The Audi RS6 is without a doubt one of people’s favorite all-round cars. At the recent Geneva Motor Show tuning company ABT surprised with an even more extreme version of the RS6. Reason for us to travel down to Kempten in Southern Germany to take the ABT RS6-R out for a spin and find out what it’s really like!
The RS6-R stands aggressively on 22 inch wheels with summer tires. It is waiting for people to take it out on a lap of autobahn, country roads and some city driving from Kempten to the Alps and back.
Model details
It is a different beast altogether with an extensive use of carbon fiber along the front bumper, wider wheel arches, diffuser and rear wing. The ABT RS6-R is based on the recent Audi RS6 facelift model and inside you will find the entire latest Audi tech including Google Maps navigation, voice controls and Audi dynamic select to choose different setups for everything from the sound to the throttle- and gearbox responds.
ABT enhanced the interior with their own sports steering wheel with LED gear change indicator, ABT sport seats and various RS6-R badges and logos to indicate what you are driving.
Big things in the car
But most notable of all changes is the performance upgrade. The standard Audi RS6 is by no means a slow car, with 560hp and 700Nm of torque you can give most sports cars a run for their money and it truly excels in how easy it is to drive. ABT believed it could do better though and they installed their own additional ECU and power upgrade dubbed ABT Power S to lift the performance to a staggering 730hp and 920Nm of torque in the ABT RS6-R.
ABT also replaced the Audi RS exhaust with its own high-performance exhaust. Just like the Audi RS exhaust the ABT exhaust has flaps to control the noise output – set it to dynamic and you can wake up the entire city at night but set it to comfort and you can conveniently get home without waking up the neighbours. The exhaust tips are finished in black with ABT logo. Last but not least ABT replaced the standard springs with slightly stiffer examples.
Clearly the ABT RS6-R loves the autobahn – its angry look also helps to scare some slower traffic away from the left lane. They know you mean business when the RS6-R shows up in the rear view mirror.
Drive terrain
On smaller B-roads cars like this are usually a bit out of their element. The RS6 despite its size and weight is not so much. The ABT RS6-R is where possible even better and the stiffened springs allow for higher cornering speeds. In the villages and towns the spectacular sound turns more heads than when we were driving a R8 V10. That sounds exaggerated but the RS6-R has a unique sound, again more reminiscent of a Lamborghini than anything else in this segment.
Thus, this is the best car which people can drive in ages. Do not miss the chance.
