The Audi RS6 Quattro is the world's most powerful estate car. Peter Dron asks the killer question - so what?
In trackday argot, a big, heavy but probably very powerful car is known as a "barge". The Audi RS6 is not only the most powerful production Audi ever, but also the most powerful estate car in the world (a saloon version will be available soon). Enter Superbarge. Yours for £77,625.
 | | Is it fun? Not really: Peter Dron is unimpressed with the Audi RS6, which offers a bit too much of everything but doesn't sound pleasant |
So here we are at the Paul Ricard test track at Le Castellet in southern France to test the Audi Superbarge in an unnatural environment, a race circuit, and then later we will try it on the surrounding roads. It looks subtly menacing in a Jekyll-and-Hyde way, the bland but elegant lines of the standard A6 Avant having been modified by wheelarches extended (with a nod to Martyn Smith's Quattro of nearly 30 years ago) over absurdly huge wheels. An aggressive pair of exhaust tailpipes pokes out through the lower valance below the labrador compartment. At the other end, fully ahead of the front wheels, is a surprisingly compact five-litre V10 that delivers 572bhp and, from only 1,500rpm, 479lb ft of torque.
First impression on jumping into the beast is of being surrounded by the usual top-end quality and attention to detail that has made Audi the world's standard-setter and, after a few adjustments to the fancy wheel with its flat lower section and to the luxurious (optional) racing-style seat, I am immensely comfortable and perfectly located.
We set off out of the pit lane and the second impression is that this is an astoundingly quick car for something weighing 4,460lb, not to mention loud. At peak revs, this is attention-grabbing, from inside or out. But is it a pleasant sound? I would not say so, and can think of numerous more aurally enthralling engines, mostly with either two more or two fewer cylinders, but also one with half the RS6's tally: the pukka Quattro of the mid-1980s, with either 10 or 20 valves, the star of the new Ashes to Ashes TV series.
The third impression, as we fly up through the gears with the wheel-mounted flippers, is that the rev limiter cuts in violently and well before the 6,700rpm red line. One soon learns to anticipate it. Fourth is that the brakes (in this case massive optional ceramic discs) are well up to racing standards. Fifth is that the straight is too long when the top speed is limited to 155mph. I was trying in vain to change into seventh.
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Now we reach the twisty section. Aim at the apex and floor the throttle pedal, and what happens? Well, the electronic stability program is switched off, but there seems to be something still preventing full delivery of power, especially around this truncated variation of the track, with very tight bends. The more commonly used version of the circuit has longer straights and more open, flowing curves and would perhaps have shown off the RS6 in a better light. In a couple of the faster curves, it was possible to make all four costly tyres scream in a rather satisfying four-wheel drift, but mostly a lap of the track was simply frustrating, dominated by unshakeable understeer despite the 40/60 front/rear torque split.
So, the RS6 is not a big success on the circuit; better to get something older, simpler and cheaper if you want a satisfying trackday barge.
But how is it as a road car? After all, it will be there that the 600 or so RS6s that Audi UK is expecting to sell will spend 99.9999 per cent (recurring towards infinity) of their time. For a start, it is more than improbable that the frustrating tendency described earlier will ever manifest itself on the public highway, even in the hands of a seriously hard man of the road.
 | | The interior is roomy enough for a pack of dogs, but they might not enjoy the experience either |
What would the RS6 be like cruising from Calais to Cannes? I expect that it would be deeply frustrating. That journey cannot be "taken flat" these days. But Audis are renowned for their quiet operation and refinement, right? Not this one: at the legal motorway maximum, this is by no means a quiet car. There is far more mechanical hubbub than in most cruising Audis, but not enough to give serious competition to the invasive roar of the huge tyres. There is also a trace of wind rustle, especially on the front passenger side. Most irritating of all, there are constant low-frequency resonances through the seats, steering wheel and pedals.
On winding roads, the punch between bends is enormously impressive, body roll and pitch or squat are insignificant, stopping power is astounding and then, of course, the traction is peerless. But it feels like a big lump of metal, and ride quality, always firm, is sometimes harsh, even on the softest of the three damper settings (switching between them is a fiddly process). And is it fun? Not really. So, just what is the point of this car?
What about transport to your deluxe skiing holiday? Well yes, it would get you to Gstaad or wherever, but who needs - or wants - mega-torque on snow? You'd be far better off with a lesser A6 on narrower wheels, preferably fitted with snow tyres, rather than these 20in x 9J alloys shod with 275/35 slivers. You could put a big labrador in the back. In fact, you could put three or four German shepherds in. But they would not like it if you started all the fast-forward stuff, and they would cover that nice carpeting with hair.
The RS6 is really for showing off at the golf club, and I expect you could squeeze at least five full-sized golf bags in the luggage compartment, and still drive five-up on your way to spoiling a pleasant walk. You could then impress your golf partners with pointless factoids. For example: "At full throttle, the turbochargers can compress 2,200 cubic metres of air per hour. That's about the volume of an Olympic swimming pool." Yeah, right. Wow. Fantastic. In short, this is a car for swanking around in.
Audi RS6 Quattro [tech/spec]
Price/availability: £77,625. On sale now, deliveries in May.
Engine/transmission: 4,991cc, 90-degree V10 twin-turbocharged petrol with DOHC and 40 valves; 572bhp between 6,250 and 6,700rpm, 479lb ft of torque between 1,500 and 6,250rpm. Six-speed Tiptronic semi-automatic gearbox (with flippers), permanent four-wheel drive.
Performance: top speed 155mph (governed), 0-62mph in 4.6sec, EU Urban fuel consumption 13.8mpg, CO2 emissions 333g/km.
We like: Jack of all trades…
We don't like: Guess what…
Alternatives: BMW M5 Touring, from £67,180. Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, from £69,097
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Audi RS6 Quattro [tech/spec]
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Originally Posted by KarlMarx
