With all the enormous variety of cars released every month there are also new categories being created, and therefore others falling into inevitable sales ostracism. One of the second kind’s examples are the station wagons: the first attack came with the minivans at the 1980s and twenty years later with the crossovers, each one trying to steal a different part of those customers. There were made speculations of all kinds, but this article’s car is a perfect example of why this category has everything to stay strong for much longer.
Unlike cars such as big pick-up trucks or small hatchbacks, station wagons were always famous in both United States and Europe. They spent about fifty years satisfying people with big families, medium-sized cargo to transport and even younger people who needed a “cooler” car to travel with friends and items such as surfboards. In other words, this car category was the only “halfway” between the good-looking style and the better handling of urban cars and the bigger space and engines brought by small trucks. But those two mentioned younger categories came one focusing at the big families and the other at the light off-road lovers, which couldn’t avoid affecting the station wagons’ market. However, Audi was one of the few brands to preserve these cars by rescuing the aspect that couldn’t be explored by those new cars: the sportiness. Lower external height and bigger construction similarity to sedans and hatches make the wagons much easier to receive high performance versions because it’s easier to share parts with those, and therefore to obtain similar driving behavior. Audi RS2 not only became an icon among the urban sports cars but also changed the world’s vision of its category. In nowadays there still aren’t too many station wagons, but every bigger automakers sell at least one of them. And many of them offer a sporty version.
The following years have received lots of other RS cars, but when it comes to station wagons Audi is currently selling two options – the other one is RS4. The bigger sister has recently catched up with A6’s new generation, which means a strong and stylish design that only escapes from the “looks too much like the other Audis” tag because of the several external aerodynamic items: there are huge front air intakes, gorgeous 21” wheels, side and rear spoilers, silver-painted details and the double exhaust pipe highlighted by the exclusive bumper. Audi may draw their cars too much alike, but it’s undeniable that the bigger ones manage to don’t seem excessively long. Since A8 is sold only as a sedan, RS6 will be their biggest station wagon currently sold, but it still carries a nimble, dynamic appearance. Besides that, it’s easy to see cutting-edge all over it: there are LEDs and more LEDs to compose the illumination, and the great aerodynamics is helped by the lower roof racks seen in the most recent two-volumes Audis. If you’ve already met the new S6, entering this car will give you a strong déjà vu. There are plenty of black, silver and carbon-like details which don’t create an entirely two-toned space because of the red items: this color makes some “cameo appearances” at the dashboard, the RS series’ logotype and some buttons’ lights.
While many cars use more verticalized designs to the interior, it’s interesting to notice that Audi has been following the opposite path. The horizontal lines give a bigger-width impression, along with a lower console in order to maximize the windshield view. This car will bring the highest A6 trim level available, with two optional packages to add luxury items such as 100% LED headlights, bigger touchscreen, Bang & Olufsen sound system and internal coating in carbon fiber or matt aluminum. Opening the hood reveals the new V8, a 4.0 bi-turbo whose only flaw is to have lost 10 hp, offering 560 hp now. No, Audi hasn’t gone crazy. This engine was reprojected to optimize both performance and efficiency, so it ended up much better: the torque was increased and comes much earlier, helping to achieve 0-60 mph in 3s9, always using automatic eight-speed transmission, quattro traction and air suspension – this one can lower the ride height in 0.8 inch when driving at higher speeds. The consumption was improved in 10%, now achieving 23.5 mpg, but the most interesting technical information are three, in fact: as usual, the stock top speed stays at 155 mph, but if you remember, this car will have two optional packages. So how about knowing that the first one raises it to 174 mph… and the other lets RS6 achieve 189.5 mph?
