Final encore Audi RS6 Avant GT revealed as retro racing tribute

Showcased towards the end of last week in a single teaser image, Audi, in the early hours of Tuesday morning (6 February), unveiled the final farewell to the current generation RS6 Avant, the RS6 Avant GT, of which only 660 units will be made worldwide.

Icon homage

Hinted at last year, first by Ingolstadt’s Head of Design, Marc Lichte, and later by Audi Sport boss Sebastian Grams, the GT effectively made its indirect debut four years ago as the RS6 IMSA GTO Concept.

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A model that paid tribute to the 90 Quattro IMSA GTO that dominated the 1989 IMSA Camel GTO series in the United States to such an extent that it got outlawed, the RS6 Avant GT incorporates several styling elements from the concept as previously alleged, though in contrast to comments made by Lichte and Grams, without any power uptakes over the “standard” Performance variant it is based on.

Instead, mainly exterior and interior tweaks have been applied, along with revisions to the chassis.

Visual changes

A visual upgrade described as “unparallel” by the Four Rings, the GT adopts the same retro colour scheme as the 90 GTO by combining the corporate Audi Sport black, red and grey decals with an Arkona White body carried over to the 22-inch six-spoke alloy wheels ordinarily finished in high sheen or glass black.

As an alternative, the decals can be finished in black and grey when the body is specified in Mythos Black Metallic or Nardo Grey. In total, two other hues can be selected; Chronos Grey and Madeira Brown Metallic.

Differing further from the RS6 Performance, the GT gains a carbon fibre bonnet, wider air inlets on either side of the redesigned front bumper, a gloss black finish on the Singleframe grille, a red front splitter, and widened wheel arches also made out of carbon fibre.

Along with flared side skirts and vents integrated into the arches themselves, Audi has also fitted the RS6 Avant GT with a “functioning” rear diffuser as well as what it calls a motorsport-inspired double rear spoiler “taken almost 1:1 from the concept car”.

This has, however, resulted in the roof rails having been removed for a so-called “flatter, sportier silhouette”. Rounding the exterior off are carbon fibre mirror caps and unique RS6 GT badging.

Look carefully inside

Compared to its exterior, Audi has been more subtle inside by trimming the RS bucket seats in black leather and Dinamica micro-fibres while adding RS6 GT embroidery work below the headrests on all seats.

As part of the standard RS Design Package, copper stitching features on the outer sections of the honeycomb pattern on the seats, teamed with a colour called Express Red.

The same stitch pattern continues on the steering wheels, gear lever, floor mats and armrests, with the final nuances being red seatbelts, Dinamica micro-fibre inlays, an open-pore carbon twirl motif, RS6 GT badges and a special builder’s plaque on the centre console representing each of the 660 units.

Dynamics and power

Its overall ride height lowered by 10 mm as a result of being fitted with adjustable coil-overs, the RS6 GT’s underbody changes also include triple-adjustable dampers, a retuned RS adaptive sport suspension and Dynamic Ride Control system, a new locking centre differential that moves power automatically between the front and rear axles, higher spring rates, and stabiliser bars that are 30% stiffer than on the RS6 Performance.

Completing the dynamic transformation are Continental Sport Contact 7 rubber encasing the mentioned alloys.

Up front, the already boosted mild-hybrid 4.0 TFSI V8 has been kept as is from the Performance, with outputs of 463kW/850Nm fed to all four wheels through an eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox.

An uptake of 22kW/50Nm over the now discontinued standard RS6 Avant, the GT will get from 0-100 km/h in 3.3 seconds, from 0-200 km/h in 11.5 seconds, and on to a limited top speed limited of 305 km/h due to the otherwise optional RS Driver’s Package being fitted as standard.

Bespoke to one

Deliveries are said to start in the second quarter of this year, pricing for the RS6 Avant GT starts at €219 355 (R4 450 449) in Germany, where the bulk of the 660 units will be sold.

Although confirmed for South Africa, only a solitary example has been approved at an undisclosed sticker price likely to be considerably more than the R2 332 700 asked by the RS6 Avant Performance.

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