Coronavirus has slowed but not stymied intent to deliver the updated RS4 and RS5.

THIRD and fourth quarter arrival scheduling has been confirmed respectively two RS models especially popular with Kiwis.

The timings for the RS5 Sportback and RS4 Avant wagon has been shared along with a novel invitation to media. 

The liftback will be here for public consumption from August – though a solitary press car comes next month - while the load-all is even later.

Those timings also come with suggestion the $157,900 Sportback could be in more limited supply, at least initially, than the $153,500 wagon, whose production availability is described in a communique as being “much better. 

A spokeswoman later communicated that RS5 supply will be down to “a handful” on first arrival, but with steady stock later.

Supply constraints are hardly unusual with the RS models but, of course, the situation has become massively exacerbated by the global coronavirus pandemic, which caused car plants in Europe to close as early as March. However, Audi has since slowly resumed production from mid-April.

If not for that, the cars could conceivably have been coming out around now. NZ’s status as a high-level and easily-pleased RS fanbase usually ensures we get to the top of the list for right-hand-drive production, which appears to have just begun when the Covid-19 crisis hit.

Audi NZ has listed the RS4 for some weeks but only provisioned the RS Sportback specification sheet yesterday with an invitation for NZ media to participate in a media question and answer session running from an RS skunkworks in Germany tomorrow morning.

The programme requires an early start – it’s at 4am, our time – but live attendance has been excused, with participants being allowed to submit up to three questions via a provisioned URL.

It sounds like fun, as it involves racing driver Frank Stippler and Rolf Michl, head of sales and marketing for Audi Sport GmbH, and is tagged as being an interactive test drive from the Nurburgring racing circuit, where the Audi Driving Experience Centre bases and cars are tested.

Provision of the RS5’s local market detail comes three months after Audi Germany released the images of the refreshed RS5 seen today. It comes with confirmation that focus will restrict simply on the five-door shape, with Audi NZ saying is has no intentions for the two-door Coupe.

This will also be a busy week for RS information sharing, with the local operation saying it will have more to share about the RS6 and RS7 later this week.

The RS5 Sportback in the image showcases the most expensive of the 20-inch alloy wheel styles; those matt bronze hoops are $4000 a set, as opposed to $1000 to three other styles in alloy. In its standard form, the new RS5s ride on 19-inch wheels wrapped in 265/35 rubber.

The flash rims a trifling splurge compared to some other options, all the same. The most expensive enhancements are carbon ceramic brakes, at $16000, and a carbon styling pack, valued at $13k.

The incoming editions are mechanically unchanged, for the most part, from the pre-facelift models that have been here since 2017 and 2018.

So, the same 2.9-litre biturbo V6 is pressed into service, the maximum power's still 331kW and the torque still peaks at 600Nm, from 1900 to 5000rpm, and it’s all driving all four wheels through quattro four-wheel drive with a rear-axle 'Sport' differential and an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic gearbox.

Yet that transmission has been recalibrated to improve shift times, while the quattro system is also given a bit of a rework, though it continues to favour a 40:60 front-to-rear-torque split, sending as much as 85 percent of torque to the back axle when required. Zero to 100kmh times range from 3.9 to 4.1 seconds.

What’s obviously changed is some of the styling. The refresh delivers a revised front end, which features reshaped air intakes and an enlarged grille for a more aggressive look. Audi says that the three implied air vents above the grille are inspired by the 1984 Audi UR Quattro. There are new lighting signatures at both ends and altered bumpers, too.

The dynamic handling system picks up two driver customisable modes (RS1 and RS2) in addition to the comfort, auto, and dynamic modes. 

Nappa leather seats, a head-up display, and a even sportier suspension package with hydraulic roll and pitch stabilisation are on the menu.

The 12.3-inch 'Virtual Cockpit' dashboard has been refreshed, as have the graphics on the 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen.

This RS4 is 45kg lighter than pre-facelift car, supposedly through a reduction in sound-deadening. The adaptively damped suspension has been reworked, too, to enhance ride comfort.

If the standard RS concoct doesn’t seem fiery enough, then perhaps ABT Sportsline, a motor racing and auto tuning company that mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands, can help.

Abt Power S has delivered a rework package for the  2.9-litre biturbo V6 that bumps up the power to 395kW and torque to 680Nm. 

A kit that is cited as being specific to the RS4 – though surely it would work for the RS5 as well - liberates this sort of punch through an Abt Engine Control (ABT) high-tech unit, an additional water-cooler package and a revised air intake cover. You can even go further by adding an optional Abt intercooler to the mix, though it’s potentially more for well-being as Abt says it won’t change the wallop.

Abt doesn't say what this sort of hike in power does for 0-100kmh times, but pundits reckon it is reasonable to expect it to be as fast, or maybe even faster, than its larger RS6 sibling, which'll run 0-100kmh in a claimed 3.6s.

Want to know more about the Abt partnership and the work undertaken with the RS4? Watch this video.