Back from Germany!

[Benman]

well,

i just got back from my trip from Germany (Switzerland and Italy as well but i think you just want to hear about the RS 6 stuff!)

where do i start? when i got to the Neckarsulm plant (after getting past security) i was allowed to drive over to the quattro GmbH building and was greeted by Anette and Tobias from quattro. they were the ones who gave my uncle (along for the ride) and myself a tour of the factory. as you could imagine i was excited. before my trip out to Germany i spent ALOT of time trying to convince Anette that i wanted to see about a test drive as weel as a tour of the quattro plant but she informed me that they only had customer cars there and that it would not be possible to allow me to drive another customer's car (which makes sense).

well, all said and done she agreed to allow me to ride along with one of the engineers as they test each and every RS 6 before delivery (good enough i thought).

well when i was greeted by the two quattro representatives they informed me that they had a special treat for me. that had arranged for a RS 6 developement car to be present ( U.S. spec) which they had secured for my driving pleasure !!:bigeyes:

obviously i was now even more excited since i was prepared to only be allowed to go for a drive along. my first question was could i video tape the tour. their answer was a VERY quick no. which leads me to the answer of why no LIVE video updates of our U.S. RS 6s as they're being built. no cameras allowed (save security).

i really wished i could have taped the tour because it was a very memerable place and surprisingly not very big. it is amazing how they can get so much work done in such a comparetively small building.

after the tour came to a close is when the drive began. the car there was nearly identical to the RS 6 that i will be bying, same options and interior color. of course i had to go slow through the factory and through town 60 km/hr is PURE torture in an RS 6. but once through town Tobias (in the back seat) instructed me to take the car onto the A6 (main local autobahn) and let her rip. the whole stretch of autobahn was unlimited speed and that's where the RS 6 really comes into it's own. all the sounds, all the video, all the comparisions posted on this forum had a lot of hype built up in my head but the car did not let down!!! not one bit!

the only limit to the car was traffic. but despite the traffic and the supposed speed governor (which Tobias confirmed is a little leaniant) we were still able to hit 274 kmph (@170 mph!) :bigeyes:

the car handled exceptiponaly. it was all i could have hoped for. there was even a chance for me to test the brakes on our way back. as we were cruising along at 140 mph a big rig decided to overtake another rig at 50 mph and jumped directly in front of us!!

my uncle was pretty nervous but Tobias in the back seat never even flinched!!! obviously, he was pretty confident in the brakes abilities. well he was right. like an anchor trown out the window the car came to a stedy halt and we were able to avoid any incident.

the drive was truly memorable and lasted almost 80 km (that's one LONG test drive!!!) i found out afterwards that i was one of the very few american customers to take a RS 6 for an autobahn test drive (with over a thousand of us on the list i thought there would of been more)! ahh... what an experience.

i will apologize now for what must be very bad spelling but i'm trying to post the story as quickly as i can so that if any of you have questions then you can ask as i'm more than happy to answer them.

yes, i'm not happy with the battery in the trunk and yes i'm dissapointed that we don't get the recaros (but to be honest the U.S. seats felt plenty supportive at 170 mph!!!!) but the car has simply too much going for it to hold those things against it. and again, lets remember most of those issues are U.S. regulations that quattro has no control over.

anyway, it was truly amazing and even though this might seem weird it has actually helped with the wait! now i KNOW the car will be worth it !!!:cheers:

to all U.S. customers: ALL GOOD THINGS TO THOSE WHO WAIT!:cheers:

Ben:cheers:

[krm]

Nice post. Would have loved to see some pics to have us glued to the screen even some more, but nonetheless, thanks for sharing your experience, Ben.

:addict:

[RS6FEVR]

:cheers: Ben :cheers:
Thanks so much for the description and "hope giving"! Really appreciate your taking time to let us know how the plant functions and even more, what our cars will be like. Adds a whole new dimension to the experience for me!:D :D Glad you're back safe and for the review.
:addict: FEVR :addict:

[JP4]

Benman...did you happen to notice if the US configured car had the tire pressure system installed?

