As far as Teutonic super-sedans go...scrap that: as far as anything goes – and go it does – the Audi RS6 is one of the most desirable cars on the market. Previously only available as a wagon, Audi gave us a sneak peek of the new RS6 sedan in Moscow ahead of its official unveiling next week in Paris.
Good news and bad news go hand-in-hand, but in this case, it's not entirely unexpected. According to Audi RS6 project manager Jens Koch, the twin-turbocharged V10 sedan won't be coming to the U.S. in its current iteration. Originally, Audi thought that the four-door body style would be more appealing to Stateside consumers rather than the Avant, but apparently there's too much energy and expense involved in making the V10 powerplant pass the more stringent sniffer standards here in the U.S. On the upside, the third-generation RS6 is being developed for the global market, so the next iteration should arrive on our shores in 2012. Koch hinted that the RS6's weight problem and 5.0-liter V10 wouldn't carryover to the 2012 model, and that the next RS6 will be more "revolutionary" and "far more RennSport than anything previously developed." Meanwhile, Audi will take the wraps off the RS5 this January in Detroit, with the next RS4 debuting shortly thereafter. Audi plans to further its goal of taking on BMW's M division and Mercedes' AMG lineup with more Quattro-branded vehicles positioned above run-of-the-mill Audis, along with more clearly defined R-, S- and RS-derivatives. "S" badged variants will also be sportier than current S models, while the "R" lineup will be "significantly souped-up" and "RS" will be reserved for lightweight, track-friendly models.
All right. Now we're torn. RS6 Avant or RS6 sedan? Both are packing the same twin-turbocharged, direct-injected 5.0-liter V10 putting out 580 hp and 479 lb.-ft. of torque. Both send power to all four wheels through a six-speed tiptronic tranny and both can be equipped with absolutely massive 420mm (front) and 356mm (rear) ceramic brakes. While it's hard to deny the practicality of the wagon, we think the sedan comes across as more elegant – in a brutally Teutonic way. The voting will commence in the comments and check the gallery below for a plenty of high-res images from the show floor.
A 580hp station wagon (or sedan, for that matter) seems like sheer lunacy in its own right, but it appears that the twin-turbo V10 in the Audi RS6 is capable of a great deal more. Following the release of the 702hp MTM-tuned RS6 M, fellow German tuning house B&B Automobiltechnik has an even more potent tuning package, boosting power up to a whopping 715. So what did the power-hungry gearheads at B&B do to get a 120 horsepower boost out of the Gallardo-derived FSI? They didn't replace the turbos or fit a new supercharger, nor did they bore out the cylinder block for bigger displacement. They simply fitted a new intake, catalyst, exhaust and cooling system, and tinkered with the ECU. B&B are also offering an adjustable suspension and new springs that drop the ride height by 25mm. The result? A claimed 0-60 run in a scant 3.6 seconds. That's well into supercar territory, as many a Porsche and Ferrari driver are bound to discover when baited into an impromptu red-light drag race. Nice work if you can get it.
It looks like we won't have to wait for the Paris Motor Show to get our first glimpse of the 2009 Audi RS6 sedan and it's lesser A6 siblings. Audi has released all the details on its new four-door M5-eater, packing a direct-injected, twin-turbo'd V10 putting out 580 hp and 479 lb.-ft. of torque. The same mill that powers the Avant version allows the sedan to sprint to 60 in 4.5-seconds on its way to an electronically-limited top speed of 155 mph. The duo of turbos huffs 1.6 bars of boost into the dry sump-equipped 5.0-liter V10, with peak torque arriving at 1,500 RPM and maximum horsepower available at 6,250 RPM.
A six-speed tiptronic transmission allows drivers to choose between automatic or manual mode, reducing shift times by one-tenth of second, and sending power to Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system. Dynamic Ride Control reduces pitch and roll, providing three damper settings – sport, dynamic and comfort – all of which can be activated through the revised MMI system.
