2021 Audi RS6 Avant Review: Everything You Expected
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Verdict
9.6
/
10
The first properly fast car I ever drove was a 2007 Audi RS4. It was Imola Yellow and had one of the best engines of the past 30 years: Audi's 4.2-liter V8. That screamer of a powerplant revved to 8,000 rpm and worked alongside a six-speed manual transmission with a big, fat knob on the top of it. The pairing was a delight, packaged in a gorgeous sedan body with wildly flared wheel arches.
I spent a lot of time thinking about that car and that first drive during a week with the 2021 Audi RS6 Avant, a dynamically marvelous wagon that should be as exciting now as that RS4 was to me at 25. But it isn't. Audi's latest RS car is an incredibly fast, powerful, attractive, and luxurious thing, but there's a standoffishness that makes it hard to love. Too often, it felt like I was just along for the ride, rather than an integral part of affairs. It's a hell of a ride, to be sure, but when it comes to Audi's RS line, you want to be in the thick of things. I never felt that.