Thanks for the description of your "encounter". I enjoyed every word!

[Erik]

Thanks a lot Benman. Very nice story! Kind of frustrating with all the power vs. the traffic isn't it?

:addict: :0:

[iconcls]

Great write-up, thanks.

[Benman]

Originally posted by JP4
Benman...did you happen to notice if the US configured car had the tire pressure system installed?

Thanks for the description of your "encounter". I enjoyed every word!

because of the spare tire we will get, we wont get the tire pressure system that the euro spec cars get. one thing that was very interesting was that i noticed the antennae on our U.S. spec cars looks just like the ugly one on the new 7 series (the shark fin look). when i asked why it didn't look like the euro spec one i was told it was because all U.S. spec RS 6s will come standard with XM radio.

any other questions you have i'd be more than happy to answer.
man... i wish i could have filmed the tour...:cheers:

Ben:addict:

[Thilo]

Hi Benman,

Nice little tour you did. It's a pitty you didn't say anything that you are crossing Switzerland. Where in Switzerland have you been.

Litte question, what is XM Radio. Is this satelite radio ?

Greetings from Switzerland
Thilo :trash:

[jconley]

Yes, XM is satellite radio- I am excited to hear that the car is coming with it. I have it in my current A6, and LOVE it...

[Benman]

hello Thilo,

i can't remember the exact name of the route. it was the main route used to travel from Sttugart to Milan. oh, and that one tunnel lasts FOREVER! BTW, is Switzerland RS 4 mecca? i saw 8 RS 4 during my drive through the country!!! not one while i was in Germany!

jconley,

i'm excited about the XM as well as i've never used it before.

glad to hear all of you enjoyed the story as i REALLY enjoyed the trip!:cheers:

Ben:addict:

[Bauer]

Benman,

Sounds like a great trip. My wife and I went last August to Munich and Ingolstadt to get a privet tour the factory. A great experience, although no where near as good as your sounds. The closes we got to an RS6 that trip was the one sitting in the showroom. I was wondering if you noticed if the car had crossed drilled rotors as the U.S. cars in all of the reviews I have read do not. I have gotten conflicting reports that in Europe they are an option and in the U.S. they are suposed to be standard. However I have also read that they will only be on the late production models. Sorry for the long post. Thanks again for the great story.

Bauer
01 S8
92 S4
03 RS6 ordered

[Benman]

Bauer,

the cross drilled rotors will be in fact a option for the U.S. however, like you said they will only be available for the latter build date RS 6s (go for it Bajo!:cheers: )

i wanted to get these for mine as well but found out my car was too far along to make the changes in time (again, later build dates).

hope this helps, but rest assured the car i drove did NOT have the drilled brakes and they worked great! but the cross drilled looks even better!:cheers:

Ben:addict:

[Klint]

Ben,

Excellent write up..A thoroughly enjoyable read.

So let us in the secret on how you got to go to the factory?

Was it part of an option when ordering a RS vehicle or did you blag yourself in...? :D


:cheers:

[Benman]

Originally posted by Klint
Ben,

Excellent write up..A thoroughly enjoyable read.

So let us in the secret on how you got to go to the factory?

Was it part of an option when ordering a RS vehicle or did you blag yourself in...? :D
:cheers:

yes, it was an invitation on the RS 6 website to take a tour of the factory. i was planning a trip out to Germany anyway so it worked out perfectly. :cheers:

Ben:addict:

[jconley]

Originally posted by Klint
Ben,

Excellent write up..A thoroughly enjoyable read.

So let us in the secret on how you got to go to the factory?

Was it part of an option when ordering a RS vehicle or did you blag yourself in...? :D


:cheers:


Sorry for the ignorance...what does blag mean?