The RS6 is fitted with 19-inch wheels at all four corners, wrapped in 255/40R19 rubber, and framing 390mm front discs clamped by fixed, six-piston calipers in front and 365 mm rotors, gripped by single-piston calipers in the rear. Buyers can upgrade the wheels to 20x9.5-inch rollers, which allow the fitment of Audi's ceramic brake system (420mm discs in front and 356 mm discs out back).
The standard A6 sedan and Avant benefits from the new MMI system, along with a new single-frame grille, bumpers, air vents and fog lamps. An S-line package includes 18-inch wheels and a sports suspension that drops the ride height by 30mm. Six gasoline engines and four oilburners will be available, including the 170 hp, 2.0-liter gasoline TFSI four-pot, a 290 hp, 2.8-liter FSI V6, a 350 hp, 4.2-liter FSI V8 and the new, supercharged 3.0-liter V6. Audi's diesel offerings range from 2.0- to a 3.0-liter TDIs.
You have to sit back and applaud a car like the Audi RS6 Avant. As we've noted with amazement countless times, it's a station wagon capable of outgunning supercars. In Europe that sort of thing flies, and while it still won't be making the transatlantic voyage (even though we're sure that, with a set of wings attached, it could get here on its own), even back in the old world not everyone is keen on the estate body-style. Which is why Audi is preparing a conventional four-door sedan version of the RS6, which our photographers spied all but completely undisguised out on the street a little over a month ago. Reports now indicate that the twin-turbo V10 super-sedan will be unveiled at the upcoming Paris Motor Show this coming October. We can expect the sedan version to carry the same mechanicals as its wagon counterpart, however certain visual updates are expected to be shown on the top-of-the-line RS6 sedan before they trickle down to the entire A6 range.
Our colleague Chris Tutor recently took the Porsche Boxster RS 60 Spyder for a few quick turns around Barber Motorsports. A tad more powerful than the Boxster S, and filled with red leather, he discovered it was plenty of car on the closed circuit. We recently had a chance to get the special edition RS 60 off the track and onto the back roads of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and got to see what the car could do on twisting country lanes – and unexpectedly, in the rain. The likewise unexpected result: damn near perfection.
With a 580-hp twin-turbo V10 derived from the Lamborghini Gallardo's mill, the Audi RS6 is hardly a candidate for improvements. It's a station wagon that outguns supercars, for crying out loud. But we had to figure that it would only be a matter of time until someone tried, and German tuning house MTM has stepped up to bat.
To give you an idea of what MTM's engineers are capable, with just a tweak of the ECU they've managed to boost output to 656 hp, dropping the 0-60 time down from an already outstanding 4.6 seconds to a scant 3.9. Throw in a stainless steel exhaust and a new air filter and presto! You've got 702 horses underhood. MTM is also offering some reserved carbon fiber aero bits, a new set of brakes, revised dampers and 21-inch wheels. We don't know what kind of world this is where you can get your hands on a 700 horsepower wagon, but we like it.
The Audi RS6 is about to receive some sheetmetal tweaks that both bring the super sedan's exterior styling more in line with the corporate design language and give it a decidedly more devilish look than the standard A6 or sportier S6. Out back the RS6 drops the current A6 taillights for a pair that appear lifted directly off the A5. It's a good switch, as the A5's rear end is decidedly more simple and clean the current A6. We would expect to see the same udpate made across the A6 line very soon. Up front the car gets new air intakes that flank the gaping grille, which include one big intake on either side that are capped by a smaller inlet right at the leading edge of the front fenders. The headlights also sport a row of LEDs along their bottom as well as an eyelid of some sort above, which gives the RS6's face a mean glare. Of course, behind those glaring eyes lie a 5.0L twin-turbo V10 producing well above 500 horsepower that can back up the serious stare.
On paper, the Boxster RS 60 Spyder might seem nothing more than a limited-edition Boxster with some interior upgrades, a slight horsepower bump over the S model and a name picked from the company's rich racing history.
Let's first take a look at the car's historic name. In 1960, Porsche's mid-engined 718 RS 60 won both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Targa Florio. Historic pictures show it as a silver car with a red leather interior, much like the 2008 Boxster RS 60 Spyder I took around Barber Motorsports this week.
