Audi RS5 Headed to the United States

It is a tradition for automotive journalists in the United States to whine about the variants and models, usually of the performance variety, that aren't sold here on our shores.

So who are we to break that tradition? Seriously though, while Audi sells cars like the S6 and S4 over here, they save the most high performance models in their lineup (RS6 we're looking at you) for Europe.

The Audi A5 is one of our favorite Audis, a model that is just crying out for the RS treatment. New pictures of the RS5 trim level were recently released. Now, Edmunds' Inside Line is giving confirmation of the car's arrival in our market.

Excited? Yes! The news isn't entirely surprising though, given Audi's success and the praise the standard A5 has received.

With a 450 horsepower FSI V-8 engine and seven-speed S-tronic dual clutch gearbox, it isn't going to come cheap. IL says a price of around $75,000 is to be expected. Mind you, this isn't official - but with sources at Audi, it counts as more than speculation.

Its going to be a long wait though - the RS5 is on sale in Europe in June, but we won't be getting the car until at least September 2011. Until we hear more about it coming to the U.S, check out the new pictures Audi released on the RS5.