Introduction
Audi’s A6 traces its lineage back decades, to the early Audi 5000 and 100/200 models. The comfortable, capable, and luxurious midsized sport sedan has always been built on a front-wheel-drive (FWD) platform, although more recent generations have featured Audi’s quattro permanent AWD as an option. While the base Audi A6 is a perfectly capable 4-door sedan, Audi has frequently offered high-performance “S” derivatives with turbocharged or larger displacement engines, upgraded suspension, racing brakes, and sport-oriented interior and exterior treatments. The “RS” models are a step even higher, as they represent Audi’s ultimate performance models.
In 2009, the facelifted Audi A6 will be sold in three different models (in both sedan and Avant body styles). The standard Audi A6 will feature a new supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine rated at 300 hp. Stepping up to the Audi S6, consumers will find much elevated performance with a race-bred 5.2-liter 10-cylinder engine rated at 435 hp. (The basic engine configuration is shared with the powerplant used in the Lamborghini Gallardo) As the competition from the Mercedes-Benz E63 and BMW M5 continues to raise the bar, Audi has introduced the RS6 for 2009. Available in either sedan or wagon body styles, the RS6 is the most powerful A6 model to date.
