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What is it?

The most powerful series production Audi ever. With 572bhp, the new second-generation RS6’s twin-turbocharged 5.0-litre V10 engine provides it with a whopping 99bhp more than the German car-maker’s previous top gun, the 473bhp twin-turbo V8-powered first generation RS6.

This new four-wheel drive mega-estate is also the fastest accelerating road car to ever head out of Ingolstadt. Officially, it takes just 4.6sec to go from zero to 62mph, placing it on the same pe...Read the full article

Why no saloon version? not everyone wants an estate.

Impressive as it is, if I needed the space I would definitely opt for the cheaper more understated RS4 Avant. From this report it sounds to me as though the RS6 wouldn't be any more engaging and faster it may be, the RS4 is plenty fast for any driver in the UK.

And the same might be said for the upcoming saloon version which may offer up to 70bhp more than its main rivals from Germany but will be hard-pressed to deliver that advantage anywhere other than on the autobahn. Again if I were in the market I would probably opt for the more focussed BMW M5.

Two tons! That's even sillier than the power figure. 

Honestly, does a family/executive estate, even in sporting guise, really need to be not that far short of 600bhp? It's power is up by nearly 100bhp on the pervious model. Why I have to ask? Why didn't Audi instead focus on reducing its weight, to get better performance?

I hope the next BMW M5 doesn't continue to play the power game that Merc and Audi are clearly set on, and goes for the weight loss option.

That is a ludicrous amount of money for an estate car - essentially a family load lugger - I don't care how good it is.

As astounding as it is, is the RS6 the first sign of a performance version of a conventional saloon (well, estate in this case) gone too far? Or is the fact that there is difficulty in accepting a car like this that is approaching supercar levels of performance?

Perfomance execs, namely the the M5 and AMG E-Class, have traditonally had power outputs similar to junior supercars like 911 Turbos, F430s and their predecessors but Audi seems to have raised the bar to the next level by a huge margin. Perhaps this hand grenade of an engine (boosted to 600Bhp maybe!) should have appeared in a RS8 instead as we may be able to accept supercar rivalling performance in a luxury car.

God knows what a new RS4/RS5 would produce and i wouldn't bet against anything less than 500Bhp.

I agree, the weight advantage of the RS4 is bound to result in a more nimble and rewarding drive. Equally M5 tourings are dropping below 60k now for 1 yr old with low miles, this is a £20k saving on the RS6

I'm trading in my old RS6 for this but 75k is a wee bit steep to be honest. Most of the people who can afford this kind of money would rather roll around in a Range Rover. Which is more practical. Simply put, this aint a drug dealers car, and thats a big problem these days.

 When I read the First Drive article I died a little inside.

 So to get this straight...

 It weighs over 2 tonnes, has 572bhp, and can manage 0-60 in 4.6 seconds? Exsqueeze me? The old Plus managed a similar feat.
 

 As an advocate of the old car and the Audi marque , I feel disappointed with this... monstrosity... that Audi have unveiled.

I hope they employ the Mazda philosophy soon.

P.S. £75,000? I'll take two BMWs thanks. I think a 335i and 335d should fit the bill nicely!
 

Mmmmm, I don't know guys.

I live in southern Spain and trust me there is a certain type of customer who buy black Range Rovers and indeed black Q7s.

I have seen the back seat of a RS4 and owned slower A4s in the past. If you have a young family with two kids or more, an A6 rear cabin is far better esp when you have to fit various sizes of car seats etc...

I've currently got a 911 and can assure you I constently get burned up by fast audis on the toll road and to be frank am getting sick of it!! Also the kids can't fit in the back anymore!

To me the RS6 covers a lot of bases and yes it's not cheap but with the high Spec taken into account and the fact there are so many clever ways to fund high value/low depreciating cars, I've decided to give it a go and sent my deposit cheque off to Stirling Audi!! In my part of the world there isn't even one RS4 kicking about and I still love the "understatement" of the new car.

Did I mention there are no speed cameras here?

Safe driving,

Hombre

572 bhp for a supposed family estate car? this is getting ridiculous now. anyone wanna bet on Mercedes strapping a huge supercharger on their current 6.3 litre AMG engines which already in naturally aspirated form produce in excess of 520 bhp to come with something really ludicrous and and capable of time travel? hahahaha. or maybe just drop the 65AMG in the E-class. Now that would be worrying. tyre consumingly worrying.