The Merits of an RS6 Daily Driver

[OneBayShop]

I've arrived at the RS6 forum through a long and windy road to find the ultimate commuter. In 2013 my wife and I lived in Florida without children, and I drove a 2004 Cadillac CTS-V. I enjoyed my CTS-V tremendously (manual transmission, plenty of power, and worthly of spending the time to tinker on it when it needed maintenance).

Then we had our first child (I love my children and wouldn't trade them for anything, even the CTS-V). As a result, we moved closer to family in the Pacific Northwest, and the rear-wheel drive, fun, enjoyable, and exciting CTS-V got sold to a good home in Florida before we left.

To replace that fun, enjoyable, worthly-of-spending-time-maintaining CTS-V, I got a 1999 Infiniti I30 p-o-s (because if you can't replace it with something interesting, why waste money on a middling-boring, yet expensive "responsible" car). I've been driving the '99 p-o-s for the past three years (it hasn't gotten any funner). This winter the front-wheel drive, sqeaky brakes, leave-at-the-bottom-of-the-hill-because-it-can't-make-it-in-the-snow bad traction p-o-s that I use to drive my three year old to pre-school got the attention of my wife and she mentioned that I should replace it!!!!!!! YEAH.

Being an enjoyer of cars and avid peruser of craigslist, I started searching for the ultimate PacNW daily driver. Sequence of searches:

1. Jeep Cherokee, 4wd, Manual Transmission
2. Subaru WRX, Manual Transmission
3. Saab 9-2x, Manual Transmission
4. Audi S4, Manual Transmission
5. Early Audi Quattros, Manual Transmission

Then I ran across an ad for an RS6 in Seattle. I read up on the 450 HP, AWD, road eating monsters. It reminded me of the joy of the CTS-V sport-sedan (awesome power for occasional thrill with nice driving accoutrements) but with All-Wheel-Drive. Most importantly, worthy of spending time maintaining, because if you're gonna spend money on maintenance to keep it up as a daily driver you might as well have something that's worth spending money on.

Then I found the thread on this form for the manual transmission swap.......then I got infected with the RS6 bug.

Now I'm in the hunt for a good example of a RS6 that I can put ~20k miles on a year as a daily driver, and I have lots of questions for un-biased owners of the cars. For instance, and first:

Is taking an RS6 from 100k miles to 200k miles as a daily driver a reasonable expectation, or bat-%&#@-crazy?

[nubcake]

I wouldn't really go for 200k miles examples, but at 100-130k they still should have enough juice left.
Depending on available funds, it might make sense to get one with a bad trans, completely rebuild it with MT and all needed maintenance items.
When done "by the book" - RS will quickly drain all your money, but if you are mechanically savvy, understand how mechanicals function - and maybe even can do some of the work by yourself - there's A LOT of potential to "cut corners" without actually sacrificing any performance or reliability.

[Wide-66]

What you said is exactly what I have done. Im about 7k miles on my swap after completely going through a 100k mi car and dropping about 10k into it. Its awesome i drive about 120 mi per day. Nubs tune is whats up too .

[Aronis]

You went from a 2004 Caddy CTS-v to a 1999 I30! YIKES!!!! Get some Elavil or Prozac! YIKES.

I feel your pain. I went from a '97 M3 luxury to a '20 A6 4.2 AWD for more room for our first kid and missed the M3 every second of every day I drove the A6. (A6 was nice but not M3 nice). So after trying for kid 2 for several years and no dice, got the RS6. Great car. Then kid number 2 and 3 came (what do infertility experts know anyway LOL) and I have the 3 kids and the RS6 still.

You have to understand what 'working on the rs6' means. You'll need equipment, engine lift, car lift, etc....... or a local mechanic you trust!

I don't know what working on the caddy requires but I can tell you I drove my M3 for 5 years in the worst snow with snow tires and never had an issue! I drove through snow in the middle of the night going to the ER more than once on unplowed roads with 8 to 10 inches of snow! You, like I, should have kept the Caddy LOL, M3. LOL

Mike

[OneBayShop]

I started with that the thought of finding a decent example of a stock RS6, driving it until the transmission blows (or I get sufficiently annoyed with an automatic), and then work through the manual transmission swap.

I've been warned about the transmissions and the OEM suspension, but what about the motors? Am I likely to run into internal component failures with the 4.2L? do they have a good reputation for reliability into higher mileage applications?

(I have a couple vintage classic project cars. My approach with them is that I don't care what the mileage is because they have good "bones" and if something fails, I replace with better. That approach applied to the CTS-V I used as a DD as well, not the '99 P-O-S. I plan on applying the same approach to an RS6 DD.)

