audi rs6

franki68 · audi rs6

theres a full write up on the 'other' themotor forum.But it was a very impressive bit of kit ,and does not feel like 2 tonnes of metal.

Mark

Can you please copy and paste it into here, Franki? I can't get onto the other forum and would like to read your thoughts/experience.

Cheers.

franki68

franki68

sorry for the delay c&p'd from the other 'motor'

After many promises to me of a test drive I took matters into my own hands and booked a test drive at Bolton Audi.
Unfortunately no photos as I don't think it looks like you are a genuine buyer if you start asking to take photos of the car.

Anyway the car was a demo model with 1500 miles on in a silver/grey colour that was very nice ,with a black interior.

The interior of the car is very similar to the A8 with most of the controls in the same place and the weird handbrake button.The only off putting fact was the ignition was located on the left of the steering column,but apart from that it was a typical audi interior.Logical,clear and very good quality.The bucket type seats looked deeply inviting and the car is very well equipped.

Upon start up you get a deep throbbng noise from the exhaust but it settles quickly into near silence.Pulling away into traffic the car was like any other automatic car,easy to drive although I was finding the seating quite uncomfortable,the seats were built for someone with a wider body than me as although the side bolsters look very body hugging ,I did find myself moving about in them a bit.

Under the salesmans directions we headed of onto the 'tops' with lots if very narrow tighly twisting roads ,as we arrived I genuinely wondered if this 2 plus tonnes of car was going to cope with such narrow winding roads,which also has the usual british workmanship which had left ruts,severe cambers and holes all over.It really looked very challenging.

But at last hI had the opportunity to do waht I had wanted to do for a while ,and see/feel what it was like to have near 600bhp under your right foot.I pressed the pedal to the floor and all hell erupted.God this is seriously quick,I know figures will say otherwise but it felt at least as quick as the 997tt I had.Savage is best how to describe it.I soon found myself being unable to use it though as the bends were too close together.
What really suprised me was how agile the car was ,there was no way it flet like a 2 tonne car.It steered very accurately,changed direction as quickly as you could want and had more grip than velcro.This is a formidable cross country machine and I was struggling to think of any car I have driven or owned that would have left it on these sort of roads,it really was that quick.
Negatives..the steering was too lifeless,I usually prefer a bit more feel,but it was not something that put me off ,I tool pleasure in its accuracy.The ride was generally well sorted ,but occasionally would get cuaght out causing a jolt to the cabins occupants.I found the gearbox was not that great,in auto mode it was often caught hunting gears and some upchanges made progress less than smooth,in manual mode it would upchange byitself at the redline and would not hold the gear.Also although I said the seats looked good,I got out after a 40 minute drive and could not stand up properly,my back had gone.Now I must take some responsibility for this as I did not adjust the seat to my liking ,but I did feel the seat lacked some support which really suprised me.
Overall the car is utterly amazing because there is no way you could drive one and feel like it is a 2 tonne car,it is immensely fast (shockingly so above 100mph (ahem ! so I am told) ,handles incredibly well for what is a 2 tonne estate car,beautifully built.A truly fanastic daily proposition for someone who likes to make their dogs sick.
This car listed at £82k and was priced at £65k ,in a year a so when they are maybe 40k ish it will be a deeply tempting proposition if I want to reduce my cars.
However I got back into my car and the world seemed a far more interesting place when that exhaust burbled into life.

Mark

Cheers Franki.

Sounds like a hell of a machine. I'm just not keen on the looks or image.

TimR

The guy I know that has one went straight from a 997tt to it and he says it's certainly faster.

franki68

TimR

No his was an auto as well.

On a passenger ride I was shocked at how quickly the car gained speed above 3 figures but the owner also managed to demonstrate what is, in my opinion, one of the biggest downsides to these kind of cars cars - when someone holds you up on the motorway and doesn't move over into even a smallish gap there's nothing you can do thus leading to frustration.

Frank Bullitt

I was a passenger around Castle Coombe piloted by Audi UK's test-driver in October last year.

The straight line performance is increible - he just planted the throttle and it was off like a scalded cat with chilli powder rubbed on it's unmentionables. Nice place to sit too. However, despite the drivers incredible abilities you were left in no doubt this is a car that weighs more than a bungalow; he had the ESP turned off at the ECU, so getting the car sideways appeared to be quite easy, but the tyres were being killed by the antics and it all felt very unnatural.

Having sat alongside Simon in his RS4 I know which feels better from the passengers seat, and it's not the bigger car. The Audi test-driver also felt the RS4 was a better car if not quite so devastating in a straight line!

franki68

Whilst I have still yet to drive an rs4,I have little doubt it would be the more enjoyable car.HOwever it would also be nowhere near as quick across some good roads as its bigger brethren.I also think the rs6 would be unable to hide its mass as effectively on a track as it does on the road.
It is ultra impressive ,and whilst I would not for a moment consider swapping my car for one,I would be very wary of 'taking one on' in either a drag race or a 'cross country race'.
Aside from the buckets I would give the rs6 the nod over the m5 though and the equivalent AMG.

Frank Bullitt

franki68