Lastly. A 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant sits on the curb. It’s in Nardo Gray, arguably Audi’s finest shade of gray (of which there are various). 12 months after yr has passed by with no correct Audi sports activities wagon being offered in the USA. We’ve all the time needed to longingly look throughout the ocean with one eye on the 25-year clock for import standing. For these counting, the RS2 is now obtainable.
Most of 2020 has been downright dreadful, however Audi has completed its finest to cheer us up with Avants again on this continent. We’ve already pushed the usual A6 Allroad, however now it’s time to place the fanatic darling RS 6 Avant to the check.
“How lengthy do we have to wait to afford one in every of these?” my girlfriend asks because the laser mild unlock animation performs within the headlights.
“Possibly … 10-15 years,” I say chuckling, genuinely questioning what sort of depreciation this six-figure German superwagon will endure from.
Wagon devotees throughout the nation are seemingly questioning the identical factor. A boatload of fanatics need a midsize wagon with 591 horsepower, however the share of that group with financial institution accounts to afford such a car just isn’t conducive to excessive gross sales volumes. Due to this fact, identical to the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S Wagon and Volvo V90, the one manner for Audi to justify the prices of bringing the RS 6 Avant right here is to make it order-only. High quality, now each proprietor can get precisely what they need.
However is the brand new RS 6 Avant a wagon that you really want?
The reply is a powerful hell sure when you’re judging it by exterior design. Solely the entrance doorways, roof and rear hatch are the identical as a regular A6 Avant, which is now the one A6 wagon mannequin not offered right here. Each different physique panel is exclusive to the RS 6, which gave designers big quantities of freedom to make this wagon look the half. Imply, threatening and quick are three phrases that immediately come to thoughts when taking the wagon in from head-to-toe. Its large, frameless grille, big 22-inch wheels, tremendous low facet skirts and oval RS tailpipes solely symbolize a fraction of issues to like. Flared arches showcase the additional 1.6 inches of width on both sides (3.2 inches wider complete versus an A6 Avant), and our tester’s Black Optic bundle simply makes this wagon much more sinister.
However the RS 6 Avant just isn’t lovely or elegant in any conventional sense. It’s far too brutal of a design to bandy these phrases about. In that manner, this wagon’s design matches its completely animalistic and brutal efficiency capabilities. Below the hood is Audi’s taste of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that’s so kindly shared concerning the Volkswagen Group. On this tune it makes 591 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, which is nice sufficient to ship your complete household into orbit and/or dash to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds utilizing launch management. The venerable ZF 8-speed computerized sends energy to all 4 wheels, with a most of 85% going to the rear axle (learn: it slides!), or 70% to the entrance if traction losses necessitate it.
A fats Pirelli P-Zero summer season tire setup — 285-section-width — sits in any respect 4 corners wrapping the 22-inch wheels, however 21-inch wheels with 275-section-width tires are commonplace. These tires have daringly little sidewall on them; nonetheless, Audi stresses the significance of the wheel-to-body ratio as one of many key aesthetic components that makes this wagon look so good. Making up for a few of the pure impression harshness we usually affiliate with outsized wheels is Audi’s adaptive air suspension. Europeans are given the choice of a hard and fast suspension with coil springs and adaptive dampers for a barely extra aggressive character.
To boost the dealing with of this 4,960-pound beast, Audi has carried out an all-wheel-steering system for higher maneuverability at low speeds and enhanced stability at greater speeds. The quattro sport differential on the rear axle can cut up torque on the rear, sending as a lot as 100% of the obtainable torque to a single rear wheel. And a brake-based torque vectoring system is used up entrance to additional support dealing with.
The seriousness of this car turns into evident after the primary full throttle utility. These 591 twin-turbocharged horses propel this wagon ahead at charges of pace that’ll have seasoned fanatics white knuckling the steering wheel. Its launch management characteristic is much less chest punch and extra jet takeoff. You whoosh away with nary the scratch of a tire, and the pace builds immediately to the purpose of being unable to elevate your neck from the seatback. It feels a number of tenths faster than 3.5 seconds, and the feeling of acceleration has no letup as speeds climb greater. It’s a disgrace we’re driving this wagon in Michigan and never the autobahn, as a result of the 190-mph prime pace feels prefer it’d arrive rapidly. And do word that you just’ll want the $8,500 carbon ceramic brake bundle to hit 190 mph, as a result of the usual brakes saddle you with a 155-mph pace limiter.
