Audi RS6 (C7) | PH Used Buying Guide

The 2013 - 2019 RS6 was arguably the first time Audi's super estate delivered on its remarkable potential...

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

Available from £35,000
552hp, 516lb ft from 4.0-litre TFSI petrol twin-turbo V8
Five-seat estate does 0-60 in well under 4 seconds and returns around 23mpg
2015 facelift cars had tweaks to lighting and MMI graphics
Watch out for leaking shocks on Dynamic Ride Control-equipped cars
Thunderous performance (and running costs)

Search for a used Audi RS6 here

OVERVIEW

RS. If you're a Ford fan, those initials mean Rallye Sport. With luck, someone will be along soon to tell us why Ford went for the French spelling of 'rally' and we will all learn something from that. Audi, on the other hand, didn't pinch another language to launch their top-line performance sub-brand. For them, the letters RS simply stood for RennSport - racing sport, or just racing.

All RS Audis are designed and built by Audi Sport, Audi's answer to Mercedes' AMG and BMW's M Division. BMW Motorsport, as it was called in the beginning, was established in 1972. AMG is even older, with a 1967 start date. By these standards Audi Sport's 1983 formation makes it something of a Johann-come-lately, but despite its late start Audi has more than held its own in the German arms race, assisted to no small extent by the excellence of its quattro all-wheel drive system.

Audi Sport's first entry in the hot 5 Series/E-Class battle was the C5-platformed RS6, which went on sale from 2002 as either a 1,840kg saloon or an 1,865kg Avant estate. Note for reference: car weight data is notoriously inconsistent. Your numbers may be different to ours, but all we'd say is that our data comes from a single source so it should at least give a consistent indication of relative weights model to model.

That first C5's 444hp and 413ft lb of torque from its twin-turbo 4.2 V8 worked with a five-speed auto and biting quattro traction to give a 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds, a limited top end of 155mph, and an average fuel consumption figure of 19.3mpg.

Six years later, in 2008, Audi Sport married a twin-turbocharged version of the 5.0 V10 motor to the VW/Audi C6 chassis to create the new RS6. Again available in saloon or Avant versions, the heavy (more than 2.1 tonnes) C6 RS6 needed all of its 572hp and 479lb ft to get through the 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds and produce a combined consumption figure of 20.3mpg.

Fast forward another five years to 2013 and we get to this week's topic, the C7 RS6. Reverting to the original biturbo V8 format, albeit with 4.0 litres rather than 4.2, and with the saloon version now dropped from the UK range, the lightened (to around 2,025kg) C7 RS6 Avant developed slightly less power than the V10 - 552hp - but more torque, at 516lb ft. Crucially it developed that torque all the way from 1,750rpm to 5,500rpm. The top speed was still limited to 155mph, but the official 0-62mph time was down to 3.9 seconds, a claim effortlessly confirmed by one of the more respected UK mags who figured it at 3.7 seconds for the 0-60mph and 8.7 for the 0-100mph - a scarcely believable 1.2 seconds up on the hardly slow V10.

In 2015 a new version of the C7 RS6 was released, with a new word added to its name: 'Performance'. That might have seemed a bit redundant, given that the RS6 had been a byword for exactly that for the previous decade and more, but the RS6 Performance (commonly referred to as the PE) fully justified its new handle. For an extra £7,000 or so over the normal RS6 it thumped out 597hp and 553lb ft, making it good for an official 0-62mph of 3.7 seconds. Based on that and on the actual time achieved by that UK mag on the non-Performance RS6, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a 3.5-second 0-60 time. Not bad for a five-seat family estate with an official combined fuel consumption of 29.4mpg and a fabulous mix of quality and luxury. Well, more than 'not bad', pretty damn amazing really.

With all that in mind, let's have a squint at the standard C7 RS6 as a buying proposition. Prices start at around £35,000 for a 2014 or pre-facelift 2015 car with 50-70,000 miles up. The 2015 facelift brought in new Matrix LED headlights and rear lights with the 'sweep' function, a revised front bumper, MMI upgrade with enhanced graphics, 4G SIM support and the ability to view maps in the DIS (Driver Information System), double-glazed front windows and Alcantara inserts on the doors, plus a few other product improvement tweaks.

So, what do you get for your thirty-five grand? Quite a lot, it seems to us - but you be the judge.

SPECIFICATION - AUDI RS6 (C7, 2013-19)
Engine: 3,993cc, V8, 32v
Transmission: 7-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 552@5,700-6,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 516@1,750-5,500rpm
0-60mph: 3.7sec
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 2,025kg
MPG: 29.4 (official combined)
CO2: 223g/km
Wheels: 9.5x20
Tyres: 275/35
On sale: 2013 - 2019
Price new: £79,000
Price now: £35,000+

ENGINE & GEARBOX

One very experienced UK road tester described the result of opening the taps on a C7 RS6 as 'staggering'. With the traction control switched off you can keep all four wheels scrabbling more or less all the way up to the national speed limit - and that's on a dry road.

Unholster it like that and you'll come across as the fastest gun in town. Drive it in a more respectful manner and you'll be The Man With No Name, a quiet assassin with an iron breastplate under your poncho, ready to administer frontier justice at the drop of a hat to any Billy The Kids who fancy their chances.

In everyday use the RS6's refinement was impressive. At 70mph it was only one decibel louder inside than the 3.0 TDi Avant. Lean on the two twin-scroll turbos sitting between the 4.0 TFSI V8's heads, though, and you'll be assailed by a spine-tingling 552hp V8 woofle. Those turbos have been known to expire in other 4.0 Audis like the S6, S7, and RS7, but we couldn't find any complaints about them on the RS6.

