2013 Audi RS6 spy video

2013 Audi RS6 spy video

We’ve had the new Audi S6 – and S6 Avant – arrive to put a performance halo at the top of the new A6 range, but there’s still a level to go – the new Audi RS6.

The new RS6 is expected to arrive at a motor show near you before the end of 2012 and arrive in Audi showrooms in early 2013. So that probably means a debut at Paris in September.

Ahead of that debut Audi are doing the de rigueur for any performance car by putting in time at the Nurburgring, where this spy video of next year’s RS6 was shot. It’s clear from the double twin exhausts, the RS grill and big wheel arches that this what used to be a V10 Audi.

But the V10 has gone from the Audi range (apart from in the R8) so we’ll be seeing yet another version of the new 4.0 litre V8 turbo we’ve already seen in the S6 and S8 (as well as the new Bentley GT V8).

So far the most powerful version we’ve seen of the new V8 has been in the 2012 S8 where it develops 513bhp, but that’s not going to be enough for the RS6 Avant. The last version of the RS6 developed an impressive 580bhp and 479lb/ft of torque, so we’d expect to see the new RS6 getting around 600bhp to take on the M5 and E63.

Which does make us wonder exactly how much power Audi and Bentley can reliably get from the new V8?

Audi S6 and S6 Avant (2012) Photos

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2013 Audi RS6 Avant Spy Video

Source: WCF