Wagon Wunderkind: Audi RS 8 Avant Rendering Has Us Dreaming Big
We never knew we needed an Audi RS 8 Avant until we saw it. Now we can’t stop thinking about it. Audi, please build it.
If we told you twenty years ago that Audi would be selling a wagon in the U.S. that makes nearly 600 horsepower, accelerates to 60 mph in just over 3 seconds and tops out at 190 mph you would think we were dreaming. Well, we are happy to report that the 2022 Audi RS 6 Avant is here and can do all of those things. Audi currently has an impressive lineup of cars and even in that lineup the RS 6 Avant stands out as one of the most desirable. Now, let’s go back to dream mode for a little bit. Let’s dial up that 6 to an 8. What if Audi produced an RS 8 Avant? What would that be like?
It may still be a dream, but an incredible rendering of an RS 8 Avant was recently revealed on the hycade YouTube channel. Our jaws have still not closed. There is nothing wrong with the RS 6 Avant we have of course. But why not dream a little more? It is just a rendering, not an Audi concept so we are in full fantasy mode here. But the good part of that is that we have freedom to make this what we want in our own minds. So, what would an Audi RS 8 Avant really be like?
Looks
The rendering is stunning and also realistic. It is not riding on 28-inch rims with a 3-foot-high spoiler and more vents than a laundromat rooftop. It looks like something Audi could build. It is slightly longer, and a bit wider and more aggressive looking. The rear exhaust has massive pipes, but they are not all that much bigger than what you find on the production RS 6 Avant. This is all doable. There is no interior rendering, but we can assume that is it similar to what is found in the S8 with just a bit more sport thrown in.
Performance
The Audi RS 5 makes 444 horsepower. Step up to the RS 6 Avant and you get a 33 percent bump to 591 horsepower. And since we are dreaming here let’s assume that going from the RS 6 Avant to the RS 8 Avant yields a similar bump. That means the RS 8 Avant is packing about 785 horsepower. That should get the car to 60 mph in well under 3 seconds and on to a top speed on the other side of 200 mph. Yes please. Sign us up for that.
Price
Well, sometimes dreams are bad, and while most of this RS 8 Avant dream is good, this is where it can turn a bit south. We do have to pay for all this awesomeness. The Audi S6 Sedan has a MSRP of $72,700. The RS 6 Avant goes for $116,500. That is about a 60 percent price hike. The S8 Sedan lists for $116,900. Applying the same 60 percent price bump and the RS 8 Avant would list at $187,000. Not cheap. But not totally out of line. The 620 horsepower Porsche Panamera Turbo S Sport Turismo costs about the same. But this RS 8 Avant looks way better and according to our math would pack nearly 800 horsepower.
Dream On
Will the Audi RS 8 Avant ever happen? Will it pack the kind of performance that we estimated here? Who knows. For now, it is pure fantasy. But an escape from reality every once in a while, can be fun. And remember at one time we never could have imagined that we would have an RS 6 Avant like we have now so there is always hope.
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