RS6 engines mapped to Stage 2 have been known to expire though. At normal Audi dealer level, with the optional Dynamic Package the RS6's 155mph top speed went up to 174mph. With the Dynamic Plus Package it went up to 189mph.There were reports of coolant hose splits on 2015-on facelift cars, but fixing that was a simple matter of moving a bulkhead clip to a place where the hose couldn't rub on it. It made quite a squeaking noise when it did, so hose splitting was relatively easy to forestall.

Although typical C7 road test consumption went below 20mpg, that was nevertheless 3-4mpg better than the C6 V10's. Owners report averages in the 23-24mpg bracket, which is extremely respectable for this level of performance. There was an early recall to replace a suspect fuel line, and a 2016 recall on a loose filter element for the camshaft adjustment control valve, which could trigger a Malfunction Indicator Light and/or poor running.

What about the gearbox? In Manual mode the eight-speed torque converter transmission might not be the quickest, but stick it in auto and you'll be more than happy to luxuriate in its easy manner. There's a self-locking centre diff and an LSD at the back end where 45 per cent of the car's weight resides.

CHASSIS

Standard suspension on an RS6 was adaptive air, which along with taking road conditions and driving style into account came with the rather cool party trick of dropping the body by 20mm.

You could, however, opt for sports suspension using steel springs and three-mode dampers with Dynamic Ride Control which linked the wheels across the car. Most if not all of the test cars that Audi UK put out to the British press were on steel, and it's generally agreed that the steel setup does trump the air in terms of connection to the road and ride quality waftability.

The body control over fast, bumpy routes was still more forced than consensual, however, and even with the optional 'active' Dynamic steering rack the weighty feel from the front end was on the cool side of warmly engaging. At least the eventual understeer was benign.

Less benign were the leaking shocks and knocking that plagued many a DRC-equipped RS6. This wouldn't be flagged up on the dash as it was a mechanical rather than electrical issue. As a result some drivers would continue to drive with the knocking noise, which wasn't the best idea as that could damage the central control valves which were even dearer than the damper units. Special equipment was required to re-pressurise the DRC system.

The 'straight' RS6 ran on 9.5x20 wheels all round (conveniently unstaggered, unlike the RS3 of the same era) with 275/35 tyres. RS6 Performance cars ran on 21-inch rims. 21s were an option on regular cars but in a different design. There was a big issue with the 21-inch alloys buckling if you hit a pothole hard. That was less of a problem on the standard, sunken-centre 20s which were forged, lighter by around 10kg a set, and usually not wearing 30-profile tyres. Use all of the RS6's performance, or even most of it, and you will go through tyres at quite a rate - between 8,000 and 15,000 miles, depending on use.

Brakes on the RS6 were upgraded over the regular A6 but there have been quite a few reports of discs warping, probably not so much as a result of hard driving as of 'hot-spotting' caused by keeping your foot on the brake pedal with the car in Drive when stationary. Carbon-ceramic brakes were an £8,000 option. Parking brake control units can fail on early cars.

BODYWORK

The RS6's body was an 80/20 mix of steel and aluminium, and the badged-up bodykit left no room for doubt as to the car's raison d'etre. We're not aware of any inherent problems with any of these parts. Some of the 'exclusive' paint colours were a bit urgent though - see Solar Orange for example.

INTERIOR

Some might consider the A6 dash architecture to be a bit old hat nowadays, but others will like the RS6's traditional (and functional) mix of two crisply-rendered LCD clocks in front and a fold-out eight-inch MMI screen above the central vents, with the Driver Information System (DIS) tailored to the RS, all encased in a beautifully screwed together selection of high quality materials.

The equipment on this range-topping A6 won't disappoint either. Leather was standard, as were MMI navigation plus, LED headlights, a Bose digital sound system, tyre pressure monitoring, illuminated sills, cruise, parking system plus, and four-zone auto aircon. A recall was issued in 2019 for cars built between July and October 2014 to sort out an incorrectly plugged-in electrical connector for the auxiliary heater element in the air conditioning. A 15-speaker, 1,200-watt B&O Advanced Sound System was on the options list.

The Performance model received leather/Alcantara upholstery and a titanium styling pack. Silver or black Alcantara headlinings were options, but the carbon effect trim option was perceived by some as being slightly cheesy. Optional electrically adjustable super-sports seats were very grippy and a popular pick.

If you need to carry rear-seat passengers on a regular basis they're unlikely to complain as there's plenty of room in either of the two outside seats. Typically, the fifth centre seat is a bit Mickey Mouse. Cargo space is generous.

VERDICT

Monster performance in a superbly built estate that's as handsome as it is practical. If those are your used car buying criteria, and you're not too fussed about handling delicacy or reward, you'll struggle to come up with anything more fitting than the 2013-2019 C7 RS6. It is a beast, with or without a caravan in tow.

The only trouble is that you'll have to add another criterion, that being a well-padded wallet. These cars are not cheap to run. Brakes alone will be around £2,000 a set, and you should set aside at least £500 a year for servicing. As far as buying goes, you'll do well to find a C7 RS6 below £35,000. Mind you, they were nearly £80,000 new before options, and a good deal more than that after them. Audi UK test vehicles generally had around £11,000 worth of extra kit thrown in, and even non-press cars will often have add-ons like the £1,200 panoramic roof, £400 reversing camera, £575 electric tailgate, £1,000 sports exhaust, Head-Up Display etc.

A six-year depreciation rate of not much more than 50 per cent tells you plenty about RS6 resilience and the esteem in which they're held, but as always, repairs on cars like these are expensive, so get yourself lined up with a strong warranty.

Search for an Audi RS6 here

Read the PH Review of the Audi RS6 here

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