Boost turned-up as Audi prices RS6 Avant and RS7 Performance

With a reported “extreme” farewell model planned for unveiling next year, Audi has officially announced price and specification details of the Performance variants of the RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback for South Africa.

More power

Arriving on local soil after debuting in Europe last November, the most potent derivatives of the standard RS6 Avant and RS7 receive an uptake in boost pressure from 2.4 to 2.6 bar to unlock an additional 22 kW and 50 Nm from the mild-hybrid 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8.

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Paired to the unchanged eight-speed Tiptronic transmission, with the RS Driver’s Package included, the end result is an output of 463kW/850Nm, a limited top speed of 280 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, 0.2 seconds faster than standard.

Changes outside

Besides the uptick in grunt, Audi has sharpened-up the Performance’s styling by making the 22-inch 5 Y-spoke alloy wheels, available as an option in Europe, standard on both, the only option being the choice of finishes comprising gloss black, matte titanium or matte gold.

Weighing five kilograms less than the wheels on the conventional RS6 and RS7, the wheels are wrapped in Continental SportContact 7 high performance tyres Ingolstadt claims had been selected as a means of helping to reduce weight.

Further exterior adaptions are matte grey mirror caps, roof rails in the case of the RS6, windows surrounds and a similar finish on the diffuser and lip spoiler. This can, however, be swapped for the matte carbon or gloss black packages available as cost options.

Completing the Performance’s transformation is a choice of 16 colours, including two new options; Matte Dew Silver and Matte Ascari Blue.

Subtle interior tweaks

Inside, Audi has been more subtle by adding Mercato Blue stitching on the steering wheel, gear lever, centre console and floor mats, decking out the steering wheel in Alcantara and the sport seats in Valcona black leather.

Also standard is the RS Design Package that comes with red, blue or grey embroidery work on the doors, centre console and dashboard, a perforated honeycomb pattern on the seats and an RPM indicator within the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that turns from green to yellow in manual mode to indicate when to shift up.

Changes underneath

Not left undone is the Performance’s mechanicals, which benefits from a new locking centre differential able to send as much as 85% of the engine’s power to the rear wheels and revised steering.

Utilising the same brake setup as the regular RS6 and RS7, while still featuring launch control, the final changes underneath the Performance’s skin is retuned software to improve the dual-clutch gearbox’s shift quality in Dynamic and S modes, and the optional rear axle steering system.

Price

Now available for ordering, both the RS6 Avant Performance and RS7 Sportback Performance’s sticker price include a five-year/100 000 km maintenance plan, which amounts to R2 332 700 for the former and R2 444 500 for the latter.

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