Drive Audi RS6 Avant, Flying without wings (Part 1)
Audi’s 560bhp super station wagon
gives you a chance to fly without a pilot’s licence.
I found one of Westlife’s biggest
hits, Flying Without Wings, lodged in my head. “Who can deny the joy it brings.
When you’ve found that special thing, you’re flying without wings”, goes the
song.
There was a good reason for it,
though, as I was effortlessly cruising on the expressway in an ultra-refined
luxury express train from Audi, the RS6 Avant. After all, as the RS badge (used
only on Audi’s most rapid cars) implies, this is a seriously sporty car.
However, the fact that the RS6 manages
to match luxury saloons for refinement and equal supercars for pace, but has
the ability to haul a maximum of 1,680 litres of cargo around, is nothing short
of a monumental achievement by Audi. It is relatively easy to develop an out and-
out sporty car, or a practical one, or a luxury cruiser, but to successfully
combine them all is staggering.
The fact that the RS6 manages to match luxury saloons for refinement and equal
supercars for pace
At the heart of this consummate
all-rounder is Audi’s highly rated 4-litre twin-turbo V8, also seen in a
similar form on the S6, though there it produces 420bhp and 550Nm. In the RS6,
though, the output from this superb motor takes a quantum leap forward to hit
560bhp and 700Nm.
Achieving such an output is not a
simple matter of just turning up the two twin-scroll turbochargers’ boost
pressure or remapping the ECU. Yes, boost has been increased from 0.8 to
1.3bar, but making the jump from S6 to RS6 has seen a major reworking of the
engine’s internals to handle the increased power.
The RS6 gets reinforced conrods and
pistons, valves made of a stronger material with a higher heat tolerance, and
tweaks to the turbochargers to allow them to deal with the greater punch.
Despite the crushing power on offer,
the RS6 is fairly frugal. Claimed fuel economy on the combined cycle is 10.2km
per litre, with the engine’s Cylinder on Demand function a key contributor to
that. At low to intermediate loads and engine speeds, the V8 automatically
shuts down four of its eight cylinders to save fuel.
Despite the crushing power on offer, the RS6 is fairly frugal.
To get the mighty engine firing on all
cylinders again, drivers just have to step a little harder on the throttle.
This transition from being a “V4” takes just a few hundredths of a second, and
is so quick and smooth, it’s barely noticeable.
The RS6 also possesses some impressive
fuel-saving tech, but it can really y when you want it to. Zero to 100km/h
happens in just 3.9 seconds, which put the RS6 firmly in supercar territory,
and it’s 0.6 of a second quicker than its predecessor. With the new car’s
enhanced performance figures, it might surprise you to learn that the
previous-generation RS6 has a bigger engine, a 5-litre twin-turbo V10 with
580bhp.
The key to why the new RS6 is faster,
in spite of the smaller motor, is how the new car (at 1935kg) is 165kg lighter
than before. That’s largely down to the new RS6’s downsized engine and the
extensive use of aluminium in its construction.
But whether in last-generation V10
guise or in its current V8-powered iteration, it has always been one of the
world’s fastest station wagons.
Still, it’s possible to drive the RS6
in a “normal” fashion. For commuting, it’s best to leave the Drive Select in
Auto. This gives the best compromise between performance and fuel economy.
Cruising is quiet, with minimal engine, road and wind noise. It purrs gently at
low revs, but step on the throttle and the exhaust note becomes a genteel
growl.
For commuting, it’s best to leave the Drive Select in Auto.
