Audi 奧迪 -

Plus Points
The Audi RS6 is an enormously satisfying and concussively quick way to cover miles. Beautifully put together and subtly aggressive in their appeal, the RS6 models were, until Mercedes massively escalated the horsepower stakes, the most powerful executive cars around. The four wheel-drive system of the RS6 ensures that it can deploy its power effectively and it's worth tracking down a car with a few miles on the clock in order to take the edge off the sharp initial depreciation.

Description
The RS6's sheer power gives it a very special feel but there's no need for heroics at the wheel to make absurdly rapid progress. Tail out thuggishness and uncouth wheelspin has been massaged from the Audi's dynamic makeup, the electronic control systems ensuring that the car is always comporting itself with utter decorum. Comparisons with BMW's M5 rather miss the point in this respect, as the RS6 is more akin to a juiced up Jaguar S-TYPE R than the more focused 5 Series. That's not to say it lacks a wicked side to its personality. The engine is a gem, the 40-valve Audi 4.2-litre V8 putting in sterling service, in this instance with a pair of light pressure turbocharger thrown into the mix. The low inertia blowers give a wide spread of torque and the correspondingly punchy 9.3:1 compression ratio means the engine never has that typically 'baggy' throttle response that many powerful turbocharged cars have when you catch them with their trousers down, off-boost and off-colour. Beautifully finished and classically understated, the Audi RS6 is effortlessly desirable. If you've got the means, this is the car for those who don't do airline food. Obscene power has rarely been packaged so discreetly. It's likely that you'll hear it a long time before seeing it, the pressure-optimised system amplifying the V8 engine's natural throb. Exterior trim components and the Avant's roof rails are also finished in matt black, giving the car a purposeful look. Leather seats combine with carbon fibre trim strips to ensure good taste - no wood on display here.