New RS6 Member in Michigan

[essexmetal]

Just joined up. Have to say thank you to those who post their experiences and part data. My wife and I have a small fleet of Audi's, her daily is a 05 A6 4.2. My daily is an 02 S6 Avant and both do winter salt and snow duty. For summer drives, a 03 RS6 Sedan and a 03 RS6 Avant. What brought me to the site was research for a DRC fix for the RS6 Avant. Settled on stock springs and the Koni sport shocks. Set of Hotchkiss bars to complete the conversion. The RS6 sedan is a 40K mile vehicle but I like the idea of doing a manual swap as many here seem to prefer. Certainly plenty of information posted on that subject to assist in the conversion.

Don't know where I can contribute since my knowledge of Audi's is somewhat limited. But if there is ever a discussion on 911's I am much more familiar with those.

Regards,
Rick
Novi, MI

[bmlee007]

Welcome to the forum, and may I be the first to ask, where did you get the Avant?

Oh, and pics of the driveway full of Audis!

[Bigglezworth]

For summer drives, a 03 RS6 Sedan and a 03 RS6 Avant.?????? Not in North America you don't....

[lswing]

Welcome! I really like the predictable and not too firm ride of the Koni yellows with stock springs, nice height too. Hotchkis is icing on the handling cake. Great choices and good budget.

Did you buy the RS6 Avant from Shokan? I've heard of one or two others being created, please do tell?

[Corbett]

Just joined up. Have to say thank you to those who post their experiences and part data. My wife and I have a small fleet of Audi's, her daily is a 05 A6 4.2. My daily is an 02 S6 Avant and both do winter salt and snow duty. For summer drives, a 03 RS6 Sedan and a 03 RS6 Avant. What brought me to the site was research for a DRC fix for the RS6 Avant. Settled on stock springs and the Koni sport shocks. Set of Hotchkiss bars to complete the conversion. The RS6 sedan is a 40K mile vehicle but I like the idea of doing a manual swap as many here seem to prefer. Certainly plenty of information posted on that subject to assist in the conversion.

Don't know where I can contribute since my knowledge of Audi's is somewhat limited. But if there is ever a discussion on 911's I am much more familiar with those.

Regards,
Rick
Novi, MI

Hey there fellow Michigander. I have a proposal for you. Lets meet up! I have a 6 speed RS6 and would love to see your avant. Send me a PM, I'm in Novi once a week at least!

[Bigglezworth]

Did you buy the RS6 Avant from Shokan? I've heard of one or two others being created, please do tell?Interested in hearing also. 'Created' is the key word yere. AoNA confirms there being no Avants imported to NA for sale in either 2003 or 2004. There have been a couple of posts over the years citing the sale of a couple of different Avant's which I would hazzard to guess have been created by someone merging the parts from a sedan with that of a widebody S6 wagon. We well know that SteveKen is doing that marriage currently also. With all the posting Steve has done on his conversion, it makes you wonder to what extreme the other groups went to for their conversions also.

[mik15]

so i guess these "RS6 Avant's" would be registered in fact as an S6 if they were converted as they were never legally imported to the States? or?

[Dmb408]

I am up for meeting up. Doing a Michigan RS6 cars and coffee.

[essexmetal]

Guys, sorry I should have went into more detail on the RS6 Avant. It is a real one, not a converted S6. Lswing, yes it is the Shokan Avant.

It only has 12,000 miles on it and given its history and the amount of time parked it probably never had a chance to get any DRC warranty fixes. Terrible handling at the moment, a death wobble diagionally across the car. I will post some pictures tonight.

Michigan guys, would be great meet up and do some brench racing. I will PM my contact info.

Rick

[Corbett]

Well shit, it sounds like the Sportec rs600 and the Shokan avant are meeting up this weekend. We will take pics and let the hate commence on rs6.com

[JayB]

Well shit, it sounds like the Sportec rs600 and the Shokan avant are meeting up this weekend. We will take pics and let the hate commence on rs6.com

Haha awesome

now to sidetrack....
how do you like the JHM rotors w/ Hawk pads? Have you used any other pads with those rotors? Would you get the hawks again or something else? (and specifically, which hawk pads?)
Thanks!

[Corbett]

Haha awesome

now to sidetrack....
how do you like the JHM rotors w/ Hawk pads? Have you used any other pads with those rotors? Would you get the hawks again or something else? (and specifically, which hawk pads?)
Thanks!
I had ebc yellows and they sucked and had tons of pad buildup on my brand new rotors. I was pissed. Pulled the rotors and had them turned and put the hawks on and it stops on a dime now!

[nistah]

I had ebc yellows and they sucked and had tons of pad buildup on my brand new rotors. I was pissed. Pulled the rotors and had them turned and put the hawks on and it stops on a dime now!

Thanks & sorry to thread hijack (looking forward to pics of the avant and RS600) I was about to buy EBC yellow's think I'll go for Hawks instead. I know hawk makes several types of pads which are the best for RS6?

