Audi South Africa has unleashed performance versions of the RS 6 and RS 7 Avant with the 4,0-litre V8 biturbo TFSI engine now whacking out 463 kW and 850 Nm.

Larger turbo-chargers and an increase in boost pressure from 2,4 to 2,6 bar in the engine free an additional 22 kW in power and 50 Nm more torque. The performance models sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 3,4 seconds, 0,2 seconds faster than the non-performance RS 6/RS 7 versions (which are no longer available in South Africa).

The eight-speed tiptronic transmission has faster shifting times to the permanent all-wheel drive quattro setup. The mechanical centre differential distributes engine power to the rear axle at a ratio of 40:60 and, if slippage occurs, more drive torque is applied to the axle with better traction – up to 70% can move to the front axle and 85%t to the rear axle.

22-inch Wheels

The new ride on 22-inch matte titanium grey, diamond turned wheels, which are also available in burnished glossy metallic black, matte black, or matte neodymium gold. The new lightweight wheel is around five kilograms lighter than the 22-inch aluminium wheel on the current RS 6 Avant or RS 7 Sportback.

The new RS 6 Avant performance and RS 7 Sportback performance are available in a total of 16 exterior colours and, for the first time, metallic and matte Ascari Blue and matte Dew Silver are included.

The familiar RS design packages in grey and red have been expanded to include blue in the interior. The steering wheel rim in Alcantra black features contrasting stitching in Mercato blue, whilst the floor mats, the side of the centre console, and the selector lever cuff also come with blue contrast stitching.

Optimal shift-changing now comes in form of a motorsport-inspired blinking shift indicator on the 12,3-inch screen when in manual transmission mode which changes the r/min display from green to yellow to red, blinking to indicate the optimal time to change gears.

Local pricing: 

  • Audi RS 6 Avant performance: R 2,332,700
  • Audi RS 7 Sportback performance: R 2,444,500

Pricing above is inclusive of a 5-year/100,000 km Audi Freeway Plan. 

Colin Windell - proudly CHANGECARS