[OneBayShop]

The downgrade from the '04 CTS-V to the I30 was an irrational reaction to
1. Moving to the west coast
2. New Kid
3. My wife's fear of snow
4. My desire to keep the wife happy

Even though it was an irrational decision, #4 makes it the right decision.

[Aronis]

What I am trying to wrap my head around is not only the drop to the i30 but dropping to a 6 or 7 year old i30 LOL..

Mike

[ben916]

Welcome OneBayShop!

I used my RS6 as a DD when I lived in California as there was room to boost.
Now living in Wa in the crowded area east of Seattle, driving the RS6 was frustrating as non-RS6 drivers in PNW rarely drive 5mph over the posted. Having the ability to go rapidly from 60 to triple digits in a blink, that was lost...

Suggested Free Guidance:
1. Find an indy shop that knows how to work on an RS, not a BMW shop that has worked on a RS in the past.
2. Find an Audi dealership that has a qualified RS tech.
3. Shop here for a good example -> look here is one with Euro Recaro seats->bakes
4. It seems that the rule of RS6 thumb ownership is to have $5k handy.
5. The auto box with paddle shifting was adequate and fun, the 6 speed would have been ideal.
6. Have two sets of tires/rims (summer - Michelin Super Sports/winter - Blizzaks).
7. An RS typically needs to be flogged and hard (meaning like shift 1-2-3 to 6k) routinely.
8. 92/93 octane
9. Timing belt at a dealership is $1600/$2200 unless you can do it yourself and the frequency is 40k miles.
10. The lowest mile example is typically NOT the best one to purchase.

Fear of snow???? What's that?

[OneBayShop]

What I am trying to wrap my head around is not only the drop to the i30 but dropping to a 6 or 7 year old i30 LOL..

Mike

Yeah, I mention it because it is so painfully funny. It was 15 years old when I bought it for $1,700......and there's the kicker and the reasoning. I'll never pay $23k for a new Honda does-nothing-fun-but-people-say-it's-reliable-Accord. If I'm going for boring, I go super boring and CHEAP.

[P1054]

I wholeheartedly second nubcake's response. "By the book" is crazy expensive. Even doing stuff yourself can be expensive until you have worked on it a bit and get to understanding the car. I have now pulled an engine 4 times and reinstalled one twice (today/tomorrow will be the third, and the fourth was a part-out). The fourth engine pull took me about 6 hours, mostly by myself but with a little help from my brother when actually removing the engine/transmission.

The auto transmission is a known weak link, but I see nothing wrong with your idea to buy one, drive it till the trans goes or you get tired of it (my first one went, my second one lasted 1 month before I got tired of it). As for the shocks, there are plenty of folks on this forum who seem to have good feedback on Koni sport shocks with the factory springs for an inexpensive option, or KW's if you can spend a bit more. Engine wise, my impression is the internals are pretty bulletproof as long as you take car of them (standard maintenance). There have been a few reports of plug threads stripping and causing damage, but other than that I can't think of any common issues.

As for miles, I tend to drive my cars a fair amount, and I would agree too that at 100-130k there's a lot of life left, provided the car was maintained for those miles. Definitely make sure any one you buy has been properly maintained. If it hasn't, catching up on the maintenance could quickly double the cost of the car.

Timing belt can be done for much much less than list price if you do it yourself. The last one I did cost around $550 for parts, but there are even better options that I've come across since then. $550 spread over 40k miles isn't really all that bad.

If anything else goes wrong, just ask on the forum here. Chances are others have run into the same thing, and may have found a better way to fix it than just buy and replace parts.

And finally, if you do get one, you're right up I5 from me. If you end up going with a manual conversion, feel free to get in touch. There's a few of us around here with RS6s, and at least one other (GreggRS6) who have gone through or are going through the swap.

[Aronis]

Yeah, I mention it because it is so painfully funny. It was 15 years old when I bought it for $1,700......and there's the kicker and the reasoning. I'll never pay $23k for a new Honda does-nothing-fun-but-people-say-it's-reliable-Accord. If I'm going for boring, I go super boring and CHEAP.

I agree! Get an RS6 you will be very happy!

Mike

[OneBayShop]

Some excellent advice, which is why I joined the forum!

Welcome OneBayShop!

I used my RS6 as a DD when I lived in California as there was room to boost.
Now living in Wa in the crowded area east of Seattle, driving the RS6 was frustrating as non-RS6 drivers in PNW rarely drive 5mph over the posted. Having the ability to go rapidly from 60 to triple digits in a blink, that was lost...