[JayB]

I had ebc yellows and they sucked and had tons of pad buildup on my brand new rotors. I was pissed. Pulled the rotors and had them turned and put the hawks on and it stops on a dime now!

Crap. Already have ebc yellows. :nana:

[Corbett]

Crap. Already have ebc yellows. :nana:


Maybe be you'll have better luck

[essexmetal]

151611516215163

Here are some pictures of the RS6 Avant. Bigglezworth it really is a real one, not a converted S6. All sorts of little differences to the RS6 Sedan. Most noticeable is the fisheye drivers mirror. Only the outer portion is convex and takes some getting used to. The factory blackout package has the windows a bit to dark for my liking. Has TV and a phone in the armrest.

[essexmetal]

The Green RS6 sedan is a pretty low mile car and sees only summer time use. My favorite car out of all is the S6 Avant. It is great driving car, a perfect balance of sports GT and practical hauler, 150 K miles and going strong. Obviously not as fast or well handling as the RS6 but very welcoming drive. Kinda like putting on your favorite worn in leather shoes. The Porsche is just for keeping RS6 owners who think their cars are fast ...... honest and humble. I understand today's snow broke the all time Michigan annual snow fall record.
Bring on some driving weather and stop the salt !!!!

15164

[lswing]

Thanks for sharing, good stuff. Here's a little back info....interesting how it all worked out. I remember when they put it up for sale last year, if only I had some extra $$.

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=1705738

[mik15]

that Avant looks stunning and has an interesting story, how did they sort out the engine in the end? have they bought a new one or have they sourced a used one? on the link above posted by lswing it doesn't say...it is probably the only one in US, the only true RS6 Avant.

They didn't bring it here either or it wasn't of any interest for the local market here as back in 2002 the Middle East market wasn't so appealing as it is now to car producers and especially for Audi which is still building up their image. The local people here are totally against Avants, the only ones that you might see are driven by us, expats, and most have been imported from Europe. They brought however the new RS6, i haven't seen yet one on the roads except for the Demo car and it is not the price holding it from being sold, not the case here mainly for the locals, unfortunately it is the case for me :( .

[Korben007]

Does your rs6 avant have registration or a vin? Not sure what the rules were on grey market vehicles. Very nice car!

[essexmetal]

Mik15, the engine was rebuilt. It had hydraulic'd and bent some rods. Audi would not sell them just ods so they put a set of Pauter custom connecting rods into it. Brian Pauter does all my rods for my other engines so I am happy with that choice. I would worry about such a fix except for two things. The car was the owner private vehicle and the fix was done 7 years ago and it is not like Shokan has never seen an Audi engine before. But the fact that it has seven years under its belt certainly adds some confidence to the purchase.

Korben007 the car is titled in Michigan. It had a New York title. I am not sure all the details for grey market either but don't have to deal with that in this instance. Months back I read through a post from a company in Florida that outlined all the changes required to federalize an RS6. It is on the government list of importable cars. So with enough interest and cash there is no reason why someone can not import one. It was a pretty light list of parts. BUT you would probably need a US RS6 donor to accomplish it since buying the all the bits new, if available, might be cost prohibitive.

When done you have to ask yourself what that extra bit of luggage is space is worth over the available sedan. For me I love my S6 Avant, just a power junkie so that is why I purchased the RS6. Power and feel is the same as the RS6 Sedan so other than the practicality of the wagon there is no difference. If it wasn't available to buy in the US I know I would not go through the trouble to import one, well not a 2003. If it was the V10 RS6 that is a completely different story. For that I would row the boat myself to get it over here.

[Korben007]

I have the same addiction as you. However I am building my rs6 out of an s6...
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527044

Curious what you paid. You can PM me if you like. Just trying to compare the cost to my project!

[mik15]

....or you could post the price :), i think we're all curious what this rare bird got sold for :)

[Beardown1]

Nice......the only RS6 Avant lives in Michigan! Keep me posted when you fellow Wolverines meet up.

[essexmetal]

$58,000. Do you guys think that was too much ?

[mik15]

well it's definitely not cheap for a 10 years old car, but being that this is not just any car, and it was if i remember well 12k miles on the clock and it's most likely the only RS6 C5 Avant in the States and legally registered, i'd say is almost a fair price. An RS+ version, with about 25-30k km on the clock is still commanding in Germany a shy over 35k EUR(48k USD), but then again it isn't so rare as yours in US, even though it is a plus one there's still another few hundreds of them left :) .

[Bigglezworth]

Only 3.5 years more and I can have one here in Canada..... Avant's sell for 10-12Pounds and 15Euro. I could land one here in Canada in 3.5 years for equal to or less than the US saloons. :)

[ben916]

Only 3.5 years more and I can have one here in Canada..... Avant's sell for 10-12Pounds and 15Euro. I could land one here in Canada in 3.5 years for equal to or less than the US saloons. :)

O/T
I remember sometime back that the USDOT (or was it NTSHA) flip/flopped on the number of years delay before a EU vehicle could be imported in the NA. First it was 15 years, then it was recently updated to NEVER, then back to 15 years.
Can anyone confirm?

