BBC_Top_Gear_South_Africa_June_2017

AUDI RS6
2002 (C5 GENERATION)
Engine: 4172cc, V8
twin-turbo, 331kW @ 5700rpm
559Nm @ 1950–5600rpm
Performance: 0–100km/h
in 4.6secs, 250km/
Transmission: 5-spd
auto, 4WD
Economy: 14.6l/100km,
350g/km CO 2
Weight: 1865kg
L x W: 4851mm x 1849mm
PROGRESS
REPORT
Evolution of the Audi
RS6 RenaultSport
Three generations of
The mighty estate meet
WORDS: OLLIE MARRIAGE /
PHOTOGRAPHY: ROWAN HORNCASTLE
Atrio of Audi RS6s: a vision to strike fear into the
otherwise happy, dappy hearts of lounging
Labradors everywhere. Now, as progress reports go,
this isn’t the most, well, progressive. Audi first
struck upon the fast estate formula in 1994 with the 235kW,
Porsche-engineered RS2, but it wasn’t exactly an instant hit:
only a handful made it here. An RS4 followed six years later,
and with the fast, all-weather estate concept finally
established, Audi introduced the bigger RS6 in 2002.
Since then there have been precisely no great leaps
forward. The first RS6, the C5, featured a twin-turbo
4.2-litre V8 driving all four wheels and was available as a
Plus model with an extra 22kW. The latest, the C7, is a twin
turbo 4.0-litre… and you can guess the rest – although the
Plus model now adds 33kW.
But this isn’t Audi stubbornly resisting advancement, it’s
the firm nailing the formula first time out. OK, so since day
one the RS6 has been criticised for not being as interactive
36 JUNE 2017