RS6 PERFORMANCE VS E63 S
There are two ways in which the Audi RS6 Performance is a better fast estate than the Mercedes-AMG E63 S. The first is that it looks a whole lot tougher, its steroidal arches, low-slung ride height and menacing smoked headlights making the AMG look fussy and generic. To these eyes, at least, the RS6 might just be the best-looking estate yet.
The other ace it holds over the E63 S is its fluid, pliant ride quality. Both cars here sit on air suspension. But whereas the AMG always feels somewhat jittery — jarring, in fact, over very rough surfaces — the Audi is always comfortable and composed.
The way a car looks and the way it rides are certainly two of the biggies. But the reality is that in every other meaningful assessment, the E63 is the better car by an order of magnitude. Until the AMG arrived, the RS6 was at the top of its game. But when the E63 appeared late last year, the game changed entirely.
Its steering, for one thing, is ultra-crisp and precise, while the Audi’s is gloopy, vague and inconsistent. The Mercedes has a much more neutral handling balance, too, with the sort of resilient front end that you can really lean on — almost as though it belongs to a much smaller, far lighter car. The RS6 pushes on where the E63 S holds on.
It’s a similar story on the way out of bends. The Mercedes shuffles its power fore and aft to slingshot itself along the next straight like some kind of Nissan GT-R hearse. You can quite easily persuade the E63 to squirrel its way out of a corner in a faint powerslide, in fact, which is a type of behaviour no fourwheel-drive estate has ever had the chops to exhibit. Time and again, the AMG does things it really shouldn’t be able to.
The RS6 can also divert torque here and there with its rear axle’s sport diff, but it never feels as freakishly agile or as malleable as the E63. Both are fantastically quick in a straight
line and both have distinctly V8 soundtracks, but the E63’s engine is angrier and harderedged. Both motors are grizzly bears, but the Audi’s has had its teeth and claws filed down.
And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the Mercedes has far and away the better cabin. It feels the best part of a decade newer, which, of course, it is, the A6 this RS6 is based on having been launched right back in 2010. The new A6 is right around the corner; the next RS6 only a couple of years behind it.
In the end, then, it’s another comprehensive victory for AMG: two wins in as many contests.