New 2003 RS6 Avant

[louRS6]

First post. I took the plunge a month ago and purchased a 2003 RS6 Avant from British Colombia, the car originated in Japan. I am coming from C4 and C5 S6 Avants and have always wanted an RS6. I started looking the last two years for an RS6 sedan in the US and found a few examples but never pulled the trigger. I am from the US, but spend a lot of time in Canada. As most Audi guys know, Canada has the 15 year import rule (vs 25 years in the US) for the RS6 Avant. Long story short, I found an Avant, bought it and registered it in Quebec.

Car is Daytona Grey with white interior. Its Euro spec with 68K miles and it was the PO's first Audi, he had it for less than a year in British Colombia and did zero maintenance. it had timing belt done at 45K in Japan and PO disclosed that it had a valve cover leak. I fixed the Valve Cover leak, did the Timing belt at the same time and new brakes. Both interior and exterior are in better than expected condition for a 16 year old car. Exterior is actually close to mint, no door dings or scratches. It has some special ceramic coating as a protection that was put on in Japan, which I don't know much about.

Car pulls very strong, much more than other RS6's that I have driven. Three big surprises that my mechanic found while doing the timing belt service, car has down pipes, an upgraded diverter valve, upgraded Intercoolers and possible an upgraded transmission. Not sure what ECU tune its running, but it does not have a TCU tune, as it shifts normal. Transmission feels strong today, I know this is a weak point and have experience as I lost a trans in one of my C5 S6's. PO did not disclose the upgrades, I actually think he didn't know about them. Either way, I have a modified Avant that I paid in US dollars for with $1,000's in mods.

It took me a few weeks to get used to the power on the highway. In standard D mode and you give it a little gas, boost and downshifts seem to fight each other. Driving it in 4th in Tiptronic mode certainly cures that. I have read that the TCU tune will help also. I will have my mechanic do a boost check and may upgrade to the 034 ECU/TCU tune.