News from Ingolstadt: an electric Audi RS 6 e-tron will be unveiled next year. Design boss Marc Lichte tells TopGear that the sedan will have a wider track and bigger wheels than the upcoming A6 e-tron. Both cars will be on the VW Group’s new PPE platform. The A6 e-tron will have a 100-kWh battery, a range of 700 kilometers and will go from 0 to 100 in less than four seconds in its fastest version.
But the RS 6, that’s a different story. At the preview of Audi’s Activesphere in Munich, Lichte confirmed that the RS 6 will get “a different kind of performance”. That means ‘more’, we think, and probably ‘a lot more’.
“Audi executives went crazy when they saw the RS 6 e-tron”
Lichte was slightly clearer about the appearance of the Audi RS 6 e-tron. “I’d like to show you the A6 e-tron, the Q6 e-tron and all future RS versions… I love those things,” he said. “I showed them to 1,000 of our managers in Berlin, and they went crazy when they saw the photos and the models on stage.” We wanted to be there.
‘I’ll explain why,’ continues Lichte. ‘RS is all about the combination of performance and functionality. I like the RS 6 because it allows me to transport bikes and skis and so many other things. I love that. And for me it’s how it stands on its wheels, the wide track. If you think about Audi’s competition: are they now bringing these kinds of broad performance EVs to the market? I would say no. But we, at Audi…’ he grins. “I’m sure you’ll appreciate our RS EVs.”
Wider and heavier
Lichte says that the concept car of the A6 e-tron, from April 2021, was ‘very concrete’ and showed ’90 percent’ of the production car. “But it has the narrower body,” he emphasizes. Still, it was already a very attractive car. Wide-looking and very sporty. But [de RS 6 e-tron] will certainly get a different body, so with a different track width and wheels with a different diameter.’ So even wider, with even bigger wheels. And you thought Audis looked aggressive already.
‘A colleague asked me what my favorite model is right now,’ says Lichte. “The e-tron GT, I said, and the RS 6 I’m driving now. But in the future it will be the RS 6 e-tron.”
The petrol RS 6 will also be worth it
And what about the RS 6 with combustion engine? Petrol isn’t dead yet, after all, and the upcoming RS 6 non-e-tron is shaping up to be one of the genre’s bouncers. “I promise that both the EV and the petrol car will be impressive,” says Lichte. “Certainly the last-generation ICE RS models, which are, bwoah… mind blowing.’ Did the managers for those cars cheer so loudly? ‘Frankly, yes. You’ll be surprised.’
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