2015 Audi RS6 Avant

26 February, 2015   By: Alex Forrest

Before everyone decided they needed to be half a metre higher off the road in an SUV, station wagons were the standard tools for hauling the stuff of life.

Stuff like shopping, prams, toys, sports gear, kids and everything they leave behind in the car. Like old mandarin peel, $4.25 in change, that missing green colouring-in pencil and Barbie’s left stiletto.  

Well, the Audi RS6 Avant can do all that, but it also hauls in a different way.

It’s one of the world’s most ferociously powerful station wagons, with 412kW and 700Nm available from its twin-turbocharged, 4.0-litre V8.

That’s the same amount of power as a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, and 160Nm more torque.

The RS6 Avant is also among the world’s most expensive station wagons. It’s priced at $240,000 drive away, so it’s certainly not for every budget.

However, this also makes it still more than $200,000 cheaper than that Gallardo, which of course forms the basis of an argument about what great value the RS6 Avant is.

Dig a little deeper though, and the RS6 Avant also has some other astonishing numbers which are rarely quoted when this car is being discussed.

Making 412kW and 700Nm come out of a 4.0-litre engine and while keeping it smooth and usable is one thing, but in the official ADR fuel consumption test, it also uses just 9.8 litres per 100km.

That’s only half a litre more than a Toyota Aurion. Helping the RS6 Avant achieve this is its cylinder on demand (COD) system, which temporarily switches off four cylinders when operating under a light load.

Its body shell utilises high-tech steel technologies and also comprises approximately 20 percent aluminium, which has helped the car slim down by 100kg compared with its predecessor.

To call this car a station wagon is like calling Michelangelo’s David a carving. It’s far more than that.

Audi actually calls it a sports car but really, it’s a supercar which can carry a family of five and all their gear.

So really, the Audi RS6 Avant is more than just one of the world’s fastest station wagons.

It’s also the world’s most practical supercar.