The third generation of the Audi A6 was launched in 2004 but it wasn’t until 2008 when the most powerful version appeared: the RS6.
It was available as station-wagon in 2008 and, in 2009, the RS6 sedan was shown.

At the time of its launch, the RS6 was the most powerful Audi ever produced. The big, 2-tone barge, was one of the fastest four-door sedans on the Earth and it was aided by a Lamborghini V10 engine. But it wasn’t only about the power under the hood.

The RS6 had some subtle differences from the regular A6. The front bumper featured larger air-intakes in the lower side and a taller grille that went down from the hood to the front lip-spoiler. The silver rear-view mirrors caps were silver and in the back, two oval exhausts were installed underneath the bumper. The standard 19” light-alloy wheels were fitted as standard, while a larger, 20” set was available as an option.

Inside, it featured sport-bucket seats highly bolstered and with cut-outs in the upper side, just like those found in the race-cars to let the seat-belts harnesses went through. The flat-bottom steering-wheel was enhanced with the ES6 logo on its lower part. The interior was adorned with the finest of materials such as carbon fiber, aluminum, piano lacquer, leather and Alcantara.

The twin-turbo V10 engine was mated to a Tiptronic six-speed gearbox and sent its power to all four wheels, with a 40:60 torque bias.

The 2002 RS6 generation from Audi became the first car in the German manufacturer’s model range to be equipped with its innovative Dynamic Ride Control suspension.
Other interesting features included an improved ‘quattro’ permanent four-wheel-drive system, a high-tech brake system (based on the ones used in motor sports) and a specially-developed 4.2L V8 unit delivering 450 bhp. This new model was assembled at the Neckarsulm plant in Germany by both Audi AG and quattro GmbH and was based on the Volkswagen Group C5 platform. It was designed to challenge BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG on the mid-size sports executive car sector.