Dave's RS6 (was: porker to own audi?)

[Dave Eaton]

interestingly, the a8 and a6 are basically equivalent in interior room -
certainly in the key metric for someone with a young family, and that is
width across the rear.  both (just) fit 3 kids seats across.

i looked at an rs4, but decided that the key requirement was to be able to
carry the family (wife & 3 kids) because 80% of the time when i want to
enjoy the car it will involve them.  if the car couldn't fit them, i'd be
taking the allroad, not the rs.  if you can follow that logic.  don't get me
wrong though, i find the allroad tdi very impressive.  much preferred over
the 2.7v6tt, better driveability due to the torque.  650kms on $70 is pretty
good too.  7-seats to one side, the clincher was driving with the family, 2
bikes on top, towing a trailer with all our kit in it, and romping up the
coromandel hills that the jeep had always struggled with.  very impressive.
in a way, it was our acquisition of that car that convinced me that the "6"
4b platform was the way to go, and made me see the "d2" as dated.

the clincher for the rs6 was the ex-lease price, and the ability to get a
fully-maintained audi certified warranty for a couple of years.

what you notice about the 4b when moving from the d2 is that there is a
noticeable drop in build quality, from the interior fit and finish to the
running gear.  the "8" looks like a car that audi lost money on, the "6" one
they made a healthy profit on.

for a driver, there really isn't much comparison.  the rs6 smokes the s8 in
all areas, engine, transmission, brakes and handling.  better integration of
all the pieces, aimed at rewarding the driver.  the engine has to be one of
the best.  different to the rs4, as you'd expect, but immensely strong, peak
torque @2,000rpm, held all the way to 6,000rpm.  you red-line this engine
and bask in the sound and the power.  very very addictive.  audi's (or
should i say cosworth's) best engine this side of the rs4.  the other
noticable thing is that audi have dialled back the abs/esp thresholds over
those of the s8, with a nice gain to the driver.  the rs6 is a car (a bit
like my old ur-quattro) that you find yourself taking for a drive, just for
the sake of it.

other positive aspects are the looks, and the more modern architecture.  and
then there is the noise.

did I mention the noise?

all the best
dave
'03 rs4
'04 allroad tdi

-----Original Message-----
From: Duncan Thomson [mailto:duncan at systemcontrols.co.nz] 
Sent: Wednesday, 29 November 2006 11:58 a.m.
To: Dave Eaton
Cc: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Dave's RS6 (was: porker to own audi?)

Dave,

so I see you got your RS6! cool!
How does it compare to your S8? Apples and oranges, I know, but shiny new
(ish) car needs some explanation!
Didn't need the space of the S8, or has the allroad taken over the duties of
people mover?

Duncan
'88 90Q
'86 CQ/QC/Coupe/typ85 thingy (or something... I give up on trying to get the
name right!)


Dave Eaton wrote:

>yikes....
>
>dave
>'03 rs6
>'04 allroad tdi
>  
>


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