Avant guard!

The Audi RS6 Avant will rewrite everything you knew about estates... or supercars!

Audi's ability to build skin-tearingly fast estates (what they call Avants) is legendary. Back in the mid-1990s, they built the RS2 Avant, a car that featured a crazy Porsche engine and 380 bhp shredding the Quattro system through the axles.

They did it again with the smaller RS4 Avant in 1999, once again with 380 horses, and then the last generation RS6 Avant with over 450 ponies. The last fast estate, the RS4 bows out in May next year, and with 420 bhp, we at BSM swear by its breathtaking performance. So now it's the turn for an A6 Avant based RS, as Audi's Quattro division builds only one RS at a time.

With the new RS6 Avant, Audi promises to rewrite all known rules of performance estates or even supercars for good. If a 5200cc twin-turbo V10 with over 572 bhp and 66 kgm of torque sounds absurd, then the 0-100 kph time of 4.6 seconds and a potential top speed in excess of 320 kph will freeze you faster than liquid nitrogen. To give you an idea, its rivals, the Mercedes-Benz E65 AMG estate and the BMW M5 estate produce 517 bhp and 507 bhp respectively (only!). For Audi, it is the most powerful engine they produce, more than even the one on their R8 supercar.

You might think that the 5200cc engine is the same one that Audi borrowed from sister company Lamborghini for the S6, but in fact it is a brand new Audi developed engine. This is the only known V10 bi-turbo engine on a production car, and has all the tech that will make a Pentium Core 2 Duo feel naked.

Using Audi's patented FSI technology, the ECU works overtime as it controls throttle position, alters engine note and performance through the sport button, stiffens dampers and even helps make the engine more efficient. Audi are quick to state that despite the near 600 bhp, the engine is 20 per cent more efficient than the previous RS6 that had 120 bhp less.

It does this by injecting fuel directly into the combustion chamber rather than the intake manifold in other Audis, giving it a real world fuel economy of 5 kpl, a very good number for a car that weighs 1,600 kg and with an engine that can shred tarmac to bits.

Like the outgoing RS4 Avant, the RS6 Avant features Quattro all-wheel drive, with a 40:60 front-rear torque split, making it less susceptible to understeer and reducing torque steer in the process. It also features

Audi's DRC or dynamic ride control system with three adjustable damper settings for sport, comfort and dynamic. Of course, if one wants to get loony with it, the electronic stability programme can be completely switched off, and you can watch the big mommy wagon drift through corners.

For a car with such an engine, the journey doesn't end there. The RS6 saloon is expected next year, and with its lower kerb weight and better aerodynamics it will only be faster. But until then, if you want to take your family for a track day and watch the faces of other fellow drivers turn pale as you whip past their Ferraris and Porsches, this is very much the car to have in your garage.