Audi has turned up the wick on its two largest RS passenger cars, with more power, sharper handling and a unique look.
The 2023 Audi RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback Performance editions have been revealed – but Australian launches are yet to be confirmed.
Based on the latest RS6 Avant wagon and RS7 Sportback ‘sedan’ launched three years ago, Audi’s new Performance variants add power and torque, cut weight, claim to improve handling, and introduce new design features.
Power comes from the standard cars’ 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, which now develops 463kW and 850Nm – up 22kW/50Nm, thanks to larger turbochargers with increased boost pressure (2.4 to 2.6 bar).
Audi claims 0-100km/h acceleration times of 3.4 seconds for both cars – improvements of 0.2 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 280km/h, though the RS Dynamic Package Plus can increase this to 305km/h, unchanged from the standard RS6 and RS7.
Both cars retain eight-speed automatic transmissions and permanent all-wheel drive – though there’s a new, lighter and smaller self-locking centre differential, which Audi says makes for “less understeering at the handling limits.”
The gearbox has been retuned for “faster shifting times and a noticeably increased spread between the various driving modes,” according to Audi.
There’s less insulation between the engine, interior and rear of the car to allow more exhaust noise into the cabin – and cut 8kg off the car’s weight (to 2090kg unladen for the RS6, or 2065kg for the RS7).
Aluminium 21-inch wheels with 275/35 tyres are standard, but buyers can opt for 22-inch ‘lightweight’ forged wheels, which are said to improve brake cooling, and save 5kg of unsprung weight each (for 20kg total) compared to the 22-inch wheels on the standard RS6 and RS7.
Available in gloss metallic black, matte grey, matte black or matte neodymium gold, the lighter wheels are wrapped in new 285/30 Continental SportContact 7 tyres, said to “offer consistently better grip on both dry and wet roads”.
Audi claims braking distances from 100km/h to zero are reduced by two metres, with the new wheels and tyres optioned.
The drive modes have been revised for the Performance editions; the coasting feature (which switches the engine off under low load on the move) is now only active in Efficiency mode, while S mode has been retuned for “tighter load changes”.
The RS Dynamic Package – usually optional on the regular RS6 and RS7 – is standard on the Performance editions, with a 280km/h top speed limiter (vs 250km/h as standard), rear-wheel steering, and a sport rear differential.
Optional is the RS Dynamic Package Plus – shared with the standard cars – which ups the top speed limiter to 305km/h, and adds 440mm front and 370mm carbon-ceramic brake discs, which weigh 34kg less than the standard steel brakes, and are available with grey, red or blue calipers.
The Performance editions can be optioned in 16 exterior colours – now including Ascari Blue in matte and metallic forms, as well as a matte Dew Silver finish.
Other visual tweaks for the RS6 and RS7 Performance consist of matte grey exterior accents – across the mirror caps, front bumper, side skirts, roof rails, window trim and rear diffuser – with black finishes for these elements, as well as the badges, also available.
Inside, highlights include a black Alcantara steering wheel, microfibre gear shifter and centre console trim, and ‘RS Performance’ door puddle light projection.
Blue contrast interior stitching is newly available on the Performance variants – in addition to red and grey, carried over from the standard cars – which covers the steering wheel, floor mats, centre console, and Valcona leather sports seats.
These interior accent colours – available in RS Design Packages – also cover the seat belts, the highlights in the carbon-fibre dashboard inlays, centre and door armrests, and centres of the front seats.
The 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster ahead of the driver now shows a blinking shift indicator when the gearbox is in manual mode – which changes the tachometer from green to yellow to red – while launch control gains “new traffic light icons”.
The 2023 Audi RS6 and RS7 Performance are due to open for orders in Germany on December 8, priced from €135,000 ($AU208,300) – €7000 ($AU10,800), or five per cent more than the standard models.
Australian launch plans have yet to be confirmed.
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