Audi RS 6 Avant GT 2024 review: Most people will think you're a twerp, but you'll be driving the best super estate in the world
Too late if you've not already ordered one...
The Audi RS 6 Avant’s image has evolved in the last 20 years or so. Although it was once used as the sporty but classy and understated mode of transport for Daniel Craig’s drug-dealing mates in 2004’s Layer Cake — and still has a cadre of followers who see it that way — it has since become appealing to a very different kind of follower: the Instagram kind. It’s a contingent packed with gym bros and footballers, and it means the cool, elegant silver RS 6 Avant in that movie has evolved to be much closer in image to the obnoxious yellow Range Rover used by Craig’s less sophisticated gangland rivals.
All of which means there are a lot of people on social media who are positively effervescent at the sight of the new RS 6 Avant GT, and quite a few others who think it’s thoroughly ridiculous.
But while the car you see pictured may look like a steroidal, limited-edition RS 6 Avant with its sights firmly set on taking money from the nouveau riche, it’s much more than that. This is an homage to Audi’s past and promises more engagement than the standard RS 6, which will give it some appeal to the well-heeled enthusiast.
And they’ll have to be extremely well-heeled if they want to buy one of these. The standard RS 6 Avant isn’t cheap, but at almost £180,000 this GT version’s pricetag is more commonly seen on Rightmove than Auto Trader. You’ll have to sell a bit more than a few cans of laughing gas if you want one of these.
And you’ll have to be prepared for some people to point and laugh (in a non-gas-induced way), because the RS 6 Avant GT is a bit … bold. To say the least. As if the pumped-up arches, gills in front of the doors and the shouty mouth at the front weren’t enough, the car gets a double-decker rear wing and carbon-fibre body panels, as well as exposed carbon on the bonnet and some massive skirts and bumpers.
Then there’s the colour scheme. You can have a choice of different hues but the only one worthy of note is this white option with the black and red stickers and white alloy wheels. Yes, white wheels are a brave choice, and people with no interest in 1980s racing will look at the paint scheme and wonder what buyers were thinking. But every so often, someone who knows about the Audi 90 Quattro IMSA GTO will rock up and nod approvingly. Maybe. If they aren’t too jealous.
You see, this design is a love-hate thing, and while we think it looks pretty impressive in a lot of ways, it’s quite an embarrassing thing in which to be seen. When behind the wheel, regular folk look at you as if you’re some kind of zoo animal, and the attention one gets from people who drive Golf Rs isn’t always welcome. And then there’s the group of people who just think you’re a twerp and have no hesitation in saying so.
This, therefore, is not the car you take on a first date, lest the object of your affections decides you’re a total plonker. But the people who look you up and down in Sainsbury’s car park don’t know the half of what it’s like to be in an RS 6 GT, let alone to drive one.
Step inside and you’re greeted by much the same dashboard you’ll get in a standard RS 6, with the chunky design and screens, but it’s enhanced with lots of microfibre upholstery, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and plenty of contrast-coloured stitching. And there are some pretty epic sports seats, with carbon-fibre backs and a surprising amount of support considering how well they hold you in place. After a little while, though, they may start to give your lower back a bit of grief. They did mine.
The real advantage of this cabin is not necessarily the sense of drama, although the little touches, including the numbered plate on the dash, make you well aware this is more than just another A6, but the usability of it all. Yes, the car is wider than a 1970s popstar’s trousers, but its size simply means there’s space in the back for humans and there’s space in the boot for their luggage. It’s barely less useful than an A6 Avant diesel.
But it is a lot quicker. The engine is essentially the same 4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 you’ll get in the already potent RS 6 Performance, with 621bhp and 627lb ft of torque (twisting force). Those figures are just numbers, but they put the RS 6 roughly on a par with the BMW M8 Competition when it comes to outright grunt.
The resulting wave of power is accompanied by a soundtrack seemingly taken from the foundries of hell. Put your foot down and the V8 sounds like one of those pneumatic tyre guns used by a Formula One team at a pitstop, snarling its way towards the 7,000rpm redline before the automatic gearbox sharply selects another of its eight gears. It’s a fabulously extravagant two-fingered salute to all the companies that have dialled back their V8s in fear of the regulators.
As with the standard RS 6, the power is distributed between all four wheels thanks to Audi’s quattro all-wheel-drive system, which allows the RS 6 GT to get from 0-62mph in just 3.3 seconds before hitting an electronically governed top speed of 190mph. That means this big family estate has gone to the gym and come out only slightly slower than the R8 supercar. It’s mind-bogglingly ballistic.
In a rare move for Audi, it’s also remarkably good in the bends. Not so long ago, Audis had a reputation for feeling a bit lardy, particularly when it came to cornering. But times have changed, and though the new RS 6 Avant is still a bit of a point-and-squirt muscle car in its way, it’s much happier in curves than some of its predecessors. And the GT version has upped the RS 6’s game even further.
With coilover suspension that’s manually adjustable (assuming you’re a mechanic with a spanner, rather than just a spanner) and stiffer anti-roll bars, the GT’s underside doesn’t bear that much resemblance to that of the stock RS 6, and nor does the way it drives. Weirdly, the GT is somehow more comfortable than a base RS 6 that quite literally rides on airbags, and where a standard car would thump into potholes, the GT simply bumps over them slightly stiffly, but never too uncomfortably. It’s sporty, yes, but never jagged, and gives you more feedback and body control than you’d get in an air-sprung Audi.
I liked the composure very much, but not as much as I liked the steering. A standard RS 6 isn’t bad on this front, exactly, but it feels a bit joyless and lacklustre compared with that of a BMW M5, whereas the GT model’s wheel feels more Porsche-like in its feedback and precision. This isn’t a car that tolerates corners anymore, but one that relishes them.
Okay, perhaps the RS 6 Avant GT isn’t quite as poised as an M5, but it’s still a fantastic road-biased super-estate that will work brilliantly at the kinds of speeds you’re likely to see on the road. It just doesn’t feel like a track car, and that’s fine by us. For long distances on sweeping mountain roads, it’s fabulous.
What we have here, then, is a car that all RS 6 fans will love. The old-school fanatics will love its newfound poise and passion, while the new breed will dig its outlandish look and immense soundtrack.
Unfortunately, all 60 examples destined for the UK have been sold already, and the other 600 heading elsewhere in the world are also spoken for. So, unless you’ve already ordered a GT, you can’t have one. That’s a shame, because whatever you think of the image — and I fully understand why many will hate it — the GT is brilliant where the standard RS 6 is merely good, and it’s a pity more people won’t be able to experience that upgrade.
Related articles
- If you found this review of the Audi RS 6 Avant GT interesting, you may want to read our review of a prototype of the updated Audi S3
- You might also like to read our review of the BMW M3 Touring
- Have you seen the all-electric Audi A6 e-tron?
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