RS5 Sportback

The south of Sardinia is a land of long distances and fast corners: the panoramic road that drops from Cagliari towards Chia past Spanish watchtowers and dunes, the provincial route to Villasimius carved through granite high above the sea. What you need here is horsepower, comfort and a profile worthy of the scenery — and the RS5 Sportback delivers all three at once. We have traced the ideal route kilometre by kilometre in our guide to southern Sardinia by grand tourer.

The Sportback body's advantage reveals itself in the living: you arrive at a restaurant in Marina Piccola with the low-slung profile of a coupé, and the next morning you load cool bags and beach towels for Tuerredda through a proper tailgate while your friends climb in through the rear doors. Landing at Elmas, the car can be waiting for you right at the terminal: details are on our Audi rental in Cagliari page.

The 2.9 twin-turbo V6 develops 450 hp with a surge that seems never to end: peak torque is all present just above idle and stays with you to the top of the rev counter, while the exhaust shifts from the murmur of an executive saloon to a dark, vibrant timbre. The 0–100 km/h sprint is dispatched in 3.9 seconds, but it is the fourth-gear pull along the state road to Pula that lodges itself in the memory.

The eight-speed tiptronic has the right gear for every situation and finds it before you ask; the steering grows more direct as lock builds, and the front end bites into the apex with infectious confidence. Through the esses above Capo Spartivento the car stays flat and neutral, the rear axle driving you out of the corner — a composure that invites you to extend the drive by another hour.

At a glance it is pure coupé: frameless doors, a roofline that slides long towards the tail, blistered wheel arches that echo Audi's racing cars. Then you open the rear door — because there is one — and find a genuine bench and a boot sized for long journeys. The RS5 Sportback is that rare case in which the design asks for nothing in return.

It is also why it earns its place among the grand tourers available to rent in Sardinia: it devours coast-to-coast transfers like a thoroughbred GT and attacks the twisting sections like a compact coupé. For a trip for two built around long stages and elegant dinners, it is one of the smartest choices in the fleet.