#but then plants it in between Czech Rep

[moontheoretist]

Wanda’s fate in not Team Cap friendly fanfics bothers me, even though I am Team Iron Man, because since when exactly slavic countries have capital punishment and call for blood?

Ok, I have a very important question. Why in those not Team Cap friendly fanfictions each time when Wanda is deported to Sokovia there is an execution waiting for her to happen (not in all but there is like enough there with this idea)? Was it stated in any movies that Sokovia practices death penalty in 2015, or is it just misguided idea of what Slavic countries are like? Because as far as I know the only Slavic countries which still have death penalty are Belarus and Russia.  And even in Russia last time death penalty was used was before 2000, and also law to some extent forbids using death penalty in Russia, so it leaves only:

“The only European country that executes criminals is Belarus, as that country is not party to the European Convention on Human Rights”.

~ Capital punishment in Europe, Wikipedia

It seems that the last death penalty in Belarus was done in 2019, so it’s why I am wondering. Most of Slavic countries abolished death penalty in the 90’. Also if we consider the popular idea that Sokovia was based on Kosovo, we can say that Sokovia shouldn’t have death penalty in place, even during the civil war.

So I wonder if this is like just the “I wanna kill Wanda quickly” idea out of need for quick closure, or it is rather “I do not know where death penalty is still in power and Slavic country torn by civil war sounds pretty into that thing”? 

Cause it bothers me.

(I know she is powerful and all that, but really? The only way Sokovia can deal with her is execution? As if slavic people aren’t known for being tech-savvy? Is it really so hard to imagine that Sokovia may invent their own collar just for her?)

EDIT: Joss Whedon is xenophobic due to the overall misinformation/lack of information and Cold War propaganda about Eastern Europe in the USA. He may portray slavic people (and by extension Eastern European people) badly on purpose, or do that out of the preconceived notions he was raised with, which means that if he ever sees the error of his ways, he may stop doing so for real. There was a theory (in the article I read) that the scuffle between Whedon and Marvel was about the portrayal of Eastern Europeans and that Marvel heavily dulled what he could do with the characters, insinuating he could do worse if Marvel didn’t stop him. I dunno how much truth is in that, but well...

[nataliesnews]