[dabull]

Thanks Benman for the great story, it is great that the car is coming with XM radio standard. Makes up a little for the loss of the tire pressure monitoring and Recaros. :addict: :addict:

[JP4]

Originally posted by Benman
because of the spare tire we will get, we wont get the tire pressure system that the euro spec cars get. one thing that was very interesting was that i noticed the antennae on our U.S. spec cars looks just like the ugly one on the new 7 series (the shark fin look). when i asked why it didn't look like the euro spec one i was told it was because all U.S. spec RS 6s will come standard with XM radio.

any other questions you have i'd be more than happy to answer.
man... i wish i could have filmed the tour...:cheers:

Ben:addict:

Thanks for the info Ben. Personnally I think their reason for not having the TPM system is bogus. I'm going to opt for an aftermarket TPM system for sure. I used it on my 4.2 and it really was worth it IMHO.

Standard XM radio....what a nice surprise.

[Klint]

Originally posted by jconley
Sorry for the ignorance...what does blag mean?

Sorry, Maybe it's mainly used in Britain, not too sure.

Blag means like a way of talking yourself into something.

i.e turning up at a surprise date at the factory and talk yourself into the factory as such, for a tour as an uninvited guest.


:cheers:

[Thilo]

Hi Ben,

The tunnel you mentioned is called "Gotthard" and it is 10.63 miles long.

Thilo
:addict:

PS : And yes, there a plenty of RS4 in Switzerland.

[Benman]

hello Bull and JP4,

it is a nice surprise discovering that the car will come with XM radio. knowing our luck so far with options available on our cars we'll probably discover that the RS 6s with those antennas were actually prototypes and the quattro reps didn't know what they were saying :hihi: :cheers:

Thilo,

sorry i didn't give you the heads up that i was going to be in Switzerland but i didn't know until i was already at the airport. that's when my uncle sprang on me that he wanted to make time to go see his daughter in Milan.

and yes, the Gotthard tunnel was the name. dang, that's one long tunnel!:cheers:

Ben:addict:

[JP4]

Originally posted by Benman
hello Bull and JP4,

it is a nice surprise discovering that the car will come with XM radio. knowing our luck so far with options available on our cars we'll probably discover that the RS 6s with those antennas were actually prototypes and the quattro reps didn't know what they were saying :hihi: :cheers:

Ben:addict:

I HEARD that Ben! Thanks again for the great play-by-play of your tour/drive.

JP4 :addict:

[Finnus]

Ben,

Thanks for the great description of your "encounter" with the Beast. It may have made your wait easier, but its killing me - so near yet so far away! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. LOL

Thanks again. :cheers:

Finnus

:addict: :addict: :addict:

[Benman]

Finnus,

i hear ya. but how do you think i feel? i still have to wait till the end of august:cheers:

Ben:addict:

[BBGT2]

Benman,:cheers:

Welcome back and thank you for the excellent story on our babies (yes I am RS 6 whipped).
I already talked to my dealer and he will do everything possible to see about me getting the "sport" brakes as quattro gmbh calls them. You are one lucky dog for getting to see them being made AND getting to drive one:0: .
The webpage is a goofy thing I agree with all here, I was in planing 6 weeks ago then went ot MS2 and guess what I am back in planning, no problem though I am in it for the long haul.
I will be talking to my buddy in Wisconsin to see whats up with his car he should be getting it real soon. Dealer told him late June early July but thats all Audi talk. Honestly my dealer told me that Audi never planned any RS6 to be delivered before July 15, I hope that didnt piss anyone off like I said its all Audi talk.
Benman once again thanx for the riveting story and welcome back.

Bajo:addict:

Good things will come to us gents, just you wait and see:cheers:

[Benman]

Bajo:cheers: ,

i think you should have good luck with ordering the brakes as i JUST missed the cut off date (if my dealer would have been more on the ball i'd have them as well).

i wanted to order them right there while i was at quattro, but they regretted to inform me that i was audi n.a.'s customer and that they weren't allowed to override my dealer's order (quattro can only take orders from audi n.a. who in turn can only take orders from the dealer). i realize that this is not always the case in europe but in the states thats the way audi n.a. wants to keep it (nice customer service).

BTW, what your dealer told you about july 15 sounds about right as audi had just shipped the first batch of RS 6s destined for stateside just a week or so before i took the tour (guess some of our dealers were anxious to promise the world). but as you said, i'm in it for the long haul:cheers:

Ben:addict: :addict: