rsjoe
July 12th, 2003, 15:36
Gave it a test ride for about 20 miles in the rain and on wet road conditions on Friday. I feel like a hypocrite since I did so much bitchin re AOA, rightly so, but I decided to go ahead with the purchase mainly because my E55 won't be delivered till the first quarter of 04. I've also test driven the E55 and I'm not saying its a better car and I may decide to stay with the RS6. These two cars are different in some significant ways. First, and most important to me is the fact that the RS6 is significantly more fun to drive. This is due to the exhaust note and the way it accelerates and most importantly - throttle response. In the E55 the acceleration is much faster, but you don't feel it. Only the speedometer and other visual clues let you know how really fast you're going. IMO the throttle response is significantly better than the E55 even with a tiny bit of turbo lag and the shifting of the tiptronic is excellent. The RS6 does have a spare tire and back up sensors standard, the E55 doesn't. Handling - long sweepers RS6 very good, E55 good. As the radius of turns decreased I'd have to say that neither car is outstanding- too much weight and understeer. Quick lane changes i.e. slalom manuvers - bring a second pair of underwear - these are not sport cars. The biggest surprise to me was that the RS6 overall felt much more like the E55 (heavy and solid ride) than an M5. Where it felt more like the M5 was the area that's important to me and that's acceleration and throttle response. The pull of the engine and resultant feel of the acceleration is the fun factor. The interior of the RS6 is the main downside at this price. The seats are mediocre with no side bolster adjustment, no multi-function steering wheel, sound system average with weak woofer, no auto headlights, and generally feature poor relative to competition. I will post separately re pricing. Hope this subjective evaluation helps.