Audi RS 6 Avant Performance & RS 7 Performance: Most Powerful RS 6 & RS 7 Ever!
With 621 HP and optional lighter wheels, the RS 6 Avant performance & RS 7 performance rocket to 60 mph in only 3.3 seconds!
Today Audi announced its most powerful RS 6 and RS 7 models ever: the 2024 RS 6 Avant performance and RS 7 performance. Which take the place of the standard cars for the 2024 model year (IE, this isn’t an optional package). And unlike the previous generation performance variants, these are thankfully both U.S.-bound.
Audi’s had twin-turbo 4.0L V8 engines under the hood of several models for about a decade. But thanks to larger turbochargers capable of more boost, the RS 6 Avant performance and RS 7 performance produce 621 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque. That’s 30 more horsepower and 37 extra lb-ft of torque compared to the 2023 model year.
Coupling that power with a quicker-shifting transmission, a lighter center differential that can send up to 70% of the torque to the front wheels and up to 80% to the rear, and lighter wheels (more on them in a moment), these new performance models can hit sixty miles an hour in just 3.3 seconds, as measured by Audi.
Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph, unless you get the Dynamic package or the Bronze Edition (see below).
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Same Exhaust, More Sound?
Getting behind the wheel of an RS 6 or 7 is a thrilling experience. But it’s often a quiet one unless you happen to be hammering the pedal in a tunnel. The RS 7 performance and RS 6 Avant performance aim to change this. But, instead of making the Sport exhaust louder, engineers removed sound insulation from the vehicles’ firewall and rear interiors, which allow drivers and passengers to experience more biturbo goodness. (Can’t wait to test this out in person.)
Lighter Wheels
Audi fitted Audi RS 6 Avant and RS 7 performance models with standard 21-inch 10-spoke star design cast aluminum wheels with 275/35 tires all around. But you don’t want those wheels. You want one of the three optional 22-inch forged milled cut wheels wrapped in Continental Sport Contact 7 285/30 summer performance tires.
Why? Rotational mass. The absolute best place to cut weight on any sporty vehicle is the wheels and tires. If the wheels are lighter — aka easier to turn — it’s like giving the car an upgraded tune.
And in the case of these optional wheels, they’re 11 pounds lighter EACH (44 total). And coupled with those fancy Continental tires, they improve 62 mph – 0 mph braking distances by 6.5 feet. The color options include a 5-Y-spoke matt gray (stand-alone option), a 5-Y-spoke bi-color black finish (Black Optics package), and a 5-Y-spoke matt black (Matte Carbon package).
Two New Exterior Color Options
The 2024 RS 6 Avant performance and RS 7 performance will be available in eight exterior colors, including two new options: Gerenadier Red metallic and Ascari Blue metallic. (Alas, Tango Red appears to be gone.) Elsewhere on the exterior, the RS siblings look pretty much like the outgoing 2023 model year versions save for one color detail. Audi has opted for matte grey exterior trim on the following features —
- mirrors
- front spoiler
- front side flaps/blades
- side sill inserts
- rear diffuser,
- side window trims
- roof rails on the RS 6 Avant performance
Interior Features & Upgraded Guagues
New colors are also coming to the inside of the 2204 RS 7 performance and RS 6 Avant performance. Tick the box for the RS Design package, and customers will have the choice of not only gray and red, but also blue accent stitching on the following —
- flat bottom Alcantara wrapped steering wheel
- floor mats
- center console
- RS logos on the seats
Opt for the blue interior and you also get blue seat belts and a blue carbon twill structure inlay. Red and Gray interiors feature black seat belts as well as the carbon twill structure inlay.
In addition to its fancy new interior options, all RS 6 and 7 performance models include a revamped gauge cluster as well as ‘RS Performance’ puddle lamps in the doors. The new gauges allow owners to access a retro black-and-white cluster appearance inspired by the 1997 S6 plus, which was the first quattro GmbH car. Also, when in manual shift mode, the RPM display changes from green to yellow to red and blinks when it’s time to shift.
Minor easter egg type features, but sounds like fun.
Bronze Edition
But wait, there’s more. The ultimate / most exclusive RS 6 Avant performance and RS 7 performance models will be dubbed the Bronze Edition. Limited to just 75 RS 6 Avants and 50 RS 7s, the Bronze edition will only be available with Sebring Black crystal effect paint with 22-inch 5-Y-spoke wheels finished in matte neodynium gold. Audi also raised the Bronze Edition’s top-speed limiter to 174 mph. (Because 155mph is too slow, dangit!)
Other Bronze Edition features include:
- Steel brakes with Black painted calipers
- Gloss Carbon exterior package
- Audi exclusive Valcona leather package
- Bronze contrast interior stitching
- Audi exclusive floor mats
- Dynamic Ride Control (DRC) suspension
- RS sport exhaust system with Black finishers
- Bang & Olfusen Advanced sound system
- Dinamica headliner
- 174 mph top track speed limiter
Pricing & Availability
Audi plans for the 2024 RS 6 Avant performance and RS 7 performance to go on sale in Fall 2023. Base MSRPs, excluding $1,095 for destination and delivery, are as follows
- RS7 performance – 127,800
- RS6 Avant performance – 125,800
No word on Bronze Edition pricing just yet.
Photo Credit: Audi USA
