Does getting pinned to the back of your seat when you press down hard on the gas make you excited or have a heart attack, cry for your life, and hold on to every handle bar in the car, like my dear JOYCE EL-KHOURY?

Well, were Joyce to be sitting in the passenger seat of the Audi RS6 Avant that I recently got to drive, I’m sure that her heart would be on the dash board.

Let’s begin with the basics. When I read about the new RS6, I had a panic attack: smaller engine/fewer cylinders, less horsepower, and nanny controls as standard: lane departure warning, adaptive this and that, electric parking brakes and a million of those other things that make driving a chore and not exhilarating. To the tree huggers, they should be happy, because the carbon stamp of the car is better in this iteration than the last and they can protest less. In the advent of competitors, like BMW actually amping up horsepower ratings on smaller engines and still offering higher efficiency, it came as a surprise to see power reductions. And, being that the car is not more than somewhat lighter than the car that preceded it, my own heart attack of a slower, less precise, eco-car of the day, ensued.

Anyway, I was able to snag a drive of an RS6 very recently and came away with a myriad of thoughts, mostly positive. Naturally, the RS6 is a wagon and a vehicle that is NOT available on the American side of the Atlantic. Pity considering how handsome it is. And my oh my, would the happiness meters shoot up of dads that yearn for a fast, fun car yet need lots of trunk space to put all of their kids stuff for baseball and football practice. Audi has dashed those hopes by not bringing this handsome beast over to us. For shame.

Audi is determined to slash the weight of all of it’s cars dramatically over the next several years. The next general A4/S4 is reported to dump over 280 pounds. With this RS6, we get a car that is lighter (210 pounds than the previous), tighter, and more efficient. Horsepower is down, torque is up. Audi claims the car runs 0-100kmh in 4 seconds flat; I couldn’t test it myself where I was driving. Lets just say, 4 seconds is fast for a car of this mass and size.

Stepping into the car, one immediately notices why Audi is now regarded as ONE of the benchmarks of the auto business for interior design and comfort. The cabin is appointed with impeccable soft touch materials everywhere; no chintzy plastics, no feels-like-it’s-going-to-break-in-seconds buttons or gadgetry, a beautifully swept center stack that is driver oriented, gauges that are impeccable to read and see in all light, a meaty, chunky steering wheel that most drivers will love,  switchgear that is extremely well placed at a simple hand’s reach, and above all, a driver focussed sport seat that is extremely supportive on all angles and will hold Joyce and me in tightly when I jam down hard on the gas; she won’t be flying all over the place, she’ll be fine (I may have to remind her to remain calm).

Taking the car for a spin revealed how far Audi has come in 10 years, let alone 20. First off, weight savings on this more aluminum based structure negates a loss in power; one doesn’t even sense the car is any bit slower. In fact, it just simply GOES. This car is faster than the last, even with serious performance overhauls. You feel it on take off, you feel it in passing, you feel it everywhere. A nimbler, faster car is what we have. And back to my tree hugging friends, Audi says that the car is almost 30% more efficient than the last version. It employs cylinder deactivation, something most cars on the EU continent are now doing, to reduce emissions and fuel consumption (cylinder deactivation is employed by shutting down some cylinders when the car is at lower speeds or low throttling and not higher speed passing and aggressive driving) and naturally, progress has been made on the combustion front, so the car simple guzzles less fuel. Typical though of Audi’s is the amount of sound muffling from the engine in the cabin. My former Audi S4 was also a victim of this; a wonderful sounding engine negated by sound insulation to create a more quiet cabin experience for those more stately, gentle, Pimms drinking drivers. Well, Audi designers, listen carefully. I don’t want to live in isolation; I want to hear my engine of my car roaring. I want to dream about the ring in my ears the next day. (If I could drive a car optioned with the sport exhaust, perhaps I’d feel differently).

Audi makes great transmissions; this 8 speeder is terrific. Moving between all eight is fast, agile, and fantastic. I do wish that Audi would attach their simple standard 6 speed manual transmission for kicks but we’re past dreaming now; 90%+ of buyers prefer to have the car operate their brains, not the other way around.

The catch for me, is what seems to get me about all Audis. SOUL! Does this car have a soul? It ticks all the boxes. It looks incredible. It feels incredible to the touch. It has what should be the IT factor and yet when one sits behind the wheel, turns it, plays with it, push its, the connection to the road is just not really there. The issue I find in this car is the overarching issue I keep finding, that steering isn’t not precise enough, road feel is light even if you add the right packages that amend the steering configurations, and that conundrum drops this car from being a total ace to just being a worthy contender. Add to this that the sweet bi-turbo V8 that powers this machine often gives fractionally too much juice to the front wheels for the car to handle perfectly even in very easy scenarios.  This car is heaven with just one big fault which ought to be rectified soon.

For a car at £75,000 price point that has so many features, such a finely tuned, incredible engine, and a design that is unbeatable, it’s money well worth spending if you have it. If Audi could clean up their act in the steering department, they will be utterly unstoppable and I’ll have to blindfold Joyce as soon as she steps in the passenger seat every time to spare her just a little bit.

Engine A+
Chassis B
Features and Amenities A
Value B
Design A
Joy to Drive A-

Overall A-