Randy Welch

Have received enough pestering where I'd share a couple of early thoughts on the RS6.

The first thing you notice on the car is how things feel. Everything has a little more weight to it. The steering/fuel/brakes. All in a good way I might add.

The very first thing I noticed on mine was the steering feel. A much weightier feel than any other Audi I've ever owned (for the newbies it's 5000S->A4->S4->S6->RS6) from 0 to highway speed.

The brake feel is much better than the S6's. The initial application of the brakes is very even with good pedal feel. It's easier to modulate the brakes with this car. Plus a lot less dive in a hard braking situation than the S6.

The engine is quite the piece of work, but it does not seem to be as willing of a revver initially that the S6 does. We'll see what time does for it. Also note the S6 has a higher redline than the RS6. Some of this impression could be from how effortlessly the RS6 builds up speed (and it does and I've stayed out of S for the most part so far cause there'd be trouble...)

The transmission is quite something. I spent 4 hours on the interstate on Saturday and the thing that surprised me most was that in D it was turning 2400RPMS doing 70mph. On the S6 this was 3000RPMS. The RS6 will turn just a tick under 3000RPMS doing 80mph. I got about 350 miles in the first tank. The paddle shifters work quite well and shift faster than the buttons on the 2002 S6 did. And you don't have to put the transmission in the tip gate. Though you have to push the button to move the gear selector from D to S. I don't know who thought that one up.

The suspension seems to be better composed than the S6. It's firmer no doubt, but not annoyingly so and it seems to keep the car planted on all fours better. It also seems to cure the one thing that annoyed me with the S6 which was the rear end would occasionally feel like it was hopping on washboard roads. I had taken an sharp right that I would normally take in the S6 and the RS6 stayed flat and level and felt like it was stuck to the pavement.

The sound enhancing exhaust sounds quite nice in the interior. You can hear this low growl as you give it some gas. The S6 (and my other audis) you would hear the machine noises of the motor. In the RS6 it's all about the exhaust noises.

The interior has some subtle differences from the S6. For instance the door panel inserts do not have stiching on them and of course the instrument cluster is different. Otherwise the interior is identical to the S6. The silver interior is not as bright as the silver interior was in my S4, which was a plesant surprise.

The exterior is, well you've seen the pictures... :-) I like the matte finish on all the trim pieces ( even the B pillar cover is in a matte finish instead of the polished cover on the other cars)

All in all a first rate package.

I'm sure there is something I've missed but feel to ask. I might even answer. :-)

qtrofil

Great job pointing out the differences between the S and the RS. Now how can I improve my S to get the steering, brake and suspension feel you have since the RS is nowhere near my budget !

Randy Welch

The steering feel could be possibly a combination of beefier rubber, a new servotronic relay, re-valving of the rack.

Everything else is aftermarket addressable but you do have to consider how much of the basic goodness of the S6 you are willing to tinker with.

2.7Twin

(lock to lock) is 2.3 IIRC vs the 2.8 as the rest of the 6's have. That in itself creates a different, more responsive feel.

PCH_4.2

you got a BEAST there, nice writeup!

no.radar

Interesting post, Randy. (Hey, I hear terrific exhaust note from inside my 4.2!)

qtrofil

If it gets my car close to the level of of the feeling Randy wrote about, I'm all for it !