After living with the RS4 sports estate for six months, James Baggott upgrades to the fastest of Audi’s load luggers.
If running an Audi RS4 for six months felt like a lottery win – I can only imagine this is what a Euromillions jackpot feels like.
Ok, so perhaps that’s a little overdramatic, but I must say I was rather excited when a nice man from Oxfordshire arrived with an RS6 replacement for my previous long-term loan Audi RS4.
What’s different about the bigger brother apart from the additional two in its name, I hear you ask? Well, actually rather a lot.
For the uninitiated, the RS6 is the undisputed king of the sports tourer world. It’s got more power – 591bhp no less, and a stomach-punching 800Nm of torque.
Those figures wouldn’t look out of place on a supercar’s specification and, in fact, they serve up performance that would humble most exotic motors, especially considering it can do it while carrying several sacks full of rubbish for the tip at the same time.
The 0-60mph dash is dispatched in as little as 3.6 seconds and it’ll go on to a limited top speed of 155mph.
Compared to my previous RS4’s stats of 444bhp, 600Nm and 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds – itself no slouch – you can see the 6 gets some healthy improvements.
While the increase in performance figures might appear small on paper, after a few weeks with the RS6 it’s become clear that this feels more like a performance car. The throttle is sharper, the exhaust note a little deeper and it’s shockingly rapid off the line.
The eight-speed gearbox can be switched between a normal ‘drive’ and ‘sport’ mode, and in the latter, it sounds louder, changes are swifter and everything feels more assertive. I’m looking forward to some fun drives over the summer, that’s for sure.
The biggest change, though, is the additional space. As much as I loved the RS4, it was just a little too small at times, especially with a kid’s car seat in the rear.
The problem with the 4 was you couldn’t put the front passenger seat back far enough to make it comfortable when the Isofix seat and base were in position. In the RS6, there’s lots more space and that additional legroom has certainly been felt by the family.
The other big noticeable difference – apart from the performance, of course – is with the tech. The RS6 benefits from a far more modern twin touch screen multimedia interface and digital dashboard and it’s really rather smart.
The haptic feedback on the buttons is a classy touch and it all seems very logically laid out. I’m still getting used to it, but it makes the car feel a lot more premium than its smaller sibling (not that I had any complaints there).
The RS6 also looks more menacing than the RS4. While I loved the smaller car’s proportions and subtle, aggressive lines, the RS6 has a much wider stance with a lower nose and angular diffuser at the rear.
I’ve already had plenty of compliments on the Ultra Blue colour, too. In certain light, it shimmers beautifully and several people have said how much they love it – usually while I’m pumping it full of fuel, which is often.
If I thought my trips to the pumps were frequent in the RS4, then I’m going to soon have a bulging points card at my local filling station thanks to the RS6’s thirst. On a couple of trips around town recently I’ve seen 11mpg. Yes, 11.
However, that said, on longer motorway trips, thanks to 48v technology that shuts down the engine and allows it to coast to save fuel, it manages to achieve high twenties. It’ll be interesting to see how fuel consumption settles down during my time with the car.
Facts at a glance
- Model: Audi RS6
- Price as tested: £106,020
- Engine: 4.0-litre V8
- Power: 591bhp
- Torque: 800Nm
- 0-60mph: 3.6 seconds
- Top speed: 155mph
- MPG: 22.4mpg (combined)
- Emissions: 286g/km CO2
- Mileage: 11,256