New owner (almost)

[mgerity]

Well, I bought an RS 6 last week. $23K for one with 77K miles in great condition, which looks to have been a pretty good deal (assuming no problems). I'm still waiting for it to be shipped, so I haven't even driven one yet.

My current car is a '98 M3 (E36). I really like that car an awful lot, but it was time to update. I unquestionably would have went with an E46 M3, but I need 4 doors, and BMW sadly never offered the E46 M3 in a sedan. The E92 is out of my price range, so, I went in search of another upscale "super" version of a quality sports sedan. The E39 M5 was outclassed by several cars in its range, and with a three year gap in production from '04 to '06, the newer M5s were, again, out of my price range. So, that pretty much narrowed it down to the RS 6 and the E55 AMG. I was more than a little disappointed by the fact that both were automatics, but at least the tiptronic leans towards the sporty. At the end of the day, I've owned a MB before, and I wanted to try an Audi, and I was going for sport, and I really tend to look at MBs as luxury first, sport second, even in the AMGs. So, the RS 6 it was.

Now, while I wait, I'm already lining up my upgrades. More on that later.

[mik15]

can you post the link with the car or some pictures? Did the dealer give a warranty? I am looking for one to buy as well for quite some time...it seems like you have got it for a good price considering it's not high mileage! I was also thinking of an M3, i have now a 330i, but the RS6 is a whole different car and its my dream car :) .

[Amar]

Let us know your thoughts and get some pictures up when it arrives, don't expect it to handle like your E36 M3, but everything else will be better.

[mik15]

that is what i was also afraid of, the handling of the RS6, as it is a big car and you can feel that in the corners, but i would say that is the only negative aspect in comparison with the M's on a dry track because i know what it can do in the real life and especially if the road is wet or a bit slippery, than you really feel the advantage of the Quattro and the 4.2 bi-turbo engine, and it does make you congratulate yourself for choosing the RS :) ! Even in a straight line the RS6 C5 si faster than the M3 E46 or the M5 E39, so....

[Amar]

Well it is 8 seconds faster then an E39 M5 at the ring apparently. But doesn't the E39 do the 1/4 mile quicker then the RS 6?

[mgerity]

Here is a link to a bunch of pictures. Not sure how long they will leave these up and hosted here, but these way better than any pics I'd be able to take:

http://www.ecarlist.com/showroom/1962/photos/1901021

[mgerity]

Here are the performance numbers for the 2003 RS 6 vs. a 2002 M5 (with no major changes made for 2003) (these are from MotorTrend):

E39 M5:
Power: 394 hp, 369 ft.lb. @ 3,800
Weight: 4023 lb; 10.2 lb/hp
0-60: 4.6
0-100: 11.5
1/4 mile: 13.4 @ 106
60-0: 116 ft.
600 ft slalom: 66.96 mph

RS 6:
Power: 450 hp; 415 ft.lb @ 1,950
Weight: 4024 lb; 8.9 lb/hp
0-60: 4.2
0-100: 10.7
1/4 mile: 12.5 @ 108
60-0: 113 ft.
600 ft slalom: 67.8 mph
skidpad: .89 g

So, it appears that the RS 6 bests the M5 pretty much across the board. It even gets better city mpg (15/20 vs 13/21 in the M5).

Car and Driver picked the RS 6 as tops in a 2003 comparo, with the M5 coming in second, the E55 AMG third, and the Jag S-Type R coming in last. They basically said that the M5 was the "most desirable sedan in the world" if it weren't for the RS 6, which took top honors because the E39 M5 was getting long in the tooth by 2003.

[mgerity]

So, just for fun I figured I'd post the specs for my E36 M3 while I'm at it:

3.2 L-24v I6
Power: 240 hp, 236 ft.lb.
Weight: 3219 lb; 13.41 lb/hp
0-60: 5.5 sec
0-100: 14.0
1/4: 14.00 @ 100
70-0: 165ft
skidpad: .89 g
19/27 mpg

[Amar]

Evo is the most respected car magazine in the UK. They love the RS 6, but these were the figures they got when they ran it against the M5 and E55.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv19/AmarS8/ca0163bc.jpg

[lswing]

Interesting times to compare to...I got a 4.7 on my 0-60 and 10 flat on my 0-100...ah the wonders of a tune and some work!

[mgerity]

I wonder why the Evo times are so far off the C/D and MT ones. The 0-60 time is a full 15% slower, and the 0-100 time is over 8% slower. Those are pretty significant differences.

[kismetcapitan]

I wouldn't worry about performance. My other car is a highly tuned Nissan Skyline GT-R, with a twinplate racing clutch and circuit-tuned Ohlins. It's barely off the ground and the suspension is so hard it only makes real sense on a racetrack. My RS6 is the first automatic I've ever owned, and the manual transmission on the Skylins is about as hard core as it gets. It's not a small car, but it handles very much like a go-kart.

Get a Eurotuned Stage 2 flash - that'll put you nicely over 500bhp (about 520 I think?) but adds something like 110~115 lb/ft torque, and that's what really matters in this car.

As for the transmission, the hardest thing to learn was to just...let it do its thing without too much intervention from you. At most, you'll downshift 1-2 gears when you want to pass someone. For drag starts, you can manually shift, but Sport mode really does a better job. BTW get the MTM transmission reflash as well.

And while the handling isn't as exciting as an M3 or a hardcore tuned sports car, the RS6 will surprise you. I have a stock suspension except for Hotchkis sway bars. My DRC hasn't failed yet, and while we all hate the damned thing because they do crap out, when it works, it really works. The car rides firmly, and it never really squats or dives, and for a car as heavy as it is, it really doesn't roll much even when you take corners at stupid speeds. For all my worries over understeer, I have yet to get my RS6 to plow even a little, and I've tackled curves and corners at speeds that frightened me (and when you've been driving a 700bhp car for six years with track-ready suspension and rubber, it takes quite a bit of speed to feel nervous!).

The RS6 may not be as "engaging" as a more hardcore car, but then, you never have to drive it in anger to get the goods from it; full performance is on tap anytime you feel like lazily pushing the throttle down...and then the car leaps into warp speed...

[Brav]

what mileage do you average from your E36? I was considering picking one up for a daily, taking miles of the RS