The new government 17/7/2021

7/14/2021 Haaretz.Com https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-one-month-in-this-is-the-biggest-difference-about-israel-s-new-governmen… 1/5 One month in, the world sees a difference in Israel's new government Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid have demonstrated they have an alternative set of priorities to their predecessor when it comes to foreign policy – starting with the recent trip to Amman Anshel Pfeffer | Jul. 13, 2021 | 10:09 PM | 1 Any appraisal of the new Israeli government a month into its term suffers from premature judgment. The ministers have barely got their feet under their desks, are just beginning to learn their complex briefs, and nearly all the issues and crises they’re dealing with are the legacy of the previous government. The one major exception to this is Israel’s foreign policy. From day one, the two men running this coalition government both had very clear ideas of how they intended to run Israel’s international relations. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is very conscious of his predecessor’s image as Israel’s mega-statesman and is anxious to assume that mantle. He’s come into office with plans. And so has Bennett’s senior coalition partner, Yair Lapid. A two-headed foreign policy hasn’t often worked well in the past, certainly not since Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres in the early 1990s. So far, it seems to be working. As the true architect of the new government, Lapid knew all along this would be the job he would take while he waits out the near-two years until he replaces Bennett as premier. It was the position he wanted all along from his entry into politics in 2013, when his centrist Yesh Atid established itself overnight as the second-largest party in the Knesset. Benjamin Netanyahu stymied him when he forced him to take the finance minister’s job, in which he had no interest. Ever since Lapid was fired by Netanyahu at the end of 2014, he has tried to establish himself as Israel’s alternative foreign minister, with overseas trips, meetings with world leaders whenever he could schedule them, and interviews with the international media. At first, there was something almost risible about Lapid’s hobnobbing – especially while Netanyahu was so dominant. But gradually, he succeeded in building an international profile, rare for opposition party leaders. Most crucially, he learned the brief thoroughly before actually entering office. While it’s still early days, the contours of a Bennett-Lapid foreign policy and the nuanced change from the Netanyahu era can already be discerned.7/14/2021 Haaretz.Com https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-one-month-in-this-is-the-biggest-difference-about-israel-s-new-governmen… 2/5 It can be seen in Bennett’s choice of his first international visit. While previous Israeli prime ministers were quick to fly off to Washington in their first weeks in office, Bennett instead flew discreetly to Amman, to meet King Abdullah. (The meeting took place secretly, and was first reported by Barak Ravid in Walla.) It certainly seems to have taken nearly everyone by surprise: the Jordanians at the Israeli priorities; the Israelis at Abdullah’s swift eagerness to host Bennett at his palace; and the former prime minister at his successor’s initiative. Netanyahu, anxious to denigrate Bennett as a diplomatic neophyte, was so blindsided by the move that in his rushed criticism he concocted a ridiculous false narrative, as if energy-poor Jordan is supplying oil to Iran (which is the one thing it doesn’t lack). In Amman, Bennett offered to double the water Israel pipes to Jordan over the summer – a move that Netanyahu and his proxies, who have promoted in recent years the message that “Jordan needs us much more than we need it,” attacked. Thanks to desalination plants and sewage treatment, Israel no longer suffers from water shortages. For the new government, it was a nobrainer: Why treat Jordan, a vulnerable neighbor, as an enemy? It was the first indication of a change in Israel’s foreign policy. Less grandstanding. Less picking unnecessary fights. And that’s also the reason Bennett’s staff have decided to wait until August for his trip to the White House. No one is under any illusions that Jerusalem and Washington will be seeing eye-to-eye on the Biden administration’s hopes to return to the nuclear agreement with Iran. So why allow that to overshadow the first meeting between Bennett and U.S. President Joe Biden? Arriving in Washington in mid-August means that either the United States will have agreed with the outgoing government of President Hassan Rohani on rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or, if not, it will probably take a while before new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who will take office on August 5, assembles his own negotiation team and engages with the Americans. If at all. On Iran in general, the new government’s policy reflects a return to that of the prime ministers before Netanyahu – Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, whose policy was to speak of Iran in public as little as possible, in order to avoid the impression that Iran was Israel’s unique problem to solve rather than a problem for the whole world. Delaying the visit doesn’t mean, of course, that the new Israeli government has deprioritized the United States. Rebuilding Israel’s relations with the Democrats (as far left as the Sen. Elizabeth Warren wing of the party,7/14/2021 Haaretz.Com https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-one-month-in-this-is-the-biggest-difference-about-israel-s-new-governmen… 3/5 according to one Israeli official; Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez and their ilk are currently considered irredeemably anti-Israel), which were all but destroyed by Netanyahu during the Trump years, is top of the foreign policy list. But the first step is to reestablish points of contact. Unlike the previous government, where the entire U.S. file was run from the Prime Minister’s Office, now there’s a clear division: Bennett’s office deals with the White House. After years in which it was marginalized, the Foreign Ministry under Lapid has resumed its traditional role of working with the State Department (Lapid’s first overseas trip last month was to meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome) and Congress. Even the much maligned Diaspora Affairs Ministry has a role to play, with Labor’s Nachman Shai – the new minister and a former head of the Jewish Federations of North America office in Israel – tasked with rebuilding ties with the liberal majority of American Jewry (aided by Labor MK Gilad Kariv, the first Reform rabbi in the Knesset). Clear departure Another important diplomatic arena where the new government’s different approach is already clear is Europe. The new legislation in Poland making it almost impossible for Polish Holocaust survivors and their heirs to claim Jewish property that was stolen during the war gave Lapid, who issued a series of fierce condemnations, an opportunity to make a clear departure from the Netanyahu policy of helping like-minded populist leaders in Europe to whitewash their nations’ historic records. Netanyahu assiduously courted the Visegrád Group – the European Union’s “odd squad” of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, all led mainly by right-wing populists with whom he found common cause. He relied on them to oppose any criticism of Israel in the EU institutions and in return gave them, especially Poland and Hungary, cover from criticism of any antisemitic tendencies. Lapid has instead embarked this week on a charm offensive in Brussels, where he addressed EU foreign ministers at their monthly Foreign Affairs Council. Bennett and Lapid are both agreed that in their ideologically diverse coalition, there is little of substance they can change in Israel’s most crucial foreign policy issue: the future of the conflict with the Palestinians. But they both believe Israel has a rare window of opportunity to make gains on other issues in the immediate “post-Netanyahu” era.7/14/2021 Haaretz.Com https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-one-month-in-this-is-the-biggest-difference-about-israel-s-new-governmen… 4/5 The fact that right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties have managed to come together in one coalition to replace a long-serving populist leader like Netanyahu makes the Bennett-Lapid government an intriguing “experiment” for non-populist leaders, who would like to see it emulated in other countries. As a result, they hope it could overcome obstacles to restarting negotiations on a new association agreement, which establishes the parameters of Israel’s relations with the EU. In his Brussels address, Lapid tried to maneuver within the new government’s narrow parameters, telling the foreign ministers that “it is no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this.” Instead he will try, with Bennett’s backing, to convince the Europeans that while no diplomatic progress with the Palestinians is on the table, the new government is serious about doing whatever it can to improve the economic situation, both in the West Bank and Gaza. In essence, this isn’t that different to Netanyahu’s official position. Bennett and Lapid, however, hope they can change the mood music by proving that they’re actually going to follow through on the economic promises. Their first attempt to do so, by authorizing the transfer of Israel’s surplus COVID-19 vaccines to the Palestinians, blew up when the Palestinian Authority backed out of the agreement at the last moment, citing the fact that the vaccines were about to expire. The next attempt is trying to work out a new United Nations-administered scheme for providing the bimonthly $30 million of Qatari aid money to Gaza, instead of the previous arrangement where Hamas just got it in cash. Another nuanced change in the new government’s foreign policy is its more suspicious attitude toward China – though Israeli officials are less eager to be drawn on this. The shift already began in the Netanyahu era, though it took significant pressure from the Trump administration to get him to tamp down Israel’s openness to Chinese investment in various infrastructure programs. Even then, he was reluctant to pass along guidelines to Israeli companies. One overt sign of the new government’s firmer policy was its decision last month to join 40 other nations at the UN Human Rights Council in condemnation of China’s persecution of the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Israel had in the past resisted Western pressure to join similar condemnations. The policy on China has shifted, but is unlikely to change regarding Russia, which, unlike China, has a significant military presence on Israel’s border7/14/2021 Haaretz.Com https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-one-month-in-this-is-the-biggest-difference-about-israel-s-new-governmen… 5/5 with Syria and a large Jewish community. For now at least, Bennett and Lapid are well coordinated. Members of their staff speak glowingly about each other. The professionals in the Foreign Ministry are “back at the table,” for the first time in years: A list of 35 senior overseas appointments that was blocked by Netanyahu for months was greenlighted immediately, and the ambassadors are even allowed to be on the phone calls between Bennett and other world leaders. But if precedent – and not just during the Netanyahu years – is anything to go by, tensions between the prime minister and a foreign minister with a mind of their own, and the political power to back it up, are inevitable. Whether it’s over a concession to the Palestinians, other matters of policy or due to attempts by interlocutors to engage and exploit them separately, the relationship between Bennett and Lapid is a potential minefield. One area where it could explode is over the fraught ties with Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his own play this week by calling new Israeli President Isaac Herzog and chatting for 40 minutes. Lapid has long harbored the desire for Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide, and is expected to try to do so at some point over the next two years. No previous Israeli government even considered this and he will face staunch opposition from various parts of the Israeli security establishment, who will argue that such a symbolic move will endanger Israel’s vital interests not just in Turkey but in Azerbaijan as well. On whose side will Bennett come down? And will differences over foreign policy end up jeopardizing the most important relationship in this fragile coalition

