Driving report: Audi RS6 Avant Performance: But now quickly

2023-07-16 10:17:42

Driving report: Audi RS6 Avant Performance But now quickly

Audi RS6 Avant Performance

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BMW is celebrating its M3 Touring and is already mischievously announcing its upcoming M5 as a station wagon version for early 2025. Audi can only smile about that, because power station wagons have been a matter of course here for years. The most powerful of its kind is called RS6 Performance and is incidentally the last of its kind without electric power.

The successful one has been around for some time Audi RS6 only as a station wagon version. If you want a sedan like the BMW M5 or Mercedes AMG E63, look into the tube and can at best make do with the coupe sedan of the RS7. Like the RS6, it is now available in its final, non-electrified edition as a particularly dynamic performance version. There are a few details in the optics and a subtle increase in performance to 463 kW / 630 hp through an increased boost pressure of 2.6 bar. There is no question that this will make the exactly 5.00 meter long RS6 Avant even more desirable than it is already on the road. That’s why it’s important to be fast, maybe even a little faster than the luxury class station wagon, which can thunder up to 305 km/h if desired, because the successor without the RS logo is already in the starting blocks. So once again enjoy the pure thrust of the doubly charged eight-cylinder engine, which extracts both impressive and euphonious driving performance from four liters of combustion chamber and sounds out into the world through two massive oval tailpipes. Despite cylinder deactivation and the start-stop system, the standard consumption of 12.2 liters is within the realms of possibility in this performance and weight class.

With the invisible performance signet, there is not only 30 hp more, but also 50 Nm additional torque, which ultimately means 850 Nm and an image spurt from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. This can only be achieved because the high-speed tires willingly interlock with the asphalt and the eight-speed automatic does the rest of the work without the driver having to intervene. But the sheer straight line at maximum speed is hardly what inspires and if you are honest with yourself, you have no chance of driving out the slight gain of the performance version. Because the almost 2.1 ton luxury station wagon pushes the way you know it from him. It has always had its appeal to drive the absolute top model and in this case the last of its kind? If there’s an Audi RS6 Avant, then an RS6 Performance too – whether it offers a few more horses or not.

It is the easy driveability at any speed that puts the powerhouse in a good mood. Accompanied by the new 22-inch lightweight wheels and a center differential that is particularly active when driving, which ensures that the power in lascivious abundance is so confidently banned onto the road. The thrust is still impressive and the whole thing for a handful of occupants plus luggage – therefore the station wagon is best, the appearance of which is anything but reserved even after the years. A little more distinction between the RS6 and the sharpened RS6 performance variant would probably have intensified the desire again. The RS dynamic package therefore means not only the slight increase in performance and aluminum rims that are 20 kilograms lighter, but also a ceramic brake system that saves a further 34 kilograms in unsprung masses.

The family station wagon with potential for addiction distributes the normal power flow of the rumbling eight-cylinder engine from 40:60 from back to front and vice versa in a matter of seconds, just to maximize propulsion on every imaginable surface. The nonchalance of this flexibility does not have to hide behind the variable loading volume, because with two movements behind the electric tailgate from 565 to 1,680 liters. Not gigantic, but probably more than enough for a racing machine with a backpack. The driver casually perceives the unchanged high-quality interior, selects the digital instruments of his choice and is pleased that the electric sports seats finally also have a cooling function. The rest is typically noble, typically Audi and a feel-good lounge at the speed of sound.

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