The twin-turbo 4.0-liter currently powering the RS6 is likely to be the last V8 Audi ever develops. Electrification is already happening, with the next-gen A6 undergoing testing as an e-tron EV. However, the RS6 Performance is still going to be offered with more power than before, and an RS7 Sportback Performance should follow.
The Audi RS6 was introduced to the United States market in 2020 and basically feels like a new product. But its development is closely tied with the RS7 Sportback, so we’re really not surprised that a “Performance” model is being developed.
During both the V8 and the V10 era, Audi RS models usually came out with “Plus” versions halfway through the life cycle. These took advantage of technological advances and upped their horsepower game. For example, the C5 RS6 Plus which we recently showed you was made in 2004 and produced 480 hp instead of 450, its 4.2-liter V8 having extra radiators and an ECU remap.
Audi fans will no doubt remember the first-gen RS7 was initially rated at 552 horsepower but by around 2017 this was basically replaced with the 596 horsepower RS7 Performance. This jump of around 45 horsepower was also seen in the Audi S8 versus the S8 Plus.
“Very special” Audi RS6 confirmed
The news of a new RS6 Avant version comes from Australia’s Which Car?, who spoke to A6 and R8 product spokesperson Eva Stania. When asked about the potential for an even quicker wagon, this was her answer: “You drove the RS6 C7 [generation] as a Performance. We recently launched the R8 RWD as a Performance, so you can be pretty sure that we will follow up the Performance strategy.”
That’s like saying “we’ll have an RS6 Performance” without getting fired.
Unnamed employees at Audi have reportedly said a high-performance wagon is on its way and described the project as “very special.” However, this is an entirely different car and could just be an RS e-tron GT or RS6 e-tron. Porsche and the Quattro are clearly focusing on electric performance nowadays.
What the RS6 Performance will offer
Currently, the C8 RS6 offers 591 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque from a 4.0-liter V8, and this can be upgraded one of two ways. Perhaps through the use of bigger turbos, the mill can produce closer to the 641 horsepower of the Lamborghini Urus.
Porsche is the other big user of this 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine, and its best version is in the 2022 Cayenne Turbo GT, which makes 631 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque.
However, the lower, sleeker Porsche Panamera offers two alternatives. Its 2022 model year Turbo S model makes 620 horsepower, but the Turbo S E-Hybrid is famous for mixing in an electric motor for a total of 689 horsepower. It costs a lot, weighs a lot, and set all kinds of drag racing records. But the hybrid drive was launched in 2017, and I feel like if Audi wanted to, the RS6 would have it already.
When is the hot RS6 to be launched? The schedule is unknown, but 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the model, and they’ll probably show it right at the end of the year with sales in 2023.
Next-gen Audi RS6 by 2026 will be a hybrid
In a separate story, Audi’s head of R&D, Stephan Reil, spoke to Wheels recently about the same car model. According to that story, the RS6 Avant will be retired around the middle of this decade and a new one should take its place by early 2026.
“Of course this [hybridization] is the way to go, in the next generation I can tell you it will have more hybridization,” the Audi official said. “This is our way toward fully electrified cars.”
Downsizing has been the way of life for the RS6. “It started about a generation after C6 that CO2 emissions got more and more important. Then on the C7, we had the downsizing from a V10 to V8, we brought in cylinder deactivation, and on the C8 we now have a 48-volt mild hybrid system.”
So we should expect a V6 turbo engine with a lot of electricity under the hood. The output should be the same as the outgoing model at about 600 hp. However, since Audi will have an A6 e-tron model at the same time, it’s expected we’ll have an RS6 and a fully electric RS6 e-tron sold at roughly the same time.