[jesusvasser]

First Drive: 2019 Audi RS 5 Sportback

MUNICH, Germany — I’m punching an Audi RS 5 Sportback-shaped hole through the damp Bavarian atmosphere at 257 feet per second, devouring the last few stretches of unrestricted autobahn before a wayward Golf forces me to slam the brakes. Until that head-bobbing moment of extreme deceleration, the entirety of my attention has been focused on everything forward of the tightly gripped steering wheel—the business end of the spear. It’s not till later that I remember I happen to be hauling five decent-sized pieces of luggage during the high-speed proceedings—not bad for indicated speeds above 170 mph.

We live in a wondrous time for ludicrously powerful luxury cars, or so the oft-repeated cliché goes. But in this age of headline-grabbing six-figure stunners like the 680-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and 603-hp Mercedes-AMG S63, the Audi RS 5 Sportback reps a sort of working man’s super sedan vibe, for $75,195 to start. We’re talking blown-out hot hatch for the premium set, not sky’s-the-limit, cargo-hauling hypercar.

The formula here is simple: stretch the RS 5 coupe’s wheelbase by 2.3 inches, add a pair of doors, and extend the rake of the roofline to transform it into a hatchback sedan. The resulting package adds just enough functionality to help justify this 444 -hp brute to your skeptical significant other. Everything forward of the windshield is identical to the RS 5 (hence the autobahn sauciness), but rear headroom grows 0.9-inches and legroom expands 2.4-inches to convert the back seats from cramped quarters to perfectly livable perches. Also more usable is the trunk, which doubles the coupe’s cargo capacity and when the rear seats are folded down more than triples the space to 35 cubic feet—enough to gobble five golf bags or four full-size suitcases. The performance penalty for that added practicality is 88 pounds due to the hatchback hardware and structural reinforcements, adding a tenth of a second to the 60 mph sprint, which now requires 3.8 seconds. Unexpected benefit: the weight gain is rearward, with the hatchback’s hard bits slightly improving upon the coupe’s 57.2/42.8 weight distribution (56.5/43.5 for the Sportback).

Though cleverly laid out, the Sportback isn’t without its dynamic dimensional shortcomings, among them the nose-heavy balance and a curb weight of 4,057 lb. For reference, a BMW M3 weighs 3,630 when equipped with an automatic gearbox, and a Mercedes-AMG C63 tips the scales at 3,829 lb. Despite the heft, the Audi’s portliness proves well concealed on Bavaria’s winding mountain passes, where it devours medium and high-speed corners with expedience. As with the RS 5 coupe, the Sportback’s behavior is managed via a mode selector that switches between Comfort, Automatic, Dynamic, and Individual. Don’t let the ‘Automatic’ nomenclature fool you: with the optional Dynamic Ride Control package, the Automatic setting selects a fixed middle ground between Comfort and Dynamic. When equipped with the Dynamic Package (which is bundled with Dynamic Ride Control, red calipers, and a sport exhaust), steering ratios are variable. As with the suspension setting, Dynamic mode (thankfully) keeps the steering at a constant ratio. Switching between settings triggers a palpable change in behavior; comfort smoothens out the bumps and chills out the drivetrain and steering, while dynamic creates considerably more bounce while upping the artificially augmented exhaust note. Here, the decibels are upped by a diaphragm that vibrates the windshield, transmitting low frequency sounds through the cabin and ups the ante incrementally with each mode setting. In Dynamic the sound is rather prominent, creating a low frequency resonance that can get a bit boomy at around 2,000 rpm. In its loudest setting, the vroom-vroom novelty gets old fast—I lasted about 30 minutes before switching to Individual mode to tone down the artificial sounds.

