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RS4 Vs. RS7 Audi Olympics Proves Fun and Performance Are Not Price Related

Audi is a brand renowned first and foremost for the quality of its cars' interiors. The company's haptic team - the guys who awkwardly touch everything in the cabin to make sure it feels nice to the hand - has been the subject of many news at some point, which helped build this image for the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer.
Audi RS$ Avant vs. Audi RS7 Sportback competition 86 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
BMW, on the other hand, is all about driving dynamics. Its interiors aren't bad, but you won't hear people talk about them any more than it's natural to. The way the car handles, on the other hand, is a subject you're much more likely to encounter when speaking about Bavaria's finest, as is power output, grip, or traction.

You probably get where I'm going: as a brand, Audi didn't manage to garner a sporty reputation, so it had to make do with plush materials. However, the same can't be said about its RS line - those models are pure evil, and everyone knows it. And the best part is they've always come in wagon shapes (or Avant, as they call it), which is just very, very cool for some reason.

The two contenders we have here are an RS4 Avant and an RS7 Sportback. The former is a compact station wagon with a 2.9-liter turbocharged V6 engine pushing out 450 hp and 443 lb-ft (600 Nm) of torque through an eight-speed automatic transmission and the brand's quattro all-wheel-drive system. All that goodness comes at a price, though: over $90,000 (€80,000).

That's a lot but wait until you hear the price tag on the RS7. The four-door coupe with a liftgate will set you back at least $120,000 (€106,000), but what you get for the extra $30k is a bigger engine (4.0-liter turbocharged V8) with more power and torque (600 hp and 590 lb-ft/800 Nm) shoved through the same transmission set up. You also get a larger and nicer interior which is good for comfort, but bad for weight saving: about 550 lbs (250 kg) separate the two.

On paper, this shouldn't even be a contest. The extra muscle of the RS7 should make short work of the RS4's still developing body with its 3.6 seconds 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration compared to the wagon's 4.1 seconds. Good thing Mat from carwow is out on the track, then, because things don't always turn out as theory would suggest.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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