This summer, Audi begins shipping the new RS e-tron GT, which is just like the Porsche Taycan Turbo, except with four-ringed badges. But the RS 6 Avant is still their ultimate daily street rod, designed to drag race and carry stuff while looking cool. We've seen a lot of drag races between it and Teslas, but this Model S Apex is just the most interesting tuner special ever.
It starts out as a normal Model S Performance with dual motors, which is pretty fast. It received the Cheetah Stance over-the-air upgrades, which make it hunker down for a better launch. But the cosmetic enhancements arrive via the S-Apex Complete Vehicle Program.
This cosmetically enhances the Tesla with 1.57 inches (40mm) added to each fender, making room for sticky wide rubbers. Before the drag race, Hoonigan briefly goes over the history of Unplugged Performance, of how the founder used to be knee-deep in JDM tuning projects but aligned himself with Elon Musk's EVs and rocket ships.
It's a pretty good decision if you ask us since Unplugged Performance sells the Apex body kit for $50,000 each. There's not a lot you can tune on a Tesla, so to make the P100D faster, they've played around with the suspension and lightened it as well. Overall, it does look quite unique and a fitting rival to the Audi.
By now, you've probably heard all about the 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant. It's a twin-turbo rocket ship with the heart of a Lamborghini Urus and a $110,000 base price. But this one has been tuned and produces something like 700 horsepower. We're actually really curious how the lowering module will work in the drag race since stock wagons look like they're doing a Carolina squat on full power. Heck, this is basically Cheetah Mode for Audis, though it probably doesn't have the same effect from an engineering standpoint.
The guy who brought the Audi doesn't live next to Elon Musk, but he clearly knows all about the 4.0 TFSI models, has two kids, and loves V8. It's going to be hard not to root for him, even though the RS 6 is at an obvious weight disadvantage. Are we sure those numbers are correct though?
Apparently, traction is also an issue with the RS 6. When it has carbon-ceramic brakes on, you can't put anything smaller than a 22-inch wheel on there. So no drag radials. The upside is that the Audi has more stopping power than most cars have pulling power, but that won't win you drag races. So, place your bets and get ready to be entertained!
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
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