Bonkers concept almost works
Nile Bijoux
Audi dropped a bit of a bomb on us with an RS 6 GTO concept, but there’s something a bit off. reports.
Well, this was a bit of a surprise. Recently, Audi unveiled the rather insane RS 6 GTO concept, and while there’s a slim chance of it actually being built, we certainly appreciate the effort.
The RS 6 GTO is the work of 12 third-year apprentices in Audi Sport’s Neckarsulm facility, built as a homage to the awesome Audi 90 quattro GTO racer, which competed in the American IMSA racing series in 1989.
It features a similar red, white, black and grey paint scheme as the elder GTO, with identical white turbofan wheels, fatter arches, a large red rear spoiler and a sideexit exhaust pipe, which automatically makes it cooler.
The front end looks a little weird though, with a gaping grille with blacked-out accents giving the RS 6 GTO a big cheesy smile. We’re not so sure about the GTO aesthetic being applied to awagon too, it just doesn’t really sit right.
Of course, if you ever got to drive the thing you probably wouldn’t care. The standard RS 6 sports seats have been replaced by a set of carbon-fibre-backed, suedetrimmed Recaro bucket seats, plus race-spec six-point harnesses, a roll cage and a revised centre console with carbon-fibre trim and a row of custom buttons.
Audi hasn’t indicated otherwise so, presumably, under the bonnet is the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 making 441kW and 800Nm of torque as the road car. In stock trim, it hits 100kmh in 3.6 seconds, so we’d wager the GTO is a bit faster with its stripped interior. It’s probably faster around a track too, with the new aero.
Now, if only Audi would let the beast out to play...