Audi Sport GmbH and its predecessor - quattro GmbH - have a long history of high-performance vehicles. The go-faster division is best known for sports wagons that include the RS2 Avant, along with the R8 supercar and more curious models such as the Q7 with the V12 twin-turbo TDI.
Nowadays, the most performance-oriented RennSport nameplate with internal combustion is the RS 6 Avant. Mat Watson of Carwow drives one, and he also had the opportunity to race it against older-gen RS 6s.
C8 is how the four-ringed automaker calls the fourth generation, which takes its mojo from a V8 twin-turbo TFSI with 592 horsepower (600 PS) and 590 pound-feet (800 Nm) of torque on tap. The C7 before it rocks 597 horsepower (605 PS) because it’s the Performance version, but it’s not as torquey at 553 pound-feet (750 Nm) between 2,500 and 5,500 revolutions.
The C6 is arguably the most interesting under the hood because of an odd-firing V10 with 5.0 liters of displacement, a powerplant that you may know from the Lamborghini Gallardo. But as opposed to the drop-dead gorgeous supercar, the family-sized car is augmented by a couple of boosty snails.
And finally, the C5 is the least-potent RS 6 lined up on the track, but it’s also the lightest of the lot at 1,865 versus 2,075 kilograms (4,112 and 4,575 pounds) for the outgoing model. Every single RS 6 in the following clip drives all four wheels through a torque-converter automatic transmission, but the question is, which one is the fastest of the lot on the ¼-mile sprint?
With the rubber warmed up for a grippy launch, the C7 launches off the starting line the hardest. The C8 fails to catch up by the finish line, which is why Mat called for another drag race. On this occasion, the 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant gaps the C7 by approximately two car lengths, thus taking the win.
The final race is pretty much a repeat of the second race, and the best the C8 could do over the ¼-mile is 11.4 seconds. The C7 followed suit with 11.8 seconds, the C6 with 12.5 seconds, and C5 with 13.2 seconds. From a 50-mph roll with the cars in comfort/automatic mode, the C7 takes the win thanks to a much better kickdown. Switching to sport mode and third gear with manual-shifting mode, the C8 leaves every other RS 6 Avant behind.
And finally, the braking test is almost a dead heat between the C8 and C7. The C7 stopped a little better, though, which goes to show that not much has changed from the previous RS 6 Avant to the current RS 6 Avant.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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