A very special version of the Audi RS 6 that started life as a concept car built by junior Audi engineers who were inspired by the legendary Audi 90 IMSA racing car has finally arrived on our shores.
The Audi RS 6 GT Avant is something of a last blast for the RS 6, or rather it's pure-combustion 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, as the next incarnation of the legendary nameplate will almost certainly be electrified in some way. But what a way to go out.
The RS 6 GT is based on the RS 6 Performance model, and comes with the same 463kW/850Nm version of the 4.0-litre V8, but with a number of serious performance and visual upgrades, including carbon ceramic brakes, the optional quattro sport rear differential as standard and a top speed of 305km/h thanks to the removal of the speed limiter. Handy on the school run.
Just 660 examples of the RS 6 GT will be produced, with 13 headed our way. While this might seem like a surprisingly large number of the very limited run for a small market like ours, it reflects the fact that Audi in New Zealand still leads the world in terms of percentage of sales RS models contribute to its annual tally - by way of contrast, Australia got 22 cars and Japan 19.
Like all the best serious performance versions of "lesser" vehicles, the RS 6 GT isn't built entirely on the same production line as the RS 6, instead it is diverted off to an "elite assembly team" at Audi's Bollinger Hofe facility (where the R8, e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT), where final assembly of its carbon fibre and GT-specific elements takes place by hand.
These include the carbon fibre bonnet (complete with the extremely cool exposed carbon fibre stripes - those aren't stickers!) and the remarkably aggressively flared carbon fibre front guards, as well as the removal of the roof rails and a dramatic Audi 90-inspired "double wing" on the rear.
The GT also gets unique 22-inch alloy wheels, which are white on the "heritage" white car and black on the other two colours available; Mythos Black and Nardo Grey. The black and grey cars also get the lairy stickers of the white car, but in a more subdued black and grey colour scheme.
There are other differences between the white heritage GT and the other two as well, with the heritage car getting leather/microfibre carbon bucket racing seats, while the others get Nappa leather sports seats.
Out of the 13 cars coming to our shores, five will be fitted with RS Suspension Pro, a manually adjustable coil over suspension set up that sees the car drop 10mm than a standard RS 6, with a further 10mm of adjustment available. Audi says the five cars come with a special tool kit for the adjustment process, as well as recommended settings for both road and track.
The remaining 8 GTs get RS adaptive air suspension with RS-specific tuning and several drive modes, as well as a lift function.
All of that extra kit - and the extreme exclusivity of the GT - doesn't come cheap, with the the GT landing here for $380,000, or a handy $132,000 (or a fully-optioned up RS 3) more than an RS 6 Performance. Still, there is nothing quite like it on the road, and those wheels are extremely awesome.