Suggested Free Guidance:
1. Find an indy shop that knows how to work on an RS, not a BMW shop that has worked on a RS in the past.
2. Find an Audi dealership that has a qualified RS tech.
3. Shop here for a good example -> look here is one with Euro Recaro seats->bakes
4. It seems that the rule of RS6 thumb ownership is to have $5k handy.
5. The auto box with paddle shifting was adequate and fun, the 6 speed would have been ideal.
6. Have two sets of tires/rims (summer - Michelin Super Sports/winter - Blizzaks).
7. An RS typically needs to be flogged and hard (meaning like shift 1-2-3 to 6k) routinely.
8. 92/93 octane
9. Timing belt at a dealership is $1600/$2200 unless you can do it yourself and the frequency is 40k miles.
10. The lowest mile example is typically NOT the best one to purchase.

Fear of snow???? What's that?

I should have been a little more charitable to my lovely wife. She loves snow, she just fears my driving a fun rear-wheel-drive car in it.

I live at 1,200 feet and have hill-climb opportunities on the way to and from work. My current DD gets bogged down on those climbs.......1-2-3 at 6k will be a much better experience.

I wholeheartedly second nubcake's response. "By the book" is crazy expensive. Even doing stuff yourself can be expensive until you have worked on it a bit and get to understanding the car. I have now pulled an engine 4 times and reinstalled one twice (today/tomorrow will be the third, and the fourth was a part-out). The fourth engine pull took me about 6 hours, mostly by myself but with a little help from my brother when actually removing the engine/transmission.

The auto transmission is a known weak link, but I see nothing wrong with your idea to buy one, drive it till the trans goes or you get tired of it (my first one went, my second one lasted 1 month before I got tired of it). As for the shocks, there are plenty of folks on this forum who seem to have good feedback on Koni sport shocks with the factory springs for an inexpensive option, or KW's if you can spend a bit more. Engine wise, my impression is the internals are pretty bulletproof as long as you take car of them (standard maintenance). There have been a few reports of plug threads stripping and causing damage, but other than that I can't think of any common issues.

As for miles, I tend to drive my cars a fair amount, and I would agree too that at 100-130k there's a lot of life left, provided the car was maintained for those miles. Definitely make sure any one you buy has been properly maintained. If it hasn't, catching up on the maintenance could quickly double the cost of the car.

Timing belt can be done for much much less than list price if you do it yourself. The last one I did cost around $550 for parts, but there are even better options that I've come across since then. $550 spread over 40k miles isn't really all that bad.

If anything else goes wrong, just ask on the forum here. Chances are others have run into the same thing, and may have found a better way to fix it than just buy and replace parts.

And finally, if you do get one, you're right up I5 from me. If you end up going with a manual conversion, feel free to get in touch. There's a few of us around here with RS6s, and at least one other (GreggRS6) who have gone through or are going through the swap.

Thanks for the insight into the maintenance, mileage, and suspension components. It's nice to know there's somebody close by if I need some advice.

Any thoughts on whether it's better to find an example that somebody has already performed the 6spd swap vs doing it yourself?

[P1054]

Regarding the 6 speed swap: it will almost certainly be cheaper to buy one already converted. That said, I prefer to have control over which parts are used, especially on a project like this. And the additional benefit that doesn't translate directly to $ up front but might down the road is that you'll know the car inside and out after the swap, and if you have an issue you'll almost certainly know exactly what's causing it and how to fix it. If you buy one already converted, you won't. So from my perspective, I wouldn't buy one already converted, but not everyone will feel the same way. For reference, my total cost for the first conversion, including a fairly lengthy list of other preventive/unrelated items performed during the swap, came to just under $14k. If you're interested, I can send you my spreadsheet with parts, part numbers, quantities, prices, sources, etc breaking it down. Sure I could have done it for less money, but I picked and chose every part installed, so I spent additional money on the transmission, conversion kit, front drive axles, stainless clutch line, etc. I also purchased a running driving 2001 A6 2.7T, took it apart, used the parts I needed (in the end I didn't use many of them but it was good to see how it all went together), and sold off what I could of the rest. My $14k price includes the A6 price of $3800, of which I've probably recouped about $3000 by selling parts.

[atikovi]

Any thoughts on whether it's better to find an example that somebody has already performed the 6spd swap vs doing it yourself?

If you like Mugello Blue I can help ya out on the latter as the transmission is acting up the last 2 years.

[Bigglezworth]

I wouldn't really go for 200k miles examples, but at 100-130k they still should have enough juice left.

Nonsense. They can still lay down mid 11's with more miles than that.... :P

[OneBayShop]

Nonsense. They can still lay down mid 11's with more miles than that.... :P

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout Bigglezworth! GOOD BONES!

[OneBayShop]

Anybody have thoughts, knowledge or comments on this manual-converted example on eBay?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/2003-Audi-RS6-...%257Ciid%253A4

[mrdave]

Anybody have thoughts, knowledge or comments on this manual-converted example on eBay?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/2003-Audi-RS6-...%257Ciid%253A4

Must be Fastguy's car: http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/33...l=1#post286317