WE DRIVE: World's most powerful station wagon
[ - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ]

January 31, 2008

By Minesh Bhagaloo

'It is simply the most powerful production wagon in the world," said the boys from Ingolstadt as they unveiled the five-litre V10 biturbo monster called the RS6 Avant.

With its 426kW and 650Nm just waiting to scare the hell out of Mercedes and BMW I guess Audi does have reason to be proud - their latest Avant also happens to be the most powerful production vehicle yet to bear the four-ring emblem.

We're talking 0-100km/h in 4.6sec, 200km/h 10.3sec later and topping out at 280km/h. That's right gents, Audi has confirmed a "beyond 250km/h" option.

And boy! does it look the part
We're talking 0-100km/h in 4.6sec, 200km/h 10.3sec later and topping out at 280km/h. Think:


Bigger intakes to help the turbochargers breathe
LED day-running lights (like the R8/S8).
And my favourite - flared wheel arches squared off at the top and reminiscent of 1980s quattro styling.

The 19" rubber looks the part but, if you really want to impress the cousins, you gotta spend a bit extra and go 20" and then break the bank by ordering ceramic brake discs which are apparently good for as many as 300 000km.

At the back (if you're an M5 Touring driver I expect you may get a good view) there's a wicked diffuser with a giant tail pipe on each side.

But driving it is what it's all about. The RS6 Avant's international launch in France at the weekend involved town, freeway and track driving but with great power comes great responsibility so the major decision to be made is simply how windgat you're feeling after turning that key
There's a wicked diffuser with two large tail pipes on each side.

The ESP in normal mode is said to be a little generous but that's for the salesman to explain - lets talk about pressing the ESP button once to get to ESP-sport and holding down the button to the you-break-you-pay ESP-off mode. Sport mode is probably what you would use most of the time - it lets you slide a bit.

With ESP off, slides are possible even with the car's all-wheel drive thanks to a standard power split of 40 percent front and 60 percent rear. The differential will respond to changing surfaces, though, and Audi says it can divert up to 85 percent to the rear or 65 percent to the front. The optional "suspension-plus" package could lead to your next decision; comfort, sport or dynamic.

Unlike the RS4, which is available with a manual shifter, the bigger RS6 gets a tiptronic six-speed auto box with steering-wheel paddles and shorter response times. Good news is that the box will hold a paddle-selected gear no matter what.

Permanent dial needed

Also quite cool also is the lap timer on the display setting. It includes a little boost display that only shows minimum and maximum boost, as it should have shown actual boost (each turbo develops up to 0.7 bar).

And a note to the engineers: oil temperature should be a permanent dial on the fascia and not an arbitrary setting in the computer in a car sporting things such as dry-sump lubrication and of 1.2g cornering forces.

But this is one helluva station wagon to drive. You can cruise through little towns in normal mode just enjoying the sound of 10 cylinders burbling along peaceably but come some open road or a few curves in the road and things tend to get a little hairier.

The truth is that, no matter what, you have to keep reminding yourself that you're behind the wheel of something just under five metres long. I went from 140km/h to a speedometer reading of 280km/h on a quiet stretch of highway quicker than you can say "French jail for life" and the acceleration included a rather long sweep that the Avant took unflinchingly at around 240km/h.

Ceramic brakes

The track was no different. In fact, put track time into the HP agreement (the Germans are writing cheques for R1.12-m for the Avant). We played at the Paul Ricard circuit, the one that used to host F1 races.

The ceramics brakes were in full force and they offer some gut-stretching stopping power. There were similar traits along the straight, where we reached almost 240km/h before braking into extreme right-handers, no stress.

Very distinct smell those ceramics give off when working hard and they did smoke a little after hard laps yet never felt soft. And you could go on all day, so confident is a car that in theory should only attack shopping malls, not race tracks.

Audi has launched an uber Avant with an uber engine that makes 85kW of output per litre. Expect South African introduction in the fourth quarter though prices have still to be confirmed.

Let's hope it's not too far away from the M5 Touring's R1.05-m sticker.

Either way, the RS6 Avant will blow the BMW into the weeds sideways, take it from me.

Come on Mercedes, bring in the E63 Estate; threesomes are always more fun...
- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER