Audi RS6 making 571 HP
by Damon Lavrinc on Jun 26th 2007 at 9:04AM 
"Thanks God for traction control," was the first thought that ran through our minds when we came across the reported power figures of the new Audi RS6. Floating around the tubes of the Internets are the chassis codes for the new RS6, which look something like this: Audi AG 47 7967 21 AAJ N31 N30 579 426 5002. What does all that mean? Well, the 579 figure is the metric horsepower rating, which is equivalent to about 571 HP, while 426 refers to the kilowatts, and 5002 is a reference to the cubic centimeters of displacement.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, purveyors of only the finest rumors, over 730 lb.-ft. of torque will be sent to all four wheels via a six-speed ZF automatic gearbox, with the possibility of a DSG transmission later on. In order to tame all those units of energy, carbon ceramic disks will be an option over the standard rotors – a good call if you ask us.
Beyond the jaw-dropping potential of the 'standard' RS6, the German rag also reports that a 'Plus' version may become available with additional power – somewhere in the neighborhood of 620 to 625 HP – with the twin-turbo'd mill potentially finding a home within the RS R8.
[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via Motor Authority]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joe K. 9:10AM (6/26/2007)
holy crap.... I think i need a towel...
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Josiah 9:24AM (6/26/2007)
considering the RS4 has 420 HP on tap, this only makes sense
but is still astonishing
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John R 9:25AM (6/26/2007)
Good God...730 foot pound of torque?! Out of all four wheels? Four words: four wheel burn out. That car would turn any commute into dust.
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pd 9:31AM (6/26/2007)
The game of one-upmanship continues. Crazy Germans. Gotta love it!
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spencer 10:30AM (6/26/2007)
I like how it's cool that Germans one-up each other in a horsepower war, yet whenever an article about the Corvette Blue Devil, STS-V, Dodge Viper, Shelby GT500 or any other high performance American car shows up on here all the commenters say things like "why doesn't Detroit focus on fuel economy", or "you can't even put all that power to the ground". Yes Audis have awd and are more refined, but seriously the hypocrisy on Autoblog is astounding.
Dr. Woo 11:12AM (6/26/2007)
And the biggest winners are the consumers in this war.
I can't wait to see this car.
Stuart 11:16AM (6/26/2007)
Thats because the germans are decades ahead of the best the americans have to offer. Either way this is gonna get even more stupid when you consider that in a recent article a few months back, AMG boss said that the next e-class will be getting a twin-turbo 6.2 V8 WITH 700BHP. If that is half true then forget audi, ferrari should be worried. Hopefully it will be tuned by Mclaren F1 team
Scott 3:44PM (6/26/2007)
The Germans are decades ahead? Did you miss the Z06 somehow? (BTW, my daily driver is German.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordschleife_fastest_lap_times
Excluding the duplicates, tuner cars, and others not available in North America, the bone-stock Z06 ranks #7 on that list. If you exclude cars over $150k, the Z06 is #1, and still only stickers at $73k.
kevin 5:21PM (6/26/2007)
actually, the porsche 911 gt3 ford gt, and 911 turbo had faster lap times, and all of them sticker for under 150 grand, just to let you know.
Pouya 7:55PM (6/26/2007)
@ Stuart
I doubt Ferrari would be worried. An AMG E-class is less of a threat to the McLaren-Mercedes SLR, which was a direct competitor to Ferrari and fell flat on its face. While Mercedes will have a powerful engine, everything else about the car will likely be something true purists and enthusiasts will stay away from - standard automatic, soft suspension, disconnected steering, etc. Not to mention, Ferrari owners are obsessed with the concept of exclusivity, and there is nothing exclusive about a Mercedes.
chris 9:36AM (6/26/2007)
Wow... And if they give the RS6 the same handling improvements over the S6 as the RS4 has over the S4 (and you know the sound will be simply amazing), then this thing will basically make every non-supercar in the world look quite pathetic, regardless of how much more expensive it is compared to the M5 and E63. It could probably end up doing sub 7.50s around the Ring even in the biggest (and best, a true Audi RS) Avant form.
The Plus version will probably come out a couple of years later I'd think, that's how it worked with the previous generation RS6 from memory.
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Eddie 9:38AM (6/26/2007)
wow audi is on a roll. one great product after another.
who would have thought that 20 years ago?
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Greg 9:58AM (6/26/2007)
How much does the RS8 put out then?
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Alex 10:00AM (6/26/2007)
The idiocy of it, of course, is that traction control will make sure you'll never have all that horsepower.
Having said that, the car sounds cool anyway :)
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Ryan 10:45AM (6/26/2007)
All of those cars mentioned are nice fast cars. However they are lacking one thing: luxury. People who will buy an RS6 just don't want a fast car, they want luxury along with handling/performance.
On the cars mentioned, not one of them has the option of Carbon Fiber disc brakes on their respective sites. Does this not tell you anything?
charlie 11:13AM (6/26/2007)
So the question becomes... how will BMW respond.
They could pretty easily retune the M5 to 550 to 580hp without major changes to the engine (aftermarket ECU mods already achieve it), but with their naturally aspirated, high revving V10 they'd still be stuck with a 250+ foot pound torque deficit compared to the RS6.
Maybe BMW makes more significant changes to the engine, increasing displacement to 5.5L, tuning to 625 or more hp.
I really dont see the use of turbos on BMW ///M vehicles any time in the near future. It goes against their design philosophy I guess. Turbos mean more torque. More torque means that a heavier transmission, heavier brakes, and in general heavier moving parts all around. Added weight means worse handling... which I guess isn't ///M enough.
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Clayton W. 2:12PM (6/26/2007)
Charlie: Why does more torque mean heavier brakes? I'm not a physics god, but I don't understand why engine torque has anything to do with brake size? If two cars of similar weight are traveling the same speed, then it is no mind whether one cars has a more than trivial amount of additional torque than the other. The brakes on both cars must still dissipate the same amount of energy to bring the cars to a stop.
Bill 1:28PM (6/26/2007)
Carbon ceramic disks & DSG transmission.
I don't believe that these things are heavier but Audi's have always been portly.
Toy Yoda 1:33PM (6/26/2007)
But why should they respond? Aren't they targetting two different tastes? Audi is going after the torque guys and BMW is going after the rpm guys? Look at the new M3, it looks like BMW is responding by making even higher revving motors, and probably making up the lack of torque through the gearing.
Alex 12:58PM (6/26/2007)
.. and anyone with the whole brain knows that it IS relevant.
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