Driving the ultra-rare and unapologetically wild Audi RS 6 Avant GT will inevitably bring out your inner child. Remember as a kid (or perhaps still as an adult) how powerful the desire to collect things was? Maybe for you it was baseball cards, or Pogs, or Pokémon, or Hot Wheels, but the feeling of having and holding in your hands something so rare — 1-of-100, or 1-of-10 even — made your heart beat faster. It felt special, powerful somehow.
Well, dropping into the driver’s seat of the ultra-rare Audi RS 6 Avant GT elicits the exact same feeling. It has the aura of something extremely rare, something most people will never see, let alone drive. The GT feels special from the moment you lay your eyes on it to the moment you walk away. Right or wrong, it fires up all those dormant collector brain-worms because — are you ready? — there are only seven of these limited-edition RS 6 Avant GTs in Canada. 85 units are going to the United States, and the total production for this rare beast is only 660 cars globally.
What’s Under the Hood?
Don’t think this is just a fancy sticker job. We all know the RS 6 Avant is one of the all-time greats — and a surefire future collectable — but the GT cranks things up a notch for the model’s final sendoff. Power still comes from the familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, but it has been upgraded to churn out 621 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque. (For those keeping score, that’s more than you get in the base RS 6 and the same output as the RS 6 Performance.) Despite having space for the whole family and a cavernous trunk, it’ll zip to 100 km/h in just over three seconds; it’s not about straight-line speed though. The elite engineers at Audi Sport tweaked the quattro sport differential to send more power to the rear wheels. In a first for Audi, three-way adjustable coilover suspension is standard (it’s 14 pounds lighter than the usual air suspension). Ceramic brakes are the icing on the cake.
Look carefully and you’ll see the hood is made of carbon fibre, as are the bulging fenders that barely contain the white 22-inch alloys. (Special shout out to those wheels, which are glorious. Car companies: consider this an official request for more white wheels.)
Driving the 1-of-7 Audi RS 6 Avant GT
The rarity gives the GT a buzz, a tingle, but it would all be a massive disappointment if the driving experience didn’t live up those first impressions. Thankfully, that’s not the case. Not at all.
Pictures don’t do the long-and-low stance of this wagon justice. It looks like a wonderfully over-the-top Hot Wheels toy, blown up to human scale, but then you open the door, and it’s got all the Audi creature comforts you could possibly desire. The RS 6 is an older platform though and it’s showing its age; you get the last-generation infotainment system and switchgear, but that’s not why you’re buying this car anyway.
Fire up the V8 and it’s deep and throaty, but not too loud. Hit the throttle and the engine teases you with a bit of turbo lag, but once it comes on boil: boom. It explodes forward, taking off like a firework. Find some corners, and you’ll quickly realize this isn’t a one-trick pony. That tight coilover suspension adds a new layer of feel and engagement, which translates into added confidence as you pick up the pace. It’s sharper and tighter, but it’s more communicative too. You lose a bit of on-road comfort, but to our great surprise the ride is still entirely acceptable for daily use. (For long highway commutes, it’s like a bullet train.)
In RS2 mode, you can have plenty of tire-smoking oversteer, but — thanks to the long wheelbase and clever electronics — it’s not snappy or unpredictable. There’s still a layer of safety built in if you get in over your head. Take it down a notch and let the quattro system work its magic, and this huge wagon just grips and fires itself out of corners with ferocious speed. So, make sure your passengers know what they’re getting into.
Compared to more modern rivals like the all-new hybrid M5 Touring or an all-electric Taycan Sport Turismo, the RS 6 loses out on high-tech features, big screens and all-out horsepower — in case that matters to you — but the Audi has a level of simplicity and honesty that many newer cars lack.
A Childish Reminder: Cars Are Fun
The Audi RS 6 Avant GT is a childish reminder that cars are supposed to be fun. It will make you smile each and every time you walk up to it, and its serious scarcity will tickle that rare collector item itch all day long. It’s not the fastest or most high-tech fast wagon out there, but is it ever a contender for “most fun.”
We still stand behind our initial impressions we wrote when the car was unveiled last year. Yes, the GT is a rude hand gesture to the stuffy automotive establishment, and a rare flash of joyful enthusiasm in an industry that often takes itself way too seriously. It’s the rarest, raddest station wagon on the road, a high-performance family hauler to end all high-performance family haulers. Racing stripes and big wings and low splitters are good, even if they’re not practical. They’re a bit of childish fun. In fact, this whole car is fun, and really: what more could you ask for?
