Getting kids and their things from 0 to 100 in 3.4 seconds - the Audi RS6 Avant does the impossible

You’ve seen them before.

The health insurance or home loan ads, parents holding hands, beaming at their cherub-faced children as they frolic happily on the pristine turf out the front of their cement-rendered home. In the spotless garage, next to an electric lawnmower, will be an SUV of some sort.

But this is just wrong. The family car of anyone’s dreams – without a shadow of doubt or flicker of hesitation – is this: the Audi RS6 Avant.

This year marks 30 years since Audi first tried this sort of thing.

In 1994, and with a lot of technical help from Porsche, Audi produced its first RS (or ‘RennSport’) model, the RS2 Avant.

Beneath an unassuming wagon body beat the heart of Audi’s most powerful five-cylinder turbocharged engine ever, enough to rocket all of its 1600 kgs from zero to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and onto a top speed of 262 km/h – up there with the 911 and Corvette of the time.

The initial plan was to stop production with 2200 units, but in the end, sheer demand blew this out to 2891.

But in a way, Audi never stopped. Today’s RS6 Avant is basically the RS2’s spiritual successor.

As before, two things are going on here.

One takes the form of the five seats – four of them with controls for heating and ventilating via touchscreens in the front and back – and 548 litres of boot space.

There is the RS7 if you want more of a sedan shape, but the RS6 comes in wagon – or ‘Avant’ – form only. Very practical and very comfy.

The other thing is what’s underneath, which is very potent.

For 2024, the standard RS6 Avant is gone, replaced by the ‘Performance’ variant. The 4-litre twin-turbo V8, with mild-hybrid assistance, was already the most powerful engine ever fitted to a production Audi, but the figures have risen even higher to 463 kW and 850 Nm.

Or, to put it another way, 0-100 km/h is done and dusted in 3.4 seconds – half a second quicker than even Porsche’s Panamera GTS.

It’s all delivered through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic and Audi’s permanent all-wheel-drive ‘Quattro’ system. So it’s snappy and grippy too.

We’re told compromises are necessarily awful, and that multitasking is impossible for all but women. Not here. This is legitimately a supercar in wagon’s clothing – a family-friendly Lamborghini – and it does both jobs impossibly well.

You’re looking at those enormous 22-inch wheels and painted-on tyres and bracing your back for the worst. But no. Something – whether it be the clever air suspension or maybe just witchcraft – works a charm.

It’s the same with the brakes – formidable enough to turn your mouth inside out if you need them to, but in stop-start traffic, silky smooth.

There are several drive modes available – Efficiency, Comfort, Auto and Dynamic – which do things like open flaps in the exhaust and adjust the height of the suspension.

You can also pick and choose different aspects of each to create two of your own modes, accessible via the ‘RS’ button on the steering wheel.

One minute, you can be cruising along the highway with four of the V8’s cylinders deactivated to help save fuel, and the next, you’re firing on all of them and weaving through corners with enough gusto to make errant kids’ toys in the back seats fly.

All of this makes the $250,000 starting price begin to look like a bit of a bargain. A two-for-one type deal.

And there’s more.

One time, I mustn’t have closed the door with enough force, but before I could grab the handle for a second attempt, the door moved in on its own. The seatbelt holsters are also lit up to avoid having to stab away in the dark. And in true Audi form, the build quality is exceptional (and the blue seat belts and blue weave in the carbon-fibre trim to match the ‘Ascari Blue’ paint is a combined $4K-plus option, but worth it).

Audi has ripped out some of the sound deadening to let more of the V8’s thunder flood the cabin, but I still found the roar on take-off, followed by the pops and crackles as you lift your foot, a bit too distant for my liking.

The lowest I could get fuel consumption down to was 9.6 litres per 100 km – so it’s also thirsty – and my wife struggled to find a space to hold her water bottle which, to be fair, would make a grain silo look small.

But all this amounts to criticising an all-expenses-paid tour of Europe because one of the buses smelt a bit funny. The want is still deep.

2024 Audi RS6 Avant Performance

• $241,500 (plus on-road costs)
• 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, 48V mild hybrid, 463 kW / 850 Nm
• 8-speed dual-clutch automatic, all-wheel drive (AWD)
• 0-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, 280 km/h top speed
• 11.8 litres per 100 km claimed fuel consumption, 98 RON
• 2150 kg.

Thanks to Audi Australia for providing this car for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with Audi Australia.