The rivalry between the Audi RS 6 Avant and the Audi RS e-Tron GT is one of those impossible ones, but the two cars have a few things in common, starting with 0-100 km/h what they both achieve less than 4 seconds.
The first is a family station, even if the term is not to be confused with “boring car”. The RS 6 Avant is actually a station wagon with a pedigree that is hard to match because it is powered by a 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine, 600bhp TFSI twin-turbo. and a torque of 800 Nm. Result? 0-100 in 3.6s, 0-200 in 12s305 km/h top speed (it must be unlocked with a specific package) and, as we will see later, impressive handling given the type of vehicle.
To give you an idea of the performance of these two beasts, in less time than a Dacia Duster accelerates from 0 to 100, they accelerate from 0 to 200 km/h…
The second is a 4-door coupe, less oriented towards cargo space, but just as productive: 2 electric motors, 646 hp. and 830 Nm of instant torque, 0-100 in 3.3 seconds and 0-200 in 10.9 secondstop speed is limited to 250 km.
Puglia, sun, heat. We are in the province of Lecce and the test roads run along the sea, offering the perfect scenario for testing the two flagships of the RS range: no shortage of corners, some blind and narrow, others wider. You go up and down, excellent opportunities to test on the one hand the promised improvements in the RS 6 turbo lag or e-Tron GT’s instant torque drop, on the other hand the performance of the carbon reaching brakes. -ceramic system from buy as an option (there was).
So I start with RS 6 Avant, a wolf in sheep’s clothing because, once behind the wheel, it immediately makes us forget about the forms of the station wagon in order to return the feeling of driving a real sports car. The motor roars and after a short warm-up it is time to gain momentum. There’s no sense of the instantaneous torque of the electric motor, but the V8 biturbo revs up without a dip in power, with a firm and perfectly linear delivery, and is accompanied by a gearbox that is a precise blade, very pleasant to activate with the paddles on the steering wheel. a wheel that engages all gears one after the other without (almost) a moment of waiting.
I come to the brakes and the carbon-ceramic brings back the feeling of real motorsport, an attack that is immediately decided and can scare those who are not used to it, which is why both RSs are sold as standard with a traditional system. The “gentleman” client who never sees the track prefers to find a classic softer attack that then increases rebound as the pressure increases, and in fact he is not entirely wrong when it comes to a car that also has to be driven. daily.
I enter a corner and the magic happens. Here, the RS 6 Avant is completely out of touch with its long tail, thanks to integral steering with rears that shorten or lengthen the virtual wheelbase depending on the situation. The quattro drive is permanent all-wheel drive with a mechanical self-locking center differential that operates at a 40:60 ratio but allows torque shifting up to a maximum of 70% front or 85% rear. Added to this is a sporty rear differential that distributes torque between two wheels on the same axle.
The result is a belated electronic control response and tracked turns that impress and return tremendous safety even when hitting the tight curves of rock-facing roads. Throw in the adaptive air suspension standard on the Avant and you have a package that’s already great for most needs, but could be even better with an RS plus tune.
In this case, you also have Dynamic Ride Control with steel springs and automatic pitch and roll compensation (the three-chamber RS e-tron GT includes this feature as standard).
So I switch to e-tron GT with the sound of the 8-cylinder still in my ears. To compensate for the lack of electrical noise, Audi has developed virtual sound is palpable, but absolutely not up to V8 from RS 6 Avant. So I start to regret the concert of the spicy station wagon, but after a couple of miles I forget it, and my brain tunes in to electric driving and that instant torque that makes RS 6 accelerations pale.
More powerful, more traction, ready immediately. This is the first sensation that reminds us that if the e-tron gives everything in terms of delivery, then the RS 6 Avant demonstrates pleasant behavior even in the extension. The second difference concerns the way the shot is executed: changing the van is lightning fast, but nothing beats the direct delivery of an electric car that doesn’t even have to deal with those thousandths of seconds of waiting between changing and surrendering. Another.
Both are glued to the ground, the e-tron also has a huge 93kWh battery to lower the center of gravity, and it protects itself very well in the tight chicanes of tight turns overlooking the sea without making a difference in kilograms: 2,150kg for a station wagon with a V8 engine and 2,420 kg for an electric coupe with two synchronous permanent magnets.
They are both elephants, we are far from the concept of sportiness associated with lightness, characteristic of a whole class of compacts, but we are talking about damn nimble and nimble elephants that respond to a specific need, the need of those who seek extreme performance without sacrificing comfort (also in terms of soundproofing), technology and habitability. A philosophy opposite to that of cars like the MX-5 to be understandable, but not necessarily wrong for that.
Regardless of your idea of a sports car, the e-tron GT also handles corners with maximum safety and stability thanks to the all-wheel drive here provided by two electric motors and therefore adapts to torque distribution faster. occurs digitally, without the passage of actuators that translate the sensor input into a command to the mechanics. On the other hand, there is no mechanical rear differential, the e-tron uses a proven torque vectoring system with electronic locking.
Who wins and who loses? It’s all up to you, because when it comes to cars, football and politics, prejudices are so strong that they don’t show reason. We exclude any consideration of recharging, assuming that both do not cause refueling problems, regardless of whether it is gasoline or electricity.
Once this is done, we can spend hours find the definition of sportiness for a car, without taking into account, however, that any definition is a child of time and therefore can never be universal, no matter what the extremists say. So I’m going back to the intro, reminding you that my brain is hardwired to associate the smell of compound and tires with positive feelings, like racing karts. But time has taught me to appreciate electric driving and the feeling of being in the video game of the future, present today on Wipeout, where very powerful electric motors smoothly unload the monstrous couple, launching me as if they were launching from a catapult.
Paradoxically search for the absence of lag she was manic and constantly from manufacturers, the latest evolution of the RS 6 Avant with its bi-turbo demonstrates this, but when the technology came on the market that could completely eliminate any delay in delivery, criticism rained down like in the rainy season.
Because? Just why this is the first time the automotive world is in such an important transitional phase, at a time when two generations collide and when the older one has a history of more than a hundred years of automotive development. It is difficult to cancel with a patch the pleasure of activating a lightning-fast (but not instantaneous) shift like a German station wagon. It is difficult to get used to the futuristic hiss instead of the sound of an open exhaust. It’s also hard to give up that dose, however minimal in a complex car like the RS 6, of vibrations.
Therefore, it is not easy to determine the best of the two, but it is safe to say that in both cases, the technology won. The advantage is that vehicles over two tons can now be driven in a sporty way thanks to sophisticated suspension, all-wheel drive, increasingly improved chassis, lightning-fast electronics and high-torque engines. It wins the fact that today you can have space and comfort for a family, but at the same time, the button turns the car into a vehicle that does not mind a few runs on the track, even if it is not a racing car. . And that’s what they both pass on to the lucky ones who can afford them, a versatility that can change faces if need be and makes us have a good time in the car, whether it’s smiling around corners or relaxing on the freeway.
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Source: HD Motori
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.