Insiders told CarBuzz the next RS6 will “blow your f*cking mind.”
“Between now and 2026, you will see the best internal combustion cars ever,” promised Mark Dahncke, Director, Communications at Audi of America, when speaking to CarBuzz last month, and it looks like Audi will deliver on that promise. Speaking at the 40th-anniversary celebration of Audi Sport, current division boss Sebastian Grams was asked by Autocar if the new RS6 Performance edition is the most hardcore version of Audi's current halo we can expect (the R8 is done and dusted as of the end of this year) and ahead of Audi's 2026 deadline for the end of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. “No,” he said, “We can go more extreme.”
If you've ever driven an Audi RS6, you'll know that's one hell of a statement. The current Audi RS6 Avant is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8-powered lunatic of a car. It says a lot when Audi's RS halo car is a wagon making 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque before any special edition treatments.
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If Audi releases an even faster and sharper handling RS6, and we are betting it will, it will likely be a special edition. While Audi has previously shown off an IMSA-inspired RS6 GTO concept, it likely won't be quite that extreme, though, as the beauty of the RS6 is that it's a hilariously fast yet breathtakingly sharp handling car while still being a premium family car. Something, it seems, only Audi can pull off to this degree.
However, an anonymous source at Audi previously told CarBuzz that the next RS6 would “blow your f*cking mind,” giving us hope that Audi may go all out.
“But don't forget the RS models are used on a daily basis: we are not trying to lose our DNA. An RS model needs to be an all-day car, but it needs to give performance if needed,” Grams reminded.
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We do hope that somehow Audi manages to include side-exit exhausts from the concept, though. As unlikely as that may be, because the threat of burning calf muscles isn't ideal for a daily driver, but we can dream.
The range-topping RS6 could arrive as early as next year as Audi plans to reveal an ICE car in 2024 alongside its first EV based on a new architecture developed with Porsche.
While many enthusiasts are down on automakers shifting so dramatically to all-electric vehicles, it does mean the next few years will see some genuine gearhead insanity as brands send ICE out with a bang.
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Keyword: Audi To Turn The RS6 Up To 11 In 2024