On the rack
REPORT 8 3993cc, V8 twin-turbo petrol, 4WD, 552bhp, 516lb ft 28.8mpg, 229g/km CO2 0–62mph in 3.9secs, 174mph 1935kg £ £76,875/£91,205 Total mileage 15,763 Driver Ollie Marriage Why it’s here Is this the ultimate all-weather family supercar?
s you might have read last month, I was down at Dunsfold to drive the Nissan Zeod. The pro crashed it, so for a couple of hours while they fixed it I was at a loose end. So was the RS6. So was the track.
The fact the RS6 was wearing both roofbox and bike rack was actually more encouragement than deterrent. All prepped and ready for a bike/camping trip, I wanted to see how daft it looked tearing around like that. I’ll let you be the judge.
Anyway besides looking very silly (just my opinion) and giving us all a bit of a chuckle, there is a point here. I can now claim to have tested both the Thule Excellence XT and Saris Bones RS to their limits. And you know what? There wasn’t so much as a squeak or creak from either of them. Or my burly Orange mountain bike, for that matter. All clung on with a vice-like grip, as I challenged them with approaching 1.5 lateral g through corners and then walloped them up to a chicken-out speed of 134.3mph on the main runway. There wasn’t even a Thule tremor at terminal velocity or a Saris slip sideways at 1.5g. Count me impressed.
As part of my comprehensive and vitally important research into the outer limits of car-accessory behaviour, I also loaded another three blokes into the RS6 to find out how much a full load and aerodynamic impediment spoils the acceleration. Not much, as it turns out. Audi claims 3.9secs for the 0–62mph, and in an unloaded car last year we did 0–60mph in 3.5secs. Isn’t that insane – an estate that can trot itself to 60mph in just 3.5secs?
AWell, personally I find it even more mad that with around 350kg of fleshy baggage on board, the RS6 still bolted through the sprint in just 3.8 seconds. 100mph took less than nine seconds. Fast isn’t in it. And it’s definitely been feeling faster for the last couple of months – the top end above 5,000rpm is absolutely outrageous. Finding the opportunity to use it is the tricky bit.
But I fully and completely adore this car now. As the bi-turbo V8 becomes ever freer and more rampant, the fuel economy is improving – although it still takes 15 minutes for the engine to fully warm through, even though the artificial rev-limiter will up itself from 5,500rpm to 6,800rpm after about half that. But it’s worth waiting for. Now, what else can I put through the V8 wringer?
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