INGOLSTADT, Germany — Audi has issued official photographs of its new second-generation RS6 one week before the rapid new four-door is due to make its public debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany.
Based on Audi's current S6, it is planned to go on sale across Europe next April in both sedan and wagon body styles, priced at the equivalent of U.S. $138,500. Audi officials in Germany say North American sales are planned, although they don't give a time frame.
The new RS6 is powered by a new version of the S6's engine, a twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V10, rather than by the 435-horsepower twin-turbo 4.2-liter V8 engine of its predecessor. The new RS6 engine develops a heady 580 hp, which places it ahead of its key four-door rivals, the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, by 73 hp and 66 hp respectively. Torque tops out at a prodigious 479 pound-feet at just 1,500 rpm. With drive being apportioned to all four wheels via a six-speed gearbox and Audi's Quattro four-wheel-drive system, the RS6 has a 4.6-second 0-62-mph time and an electronically governed 155 mph top speed.
Visual changes from the S6 include a deeper front bumper, a revised grille, flared wheel arches housing standard 19-inch wheels, wider sills under the doors, and a new rear bumper with twin chrome oval tailpipes.
What this means to you:
With 60 hp more than daughter company Lamborghini's Gallardo, Audi's new 580-hp RS6 is clearly seeking four-door supremacy.
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