Audi RS6

Posted by Tom Ford at 10:00AM on Monday 04 February, 2008 6 Comments

Audi RS6 If you've even got the briefest idea of the specifications of the new RS6, you're likely to have a bit of a sweat on.

A new V10 with two turbos that produces 572bhp, re-jigged quattro four-wheel drive with a driver-friendly 40/60 front/rear split, DRC dynamic ride control with adjustable damping, huge torque from just 1,500rpm, 572bhp. A subtle but menacing Avant bodyshell (at least until the saloon crops up later this year). Did I mention 572bhp?

Yes, this is the not only the most powerful series-production estate in the world but also the most powerful car Audi has ever produced. It does 0-62mph in just 4.6 seconds and runs on to an electronically limited 155mph, although there is a longer-legged 175mph limiter should you stalk the Autobahns on a regular basis.

And I'm pleased to say that it lives up to the speed promise; this is one face-meltingly quick car, made all the more eye-widening by the fact that the brute force is contained not within some pumped and preened supercar bodyshell, but in a relatively quiet estate with 1,660 litres of carrying ability.

The quattro keeps you pointing in the right direction no matter how badly you treat it, a whiff of understeer pretty much all you'll get unless you get REALLY stupid. It will oversteer. But if it does and you're not very, very good, you're so far past the point of no return you might as well curl up and give your bum a quick peck on the cheek goodbye. This car is engineered to handle better than 99 per cent of owners will be able to drive.

It looks a bit too quiet in the flesh, to be honest. Audi RS' aren't famed (and mostly loved for) their semi-Q-car status, and despite the trad silver mirrors, dual oval exhausts and Ur-quattro wheelarch blisters, unless you're a spotter you might not notice the RS6 until it does a subsonic flyby with a wardrobe hanging out the back.

It sounds great, better with the optional sports exhaust, and the new six-speed Tiptronic auto changes with almost the speed and aggression of the 'S-Tronic' double clutch, while maintaining the schlepability of a proper auto. Just a pity the wheel-mounted paddles are too small and plastic to really satisfy.

Inside it's a gorgeous bit of design and manufacture. Not showy, not mad, but the better for it. Great seats, great tactility, hewn-from solid build quality.

So, it's a great car, perhaps even a legendary one. Pretty much all you could have expected or hoped for. Except for one thing: it's not involving, or particularly passionate. I haven't been left with a burning desire to own one, which is a supreme shame. And I've never got so used to this much horsepower so quickly. I think the problem might be that the RS6 has been engineered so thoroughly that it has lost the quirks that make a car lovable.

So what do we think of my conclusion? Have I lost my mind, or is horsepower just a number? Personally I think there's a considerable difference between on-paper stats and a driving experience. The RS6 ticks every single box I can think of, and yet I'm still left a bit cold...