[Korben007]

the question is are you going to drive it or leave it in the garage?

[lswing]

$58,000. Do you guys think that was too much ?

Well that is a lot, but with a unique car it's tough to really place the value. If it works for you then excellent! I would have rather seen it in the $40k range, sweet ride though!

[essexmetal]

Guys, sorry I was just doing a bit of Yanking on you. The purchase price was sub $40K. I was actually looking to see how many people would write back and say "are you F**king Nuts". I think that those that answered were thinking that but were respective. Great people here. It is a really neat car but I not one worth a ton more than it's 4 door counterpart.

It will get driven a lot, but seldom as a for daily commuting. For those not in this area the driving season is short, the roads are crap and many drivers are inattentive. Not a good environment to keep a nice car nice. The RS6 sedan gets the brunt of the use.

[CBeau]

Sorry if I missed this... I think I read the whole thread and attached link on other earlier post.... but how did this car come to get legal US papers??

I have a little experience with attempts to import gray market cars etc. and it is near impossible or so expensive & involved a lot lot of the time it just isn't worth it. As for the 15 year wait to never back to 15 I'm not sure about that. You can find all the info. on DOT / NTSB websites. First off you need a registered/licensed auto importer for such transactions and retrofitting emmis. equip and usually tons other stuff airbag sensor nuances etc. etc. of which there are very few in US. You can also find on those websites lists of all the many many cars/applications that were denied (even if all retrofit work was to be done properly). I know there is like a "show and display" route you can go that allows for limited mi.s driven per yr. I think 2.5k and other restrictions but it seems very limited in approval, must present case that car is historically significant etc. etc. and based on the many Porsches that I would considered to be very "show and display" worthy that were denied... I doubt a wagon variant would please these people.

Recently somewhere on web I was reading about fairly recent attempts by one of these few licensed import co.s attempting to bring in non-US spec Ferrari 599 GTOs as the US models are very limited and sought after / expensive and all the nightmare they were going through in that process.... and that is a co. set up legally, engineering capabilities and otherwise!! And a car model for which there were US spec models brought in by mfg.er. If it wasn't a model brought in at all I think there may be crash test requirements etc.... not sure if Avant vs. sedan would rise to that level. I know there are a lot of cars we don't ever get here (TVRs come to mind for one as whole mfg.er who just wrote off US bc of all the bureaucracy BS).. It seems kind of dumb to me in light of how many totally unmaintained dangerous pos cars you see on the rd. all over the place. If I was king that would be more of a worry to me than some of these nuance things that disallow cars from ever coming here. But I guess they have to have some system and I'm sure there are many bureaucrats whose jobs depend on this system's clunkiness.

So just curious, how did this car get to be as such??

I know sometimes in the DC metro area where I live cars get in here with embassies and consulates etc. and somehow find their way thru the cracks to getting a legit. title, probably mistakes or inside MVA type jobs. But short of that I believe it is a real process and headache if possible at all. And I know even then the DOT/NTSB essentially has claw-back jurisdiction forever to repo. cars not done legit. thru their process. I know of a bunch of Jap. Skyline cars that were brought in, not done fully correctly and sold to various owners fed.s somehow got on the trail and seized all they could find even thought owners were bona fide good faith purchasers etc. Maybe they would have civil claim against outfit that brought in and sold them but other than that prob. sol.

So maybe, depending, Avant owner may want to shelter car away / use sparingly and draw as little attention to it as possible??

I did speak to the Shokan (?sp) people once about some RS6 parts (they were really not friendly at all and way expensive like barely less than dealer and not even incl. shipping.... but thanks for the recommendation I got for them on here nonetheless) and they mentioned plainly that they had had multiple RS6 avant models that had been thru there. I didn't question them but that's what they said. And they also said they don't like really dealing with RS6s / RS6 customers b/c they are always so picky about the condition of what they are in search of that they really don't even like messing with it. I was like "uhhh OK". LOL

Friend of mine in NoVA who is a car nut and has pretty good basis of knowledge (he actually insures a lot of nonUS cars belonging to diplomats etc.) and he swears he's seen a new black RS6 Avant multiple times parked at Tysons mall in NoVA. He said he looked at it close up and went online to verify what he thought he saw is what it was. I told him take picture next time he saw but hasn't happened yet. Prob. true prob. diplomat car, they can do whatever they want, incl. get drunk and run over and kill pedestrians and then go home scott free... that's happened here too.

[humantic]

If there is a meeting of Michigan RS6s I would be interested in attending. Besides my car I've only seen one other RS6, which I saw last week on I-94 in Wisconsin just south of Milwaukee.