The RS 5 launches off the line briskly and the shortened first gear gets it up to speed so quickly that the 1-2 transition is the only gearchange that allows upshifts at redline when Dynamic and manual shift modes are selected. Unless you’re in the mildest Comfort setting, the ZF 8-speed shifts aggressively enough to make its cog swaps feel prominent, creating the opposite experience of a buttery smooth luxury car experience. Another piece of evidence supporting the RS 5’s more hands-on, involving focus: while fancier Audis like the A8 and Q8 embrace full glass touchscreen instrumentation, the RS 5 maintains its more conventional switchgear of physical buttons, knobs, and toggles, which are easier and more intuitive to operate at speed than their digital counterparts. The MMI system controls the bulk of these settings via a fixed 8.3-inch center screen, and it’s fairly easy to navigate via the control wheel that accepts handwritten gestures. Also welcome are two real, fat exhaust pipes at the tail which buck Audi’s recent trend of cloaking the rear with faux outlets.

Despite its prevailing sense of Germanic functionality, the RS 5’s cabin proves an easy place to while away the hours as evidenced by our two-day road trip through southern Germany. Our tester, equipped with standard massaging seats and optional Nappa leather with honeycomb stitching, was a fatigue-free zone despite an extended driving program that included an unscheduled sojourn into the Czech Republic. Once the RS 5’s thrusty G-forces grow tiresome there’s plenty of civility to enjoy here: a relatively well insulated cabin, a full-screen Google Earth view of your surroundings via Audi’s Virtual Cockpit display, and a Bang & Olufsen stereo that pumps decent enough sounding tunes over the long haul.

Our drive included a visit to Audi Sport headquarters in Neuburg, where we were the first crew of journalists to tour the facilities and stretch the Sportback’s legs on the facility’s wet tarmac course. The company subtext was clear—this is the marque’s nerve center for its highest performance offerings, where the team’s GT3 race efforts are supported and where motorsport-minded customers can receive high performance driver training. It’s also where some of the RS 5 Sportback’s more domesticated traits emerge. While its chassis felt planted and predictable on the wet course, a handful of laps on the road course in an RS 5 coupe revealed a bit of weightiness to its direction changes. Power comes on strong when summoned, with the sport differential allowing the rear end to step out controllably with heavy throttle. The rear differential and front brakes work to help turn-in, and though stable once settled into the mid-corner, the RS 5 doesn’t feel particularly flickable or remarkably agile. While that dynamic demands a bit of patience on the track, it’s less offensive when negotiating sweepers on a mountain road: the RS 5, despite its relatively un-sticky Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2s, finds and holds a line easily enough, and offers enough stability and initial understeer to encourage healthy entry speeds. There’s still plenty of high-speed enjoyment to be had, especially since the twin-turbo V-6’s 443 lb-ft of torque peaks between 1,900 and 5,000 rpm, offering ample thrust in concert with the quick-shifting 8-speed.

Dipping into that powerband on the autobahn makes it easy to strafe the left lane aggressively, though the steering response starts feeling a tad laggy at speeds above 120 mph; at least its optional carbon ceramic front rotors do a commendable job of quickly scrubbing off velocity. Despite this RS 5 Sportback’s four-door, hatchback layout, there’s something about its solidity and stern sense of speed that endears. It may not be our first choice for an autocross or a top speed run—those duties are best performed with purer, more focused arsenals. But this is a car that counts silver linings as compelling benefits, among them the fact that its voluminous rear cabin actually invites more exhaust note into the cockpit, and that the rear seating accommodations mean more conspirators can tag along for high-speed escapades. Win/win? Well, not exactly. Those seeking uncompromising performance might find this heavier, longer wheelbase variant not quite scalpel sharp enough for their tastes. But for high-speed shenanigans wrapped in a generous swath of usability, it’s hard to find fault in this wonderfully packaged RS model.