Acceleration is clearly relentless, however the sound coming from the RS 6 Avant is a story of two tales. It’s a bassy, baritone trumpet from the within, however from the rear bumper, the optionally available Sport Exhaust feels like a heavy steel dying jam. The gravelly, munching sound it makes is gnarly occasions 10. We solely want we might hear it chopping away from the cabin. Thanks, sound deadening. Downshifts are met with mild crackling and popping, but it surely flies beneath the radar until you’re actually listening for it.
Being blow-your-head-off-fast is one thing Audi has completed nicely for years, although. Dealing with has been a unique story, particularly in previous A6-based RS fashions. On paper, the RS 6 Avant’s 55/45 front-to-rear weight distribution feels like Audi has goofed as soon as once more by shoving that massive V8 too far ahead of the entrance axle. In follow, this wagon doesn’t have a whiff of understeer or feeling of front-heaviness on winding nation roads. Flip-in is fast, because the all-wheel-steering system and a fast rack masks the wagon’s 4,960-pound weight (it is almost 500 kilos greater than the A6 Allroad).
Easy roads showcase the RS 6’s dealing with skills finest, because it carves by way of corners with very good physique management with the suspension totally stiffened up. The air suspension reveals a number of flaws on much less nice surfaces, as there’s a degree of bounciness and incoordination that creeps in irrespective of the damper setting. It by no means totally settles into the street, inflicting a degree of discomfort and bouncing round for the driving force. Tighter-hugging bucket seats might assist quell this to a level, however we’ll chalk the harshness and less-than-stellar damping management as much as the large 22-inch wheels and air springs.
In conditions with fewer Gs, the air suspension is a godsend. Anyone might day by day this wagon in full consolation mode day by day and by no means complain. We didn’t have an A6 Allroad to drive alongside this RS 6, but it surely’s exhausting to consider the non-performance wagon could be far more enjoyable and nice to pop round city in. The quiet V8 rumble all however fades away into the background when you preserve the revs low, and it totally disappears when coasting as much as lights and when stopped with the 48-volt mild-hybrid know-how switching the engine off. Audi’s priorities are in the correct place, as people who purchase the RS 6 Avant nearly actually have actual wagon wants. Setting quick laps at a observe day can instantly be adopted up with a protracted freeway slog residence whereby your child sleeps the entire manner again. If a one-car resolution is what you’re after, the RS 6 Avant is precisely what the chef is serving.
Every part inside is pretty commonplace Audi. It’s full-on screen-ageddon for the infotainment and local weather controls. Neat RS-specific options just like the RS Monitor (lets you watch temperatures of all important powertrain parts and even the tires) and RS Modes (two customizable drive mode settings) elevate it that little bit greater. The attractive, quilted leather-based seats might have extra aggressive or adjustable bolstering, and the tall sprint hurts visibility by being only a contact too excessive. Backseat passengers have loads of room to unfold out, they usually even get their very own local weather controls. Basically, if the posh could be had in different non-Audi Sport fashions, you may take pleasure in the identical right here. All that provides weight, however for the RS 6 Avant’s worth, leaving a characteristic out could be trigger for pitchforks.
Earlier than choices, the RS 6 Avant begins at $110,045. Our closely optioned check automotive rang in at $131,645 but it surely nonetheless wasn’t not maxed out. Objects like the driving force help bundle and sport exhaust are must-buys, however it can save you loads of money by skipping the carbon ceramic brakes and costly carbon/black look packages.
This wagon solely has one true, direct competitor within the 2021 Mercedes-AMG E 63 S Wagon. These two match proper up on paper, and the Mercedes is just some thousand {dollars} extra. Deciding between them gained’t be straightforward, however for the primary time shortly, a minimum of you even have a option to make. For now, those that have an RS 6 Avant on order can relaxation straightforward understanding their superwagon is mighty tremendous certainly. And for these nonetheless on the fence, take into account the Mercedes, then purchase one in every of them. It truly is unattainable to go fallacious.
