2014 Audi RS6 Avant

Family-ferrying road rocket is Audi’s secret weapon, so secret they forgot to tell people one simple fact…

By Shahzad Sheikh

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

What the hell’s the matter with the folk at Audi’s marketing department? If I was them, I’d be screaming one simple fact about the 2014 Audi RS6 Avant all across the region – screaming it loud and a lot.

Screaming like my passengers did when I unleashed an indecent number of horses upon an unsuspecting piece of tarmac in what amounted to family wagon; an opulent one mind, but still just a (turns out not-so-humble) estate car.

You see there’s no need to be all Vorsprung durch Discreet about the latest RS6, yes it’s refined, yes it’s solid, and yes it’s all very Audi, but there’s something way, way more fundamental, crucial and enthralling about this car.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

It’s the fastest f*cking family station wagon/estate (call it what you will) on the bloody planet! End of.

Oi what was that? We have a heckler – what did you mumble? Oh yes, something about AMGs and E-class taxis… sorry estates? Well it may have more horsepower, 580bhp versus this Audi’s 560, but it’s three-tenths of a second slower in accelerating from 0-100kph and limited to 250kph. This Avant will blast on to a top speed of 280kph. Go on, take that back to Stuttgart in your glorified cab!

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

Video Verdict

Power, performance, grip

Power without performance is nothing, and power without grip is even nothinger… hmm… Anyway, the point being that the RS6 Avant comes with Quattro all-wheel drive – know how I know that? Cause it’s emblazoned right across the lower part of the gaping front honeycomb grille.

It grips like the tyres have been replaced with giant rolls of double sided Scotch Tape, and pivots around a corner like an invisible steel cable has anchored it to the tip of the corner’s apex. And as for the pulverising performance, it properly pins you into the back of those exquisite leather bucket seats.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

The following day I was rubbing ointment into my aching neck muscles, not realising how hard I’d been straining against the g-forces as I repeatedly jumped on the gas pedal just to revel in the shock and awe acceleration, and get high on the parping exhaust, snatching eye-blink quick paddleshifts up the quick 8-speed Tiptronic on the way to somewhere north (only slightly officer) of the legal limits.

This Audi will match a new 2014 Corvette Stingray to 100kph! But whereas that’s a lithe little sporster weighing under 1500kg, this thing is a near two-ton bus. It’s even bright red. Like a London bus.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

Whilst the Chevy’s a slinky two-seat coupe, the Avant is a five-seater (four on our test car with its individualised rear seats, though we’re pretty sure you could order it with the full bench if you ask nicely of Audi Bespoke), plus luggage space. Luggage space that will swallow a bike as my colleague Imthishan found, 565 litres of capacity in fact – 1680 if you put the seats down. You could use this as a work van!

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

Imthishan’s Video Walkaround

Solid practicality

Beautifully put together, stunningly finished, very comfortable and spacious, this really is a practical family estate car. Then you hit the button marked CAR and you get a choice of how to set up the RS6: comfort, auto or dynamic. And then you know this isn’t your average people and paraphernalia mover.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

Even better – there’s Individual mode. So, like I did, you can turn everything up to dynamic including the steering, engine sound and sports differential (!), yet put the ride on comfort and the engine/gearbox into auto, so you can cruise around or wipe sporting pretenders clean off the road at the twitch of a throttle pedal. Utter awesomeness.

The RS6 Avant is pretty much exactly the same as my other most-favourite Audi ever, the RS7 Sportsback, and much of what I said about that car at the launch drive applies equally to this car (so read that review too by clicking here), except that this is more of a Q-car whilst losing nothing in terms of meaty stance and eye-catching good looks.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

In the review of the RS7 I said get the Sports Suspension, rather than the Adaptive Air Suspension because the glorious Sports Exhaust was only available with former, and that was a must-have.

However, by the time the car got to our market, the Sports Exhaust was available with the Adapative Air Suspension, and that’s a really good thing because the ride is better and this also applies to the RS6, particularly as this bus is riding on massive 21-inch wheels. Your passengers will thank you for the suspension and you’ll appreciate it too, but everyone will still hear you coming from two blocks away.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

Verdict

It’s pricey though. Starting at AED450,000, and our car was fitted with AED66k of extras – but then you really want the Audi Exclusive pack with the quilted honeycomb stitching for the seats, the leather-edged floor mats and the red seat belts. And you really can’t do without the Carbon pack on the outside, including the Quattro logo on the front!

You don’t want to cheap out on the cool stuff on a car like this when you’re already spending that sort of money. Of course there are more accessible ways to get this sort of performance, and the world’s second quickest estate would undoubtedly be less expensive – the almighty Cadillac CTS-V wagon. But then you can’t officially get that here, and it’s on run-out anyway.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

So if you want the world’s fastest family car, and you absolutely must do, then this is the only one to have. Except you might have to sell your family to get one. Oh.

2014 Audi RS6 Avant – The Specs

Prices: AED450,000 ($123k)
Engine: 4.0-litre biturbo V8, 560bhp @ 5700-6600rpm, 516lb ft @ 1750-5500rpm
Performance: 3.9secs 0-100kph, 280kph, 9.8L/100
Transmission: Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Weight: 1935kg

2014 Audi RS6 Avant, fastest family wagon on the planet

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