2019 Audi RS 5 Sportback Specifications

ON SALE Late 2018 PRICE $75,195 (base) ENGINE 2.9L twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/444 hp @ 5,700-6,700 rpm, 443 lb-ft @ 1,900-5,000 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, AWD hatchback EPA MILEAGE 18/26 mpg (city/hwy) (est) L x W x H 188.3 x 79.9 x 54.6 in WHEELBASE 111.2 in WEIGHT 4,057 lb 0-60 MPH 3.8 sec TOP SPEED 155 mph (174 w/ Dynamic Plus package)

[jonathanbelloblog]

First Drive: 2019 Audi RS 5 Sportback

MUNICH, Germany — I’m punching an Audi RS 5 Sportback-shaped hole through the damp Bavarian atmosphere at 257 feet per second, devouring the last few stretches of unrestricted autobahn before a wayward Golf forces me to slam the brakes. Until that head-bobbing moment of extreme deceleration, the entirety of my attention has been focused on everything forward of the tightly gripped steering wheel—the business end of the spear. It’s not till later that I remember I happen to be hauling five decent-sized pieces of luggage during the high-speed proceedings—not bad for indicated speeds above 170 mph.

We live in a wondrous time for ludicrously powerful luxury cars, or so the oft-repeated cliché goes. But in this age of headline-grabbing six-figure stunners like the 680-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and 603-hp Mercedes-AMG S63, the Audi RS 5 Sportback reps a sort of working man’s super sedan vibe, for $75,195 to start. We’re talking blown-out hot hatch for the premium set, not sky’s-the-limit, cargo-hauling hypercar.

The formula here is simple: stretch the RS 5 coupe’s wheelbase by 2.3 inches, add a pair of doors, and extend the rake of the roofline to transform it into a hatchback sedan. The resulting package adds just enough functionality to help justify this 444 -hp brute to your skeptical significant other. Everything forward of the windshield is identical to the RS 5 (hence the autobahn sauciness), but rear headroom grows 0.9-inches and legroom expands 2.4-inches to convert the back seats from cramped quarters to perfectly livable perches. Also more usable is the trunk, which doubles the coupe’s cargo capacity and when the rear seats are folded down more than triples the space to 35 cubic feet—enough to gobble five golf bags or four full-size suitcases. The performance penalty for that added practicality is 88 pounds due to the hatchback hardware and structural reinforcements, adding a tenth of a second to the 60 mph sprint, which now requires 3.8 seconds. Unexpected benefit: the weight gain is rearward, with the hatchback’s hard bits slightly improving upon the coupe’s 57.2/42.8 weight distribution (56.5/43.5 for the Sportback).

Though cleverly laid out, the Sportback isn’t without its dynamic dimensional shortcomings, among them the nose-heavy balance and a curb weight of 4,057 lb. For reference, a BMW M3 weighs 3,630 when equipped with an automatic gearbox, and a Mercedes-AMG C63 tips the scales at 3,829 lb. Despite the heft, the Audi’s portliness proves well concealed on Bavaria’s winding mountain passes, where it devours medium and high-speed corners with expedience. As with the RS 5 coupe, the Sportback’s behavior is managed via a mode selector that switches between Comfort, Automatic, Dynamic, and Individual. Don’t let the ‘Automatic’ nomenclature fool you: with the optional Dynamic Ride Control package, the Automatic setting selects a fixed middle ground between Comfort and Dynamic. When equipped with the Dynamic Package (which is bundled with Dynamic Ride Control, red calipers, and a sport exhaust), steering ratios are variable. As with the suspension setting, Dynamic mode (thankfully) keeps the steering at a constant ratio. Switching between settings triggers a palpable change in behavior; comfort smoothens out the bumps and chills out the drivetrain and steering, while dynamic creates considerably more bounce while upping the artificially augmented exhaust note. Here, the decibels are upped by a diaphragm that vibrates the windshield, transmitting low frequency sounds through the cabin and ups the ante incrementally with each mode setting. In Dynamic the sound is rather prominent, creating a low frequency resonance that can get a bit boomy at around 2,000 rpm. In its loudest setting, the vroom-vroom novelty gets old fast—I lasted about 30 minutes before switching to Individual mode to tone down the artificial sounds.

