2016 seems to be the year of the drag race in Europe. This was always the way to settle things in America, but UK reviews used to be filled with intricate nuances, political references, and Jeremy Clarkson jokes about Keira Knightley's underdeveloped curves. But the internet just wants to see a wagon that's faster than a supercar.
Is it? In the case of the RS6 performance and the R8 Spyder, Auto Express says that it is. This generation of Audi's super-estate has been around for quite a few years. And in 2015, it got the performance pack, booting the total output from 560 to 605 PS. You'd have to be a tool to buy anything else.
Both it and the RS7 have raced against the new R8 and always lost. Bot today, the R8 has a double handicap: less power and more weight. To be precise, the R8 Spyder weighs 1,795 kilograms and produces 540 PS from its V10. So even though the RS6 performance weighs 230 kilos more, it can still put up a fight thanks to all that torque. Oh, and the fact that it has one extra gear doesn't matter because the two use completely different types of powertrains and launch control anyway.
Just looking at the two, you'd think that the R8 is a supercar and thus faster than any wagon. But Auto Express tried it multiple times and came to the conclusion the most powerful RS6 is slightly faster. To 60 miles per hour, it actually takes 0.2 seconds less. What a monster!
And it's not like you are paying the price in any other. With the top up, the R8 feel a little claustrophobic and dark, but the RS6 is a well-equipped luxury machine with seating for four and their luggage.
This is the era of turbocharging and, in the case of performance cars, twin-turbocharging. The R8 is one of the few small supercars that don't follow the trend, along with its Lamborghini sister car. For now, the underpowered Spyder model is the only Achilles heel. But we know that the new Mercedes-AMG E63 S is going to be slightly faster than the RS6/7.
Like it or not, going fast in a straight line is more important than predictability and drifting.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News