMW M4 also exists, it's not nearly as new as these two.

Having said that, the folks at Motor Trend got both a car from the four rings and the three-pointed star together for a good 'ol fashion showdown. 

While it's well known that the AMG team makes gnarly beasts, there's been a lot of interesting comments on the all-new RS5. Yes, it lost the high-revving V8 that many loved but I always found the RS5 to be a dull pig with a dated powerplant. Most reviewers cite the all-new Audi as a more mature, refined product but perhaps that's not always a good thing as the RS variant is supposed to be the wild child. 

Let's see the end result in this episode of Motor Trend's Head 2 Head.


On this episode of Head 2 Head, Jonny Lieberman and brand-new host Jethro Bovingdon head to Wales to have a look at new versions of two of the most legendary high-performance coupes around, the AMG C63 and Audi RS5. When these two first battled on Head 2 Head four years ago, the mighty Merc’s superior feel was enough to overcome the Audi’s performance advantage. This time out, both cars have gained twin turbochargers and shrunk in displacement, but the Audi has lost two cylinders. Can the V-6–powered RS5 hope to beat up on or even keep up with the V-8 AMG coupe? Watch and find out!

MDarringer - 10/22/2017 11:00:26 AM

0 Boost

Jonny Lieberman has that annoying rabbi voice like one I have to suffer the presence of here and there (PTSD) and he dresses like a Walmart hipster.

Jethro isn't much more compelling.

These morons moan the loss of the DSG in the Audi. They prefer a transmission that is harsh and jerky that goes crap on you at 50K miles.

Thankfully, Jethro doesn't say "shassy".

A great AMG Mercedes is very much like an old-school American muscle car in some ways.

I think it's funny that they think AMG is a company when it's just a trim level that Mercedes pretends is a stand-alone entity.

Only old men say "a buck 30" for 130mph.

So, at speed the Audi gets unstable. Lovely.

And they like the Audi because it's "mature" and "comfortable" like an Oldsmobile.

Thankfully they came to their senses in the end.

Agent00R - 10/22/2017 2:06:12 PM

-2 Boost

AMG was a standalone company originally and eventually was fully acquired by Daimler.

So, yeah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-AMG

cidflekken - 10/22/2017 6:43:41 PM

+5 Boost

I don't know why Mercedes chooses those hideous vinyl/paint accents on the Edition 1. Outside of that, the C63S is the hands-down winner for me. Looks better. Drives better. Better interior. And its rolling acceleration trounces the RS5. If M-AMG ever decides to put 4Matic in the C63S, all others will be irrelevant (as long as they find a way to compensate for the extra weight by de-contenting it a bit).

MDarringer - 10/22/2017 7:36:36 PM

+1 Boost

I love the stripes because they mess up a rather staid and serious looking car with some teenage go-faster thinking.

My wife finally decided what to get (her lease was up) for her go-to-work car. I would have loved to have gotten an AMG. She said she wanted something sporty to replace her Lexus ES. She settled on a Lexus RC. I said why not an RCF? She said then I'd be driving it all the time. True.

I'd love to have this Mercedes as my borrowed car...not gonna happen.