Audi has always built brilliant motorcars. In terms of styling, cabins, finish and a good few other aspects, Ingolstadt, which is just 60km outside Munich, has the upper hand.

But get to dynamics and BMW has basically always had Audi covered. The four rings are often quicker in straightline acceleration tests but take to the track and an M3 is a second and a half quicker than an RS4 around Kyalami; an S6 V10 rumbled around the Midrand racetrack almost six seconds off an M5's pace; and a 330i was four seconds quicker around there than its Production Racing A4 3.2 quattro foe when both cars were driven in street spec. An exception however, is the S3, which has the 135i covered in that department with near identical Hot Lap results.

Which all underscores our belief that BMWs, in general, are wieldier than Audis on the road — which has more often than not plumped our comparison test decisions the way of the Munich carmaker….

That was also what we were expecting when it came to the subjects of this test — two stunning coupes that represent the latest battle in that ongoing Bavarian war.

A question of style

We'll get further into the performance bit a little further on, because there is an undeniable style aspect to this one that simply cannot be ignored. And we'll tell you up front that the Audi wins that one. Hands down.

Make no mistake, the 335i Coupe is one of the best looking BMWs of the modern era — a well balanced, great looking solution that mostly lacks those horrid little wrong-way-round lines and cues that generally denigrate the average Beemer. And the front is so much better than the Sedan's.

Not to be outdone, Audi designer Walter da Silva said that the S5 "brought tears to his eyes" when he first saw the car. Can't say that it quite did that to any of us, but man, it's a showstopper. Anyone and everyone looks longingly at it — and they should, too. Audi and Da Silva certainly have created a thing of beauty here — they should be proud of it…

Inside, S5 once again stars: a little more becoming than the BMW and beautifully appointed throughout, it makes you feel important. The BMW, on the other hand, has quite a simple, uncluttered interior, which, in turn, is its strong suit.

The rest is a bit of a moot point here because both cars are pretty much top drawer in safety terms and you can option both to the moon — so any differences on the modcon front are basically dependant on how deep your pockets are.

Getting back to the tangibles, we had the cars at our test strip first which, to be brutally honest, left the Audi's big puppy dog nose all bloodied up. And we were convinced that another on-track hiding was in the offing. The machine chugged out some pretty interesting figures — from 0-100km/h the Audi was already seven-tenths of a second off the pace. By the quarter mile the 335 was eight-tenths ahead and running 3km/h faster. And in overtaking acceleration there was simply no contest — the double engine of the year equipped twin-turbo straight-six BMW simply destroyed the direct-injection V8 Audi.

To the track

OK, that's at the Highveld and we're pretty sure that the Audi will make amends at the coast. We also know that the Audi S5 will have a turbo V6 when it comes, but this is now and we're heading for Kyalami to duke 'em out, although it's looking like the stealthy BMW is set to deal the beautiful Audi another hiding in line with what we said up front…

Fearing the worst, I headed off in the BMW first.

I was immediately at home with that glorious steering, planted nose and the back end just loose enough, but had to work hard to keep it all neat and tidy out there to ensure we never wasted any time by lighting the inside tyre as we know this thing likes to do. For the rest it's just a matter off reeling off the brake markers, apexes and acceleration points.

Lap one was in the early 2 minute 8s, the second lap was a mid-seven and the car and driver conspired to turn in a 2-minute 7.1-second final lap.

Took a deep breath and strapped myself into the sumptuous Audi's cabin and expected to be chasing a ten or an eleven considering my previous experiences of the two brands. Two corners in I realised something was different. The S5's steering is alive and at first I thought there was something wrong when the back end started getting all happy and seemed to want to play along. Surely being an Audi, this can't be the case?

It was — as I grew to know what the car wanted I became one with it more so than I ever have with an Audi, bar perhaps the R8. It turns, responds and feeds back brilliantly, allowing you to play with the rear end to find a neutral stance — or even get a bit of an oversteer going — to totally kill that old Audi bugbear of an inherent push dead.

They told us that the new forward-pushed engine position and a variety of other aspects in this car would at last herald the kind of track prowess to deal with a BMW. That fell on deaf ears, partly because they spun us the same story on the RS4, which albeit a bit better, was still rather leaden compared to the M3 in the end. This time they meant it — and it took Kyalami to tell me that they were telling the truth this time. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Delivering on the promise

So when the first Hot Lap turned out to be a mid-nine, I smiled to myself — at last an Audi that actually delivers on the promise that Ingolstadt can build a quattro to match the might of Munich dynamics. As the second and third laps progressed, I became even more comfortable and the times came tumbling down — lap two was a low eight and the final circuit produced a 2-minute 07.9-second lap.

Now I am generally in tune with driving a rear-driven car fast — and a BMW in particular. The Audi's set-up was completely foreign at the outset and I was not fully dialled in by the time the mandatory third lap ended. There is a second there for me to find for sure, so the S5 will at least match the 335i if we were to race them around there…

There is also the small matter of altitude that plays straight into the BMW's hands that needs to be considered — if we were at sea level, the Audi would likely have won.

But the biggest surprise is that the Audi overcame a definite straightline disadvantage to the BMW to all but match it around the track…

Which leaves me with one, stunning revelation: Audi has finally produced a car that at least matches the equivalent BMW dynamically. And considering our argument about the importance of style and chic in this neck of the woods and that the Audi has a distinct advantage over the BMW, we have to thus deliver a shock verdict.

The Audi S5 wins this test. Kyalami Hot Lap and all…

We can only now wait in anticipation for what Ingolstadt will deliver when the RS versions of this and its 4 sibling eventually hit the road. The Bavarian balance of power could just be shifting.