Best ever V10s: the Audi RS6 Avant and its mad Lamborghini 5.0-litre

So the Volkswagen empire used V10s as a pricey form of one-upmanship. Exhibit B, the second gen Audi RS6. The first one used a 4.2-litre twin turbo V8 to propel a widebody family estate into the fourth dimension. But by the time it was replaced AMG had upped the ante to 6.2 thunderous litres and BMW’s M5 Touring was wailing about with an 8,000rpm 503bhp V10.

How could Audi’s RS division respond? Two turbochargers ought to do it. The Lamborghini derived 5.0-litre engine was enhanced not once but twice, churning out 572bhp and 479lb ft. Seems wild doesn’t it, in our downsized electrified era, that 16 years ago Audi was plumbing an actual tuned Lambo engine into the nose of an A6?

And it really was in the nose. All 10 cylinders were buried ahead of the front wheels, giving the RS6 the weight distribution of Thor’s hammer. So the handling was mute, the steering leaden. But corners were only a trifling inconvenience for the RS6, which could crack 200mph when freed of its factory limiter.

It doesn’t explode away with violence and disdain for physics. You sense the two tonne weight and the boost working against it. It builds, the V10’s discreet hum never rising beyond a murmur, your kidneys being gently applied to the chunky backrests... and whoops, that’s 120mph.

Like the Touareg, it’s a V10 you can pick up for a bargain price because the running costs rival a medium African nation. High teens to the gallon, the highest tax band, and plenty of the pricey engine-out servicing malarkey. But there’ll never be a car like it again. No super estate of today is this discreet, or as dominated by a one off engine. They truly don’t make ’em like they used to.

Audi RS6 Avant

Price new (2008): 77,625
Price now: £15,000
Engine: 4,991cc TT V10 572bhp @ 6,250rpm-6,700rpm, 479Ib ft @ 1,500rpm-6,250pm
Transmission: 6spd auto, AWD
Performance: 0-62mph in 4.5secs, 155mph
Weight: 2,025kg

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood & Alex Tapley