One marque that has made an impact on the world recently has been Audi. Now the company has released the RS6 Avant, a wagon which has a top speed of over 300 km/h and a zero to 100 km/h time of 3.9 seconds. That puts it fair and square into the supercar category and 0.5 seconds quicker than the BMW M5.
The latest wagon features Audi’s familiar 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 engine developing 412 kW of power between 5700 and 6700 rpm and 700 Nm of torque between 1750 and 5500 rpm. Those are serious numbers!
Audi A6.
Some of the shattering performance comes from a lightening of the car, compared to previous models. There has been greater use of weight-saving materials like aluminium (20 percent in total), and also brings claimed benefits to handling and fuel consumption. The new model uses a claimed 9.8 liters per 100 km – down from 14 L/100 km on its very thirsty predecessor.
Fuel-conserving features including idle-stop and cylinder de-activation are fitted as standard. The latter shuts down the inlets and exhaust valves, starving four of the engine’s eight cylinders.
The RS6 is all wheel drive via Audi’s rear-biased quattro system via an eight-speed tiptronic automatic transmission with ‘Sport’ and ‘Manual’ modes and wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
Air suspension is used, which can lower the car by 20 mm, or you can order the RS6 with sports springs instead.
The RS6 is another car with electromechanical power steering system, and can be optioned with steplessly variable steering boost and ratios.
20 inch forged seven spoke front wheels with 390 mm ventilated discs with six-piston black or red calipers, and you can option 420mm ceramic units at extra cost.
RS-specific design details include high gloss black honeycomb grille and inlets, black rear diffuser with large-diameter twin pipes, flared arches, roof spoiler and special badges.
Standard features include xenon-plus headlights, LED rear lights, a tyre-pressure control system, illuminated entry sills, Park assist, cruise control, three-zone automatic air conditioning, MMI touchscreen navigation and a 10 speaker sound system.
This is truly an amazing use of technology to take a wagon and make it a supercar, and still drivable on city streets.