The RS 5 launches off the line briskly and the shortened first gear gets it up to speed so quickly that the 1-2 transition is the only gearchange that allows upshifts at redline when Dynamic and manual shift modes are selected. Unless you’re in the mildest Comfort setting, the ZF 8-speed shifts aggressively enough to make its cog swaps feel prominent, creating the opposite experience of a buttery smooth luxury car experience. Another piece of evidence supporting the RS 5’s more hands-on, involving focus: while fancier Audis like the A8 and Q8 embrace full glass touchscreen instrumentation, the RS 5 maintains its more conventional switchgear of physical buttons, knobs, and toggles, which are easier and more intuitive to operate at speed than their digital counterparts. The MMI system controls the bulk of these settings via a fixed 8.3-inch center screen, and it’s fairly easy to navigate via the control wheel that accepts handwritten gestures. Also welcome are two real, fat exhaust pipes at the tail which buck Audi’s recent trend of cloaking the rear with faux outlets.

Despite its prevailing sense of Germanic functionality, the RS 5’s cabin proves an easy place to while away the hours as evidenced by our two-day road trip through southern Germany. Our tester, equipped with standard massaging seats and optional Nappa leather with honeycomb stitching, was a fatigue-free zone despite an extended driving program that included an unscheduled sojourn into the Czech Republic. Once the RS 5’s thrusty G-forces grow tiresome there’s plenty of civility to enjoy here: a relatively well insulated cabin, a full-screen Google Earth view of your surroundings via Audi’s Virtual Cockpit display, and a Bang & Olufsen stereo that pumps decent enough sounding tunes over the long haul.

Our drive included a visit to Audi Sport headquarters in Neuburg, where we were the first crew of journalists to tour the facilities and stretch the Sportback’s legs on the facility’s wet tarmac course. The company subtext was clear—this is the marque’s nerve center for its highest performance offerings, where the team’s GT3 race efforts are supported and where motorsport-minded customers can receive high performance driver training. It’s also where some of the RS 5 Sportback’s more domesticated traits emerge. While its chassis felt planted and predictable on the wet course, a handful of laps on the road course in an RS 5 coupe revealed a bit of weightiness to its direction changes. Power comes on strong when summoned, with the sport differential allowing the rear end to step out controllably with heavy throttle. The rear differential and front brakes work to help turn-in, and though stable once settled into the mid-corner, the RS 5 doesn’t feel particularly flickable or remarkably agile. While that dynamic demands a bit of patience on the track, it’s less offensive when negotiating sweepers on a mountain road: the RS 5, despite its relatively un-sticky Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2s, finds and holds a line easily enough, and offers enough stability and initial understeer to encourage healthy entry speeds. There’s still plenty of high-speed enjoyment to be had, especially since the twin-turbo V-6’s 443 lb-ft of torque peaks between 1,900 and 5,000 rpm, offering ample thrust in concert with the quick-shifting 8-speed.

Dipping into that powerband on the autobahn makes it easy to strafe the left lane aggressively, though the steering response starts feeling a tad laggy at speeds above 120 mph; at least its optional carbon ceramic front rotors do a commendable job of quickly scrubbing off velocity. Despite this RS 5 Sportback’s four-door, hatchback layout, there’s something about its solidity and stern sense of speed that endears. It may not be our first choice for an autocross or a top speed run—those duties are best performed with purer, more focused arsenals. But this is a car that counts silver linings as compelling benefits, among them the fact that its voluminous rear cabin actually invites more exhaust note into the cockpit, and that the rear seating accommodations mean more conspirators can tag along for high-speed escapades. Win/win? Well, not exactly. Those seeking uncompromising performance might find this heavier, longer wheelbase variant not quite scalpel sharp enough for their tastes. But for high-speed shenanigans wrapped in a generous swath of usability, it’s hard to find fault in this wonderfully packaged RS model.

2019 Audi RS 5 Sportback Specifications

ON SALE Late 2018 PRICE $75,195 (base) ENGINE 2.9L twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/444 hp @ 5,700-6,700 rpm, 443 lb-ft @ 1,900-5,000 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, AWD hatchback EPA MILEAGE 18/26 mpg (city/hwy) (est) L x W x H 188.3 x 79.9 x 54.6 in WHEELBASE 111.2 in WEIGHT 4,057 lb 0-60 MPH 3.8 sec TOP SPEED 155 mph (174 w/ Dynamic Plus package)