Audi RS6 Performance: Triple the Cars, Triple the Price

author: FutureCar Staff    

The new Audi RS6 Performance is now the only variant of the uber-wagon available to buy in the UK. Pushing out 621bhp, it's the most powerful RS6 yet.

You still get the same 4.0-litre V8 engine, but its twin turbos are now bigger with higher boost pressure, unlocking an additional 27bhp for a total of 621bhp. Torque too has received a boost up to a vicious 627lb ft.

That means 0-62mph comes along in a face-rearranging 3.4 seconds. As standard, it's limited to "just" 174mph, but derestricted it'll trouble 200mph.

Other changes include a new locking centre differential and updated software for the rear axle – the RS6 Performance is now capable of shunting 80 per cent of its power rearwards if the mood takes it. Audi's also removed 8kg of sound deadening from the firewall – both as a weight saving, and to unlock a bit more of a bellow from the previously quite muted engine.

An an option, you can get new 22-inch forged alloy wheels shod in Continental SportContact 7 tyres that save 5kg a corner and, as an added bonus, look pretty awesome. You can also get 440mm carbon-ceramic brakes if you ask your Audi dealership very nicely… and cough up £9,200. The whole package remains an utterly beguiling thing to look at – it's brutal, bulging, injected with so many hormones that it's bulging out of its own metalwork. The arches almost look like they should have stretch marks.

The overwhelming impression is that the dial's been turned from 11 to perhaps 11 and three quarters. A 30bhp boost isn't a ton in relation to a 600bhp V8, but then the RS6 wasn't exactly slow in the first place.

This is a car that gathers pace ferociously quickly, accelerating long past licence-losing speed in a matter of seconds. After the barest hint of turbo lag, the V8 gives a bark and you simply find yourself heading towards the horizon.

It's like a video game. Honestly. Grip levels are tenacious and unless you're going at about sixteen tenths the RS6 just goes, gamely, where you point it. Standard for the Performance is four-wheel steering, which gives the rear end a bit of pivot and makes the car shrink around you just a little bit.

It's mature, friendly even, but keep poking it with a big stick and you can feel the power shift to the rear axle, giving it a degree of playfulness that's missing from most Audis and really surprising in a 2-tonne estate car.

It's not as tail-happy as an M5 or an E63, and the steering's decidedly remote – it's such a quick rack, and with so much mass to shift, that it'd be surprising if it wasn't.

The duality of the Audi RS6 is what really impresses. Because with the press of a driving mode switch, you can turn it from snarling, rabid corner-muncher into a refined and relaxed cruiser. We took it on 400 miles worth of cross-country jaunt and, with everything in its most chilled settings, it simply eats up the road.

Practicality is another string to the RS6's bulging bow. The 565-litre boot isn't as vast as an E63 Estate's, but it's massive nonetheless – wide, flat, and with seats that instantly fold totally flat for the tip run.

The Audi's dashboard is fairly standard A6, and consists of a trio of screens – a Virtual Cockpit taking the place of a gauge cluster, an upper screen for infotainment, and a lower screen that controls the climate and the driving modes.

How did people cope before fast wagons were a thing? And how will they cope when the last one gives its dying gasp, to be replaced by a fast SUV? A week with the latest Audi RS6 Performance has left us combing the back of the sofa looking for a spare hundred grand.

It does everything. It's massively spacious for both passengers and luggage, approachable and friendly when you're pootling around town, comfortable enough to cross continents in a day. Then at the flex of a foot, it's a snarling, steroidal monster that can cover ground at savage pace, simultaneously flattering less experienced drivers and giving those with the skill to wring its neck something to really enjoy. It truly does replace three cars – with the space of a family bus, the long-distance comfort of a grand tourer, and the pace of a supercar.

It's not perfect. An M3 Touring – though smaller – feels like more of an expression of driving joy than the Audi's slightly cold, calculated approach to speed. And if you can manage with a saloon tailgate, the same applies to the bigger, bolder M5. But there's definitely a place for the Audi RS6 – and this latest variant may well win a few more hearts than it did before, too.

FutureCar Staff