A new peak is about to be reached in the Audi RS range.
The RS 6 Avant and RS 7 Sportback “performance” models join their existing and already formidable counterparts and ramp power up to a colossal 597bhp and torque to up to 553lb/ft.
Available to order in the UK from November, and scheduled for first deliveries here next February, the RS 6 Avant performance will be priced at £86,000 OTR and the RS 7 Sportback performance at £91,600 OTR.
The 4.0-litre TFSI engine at the heart of both bolsters its 597bhp output with a 516lb/fttorque peak which can be temporarily increased by the driver to 553lb/ft by way of an overboost function.
The two RS high-performance models sprint from 0 to 62mph in just 3.7 seconds, an improvement of 0.2 seconds over the respective standard RS model, and need just 12.1 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 124mph, giving them a 1.4-second advantage.
In each case the governed 155mph top speed can be increased as an option to 174mph, or 189mph if the dynamic package plus is specified.
Despite the 44bhp output boost, the sonorous V8 biturbo power unit returns up to 29.4mpg in the RS 6 Avant performance and 29.7mpg in the RS 7 Sportback performance, corresponding to 223 and 221 g/km of CO2.