The Audi RS6 Avant GT Is a Wagon That Caters to Emotion, Not Logic

Yahoo

27-03-2025

It seems like just yesterday we were gushing over Audi bringing the RS6 Avant wagon stateside for the 2021 model year. Now, four years later, the current-generation RS6, as well as the rest of the A6 model line, is on the verge of retiring so that a new generation of Audi mid-size luxury car can woo buyers. Will a new RS6 Avant be part of the next-gen A6 clan? Probably. Will it retain the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 of the current car? We wouldn't bet on it.
As such, the low-volume 2025 RS6 Avant GT may well be a final hurrah for Audi's V-8 wagon era. Limited to 660 units globally, with just 85 of those coming to the United States, the $200,195 RS6 Avant GT shares its 621-hp twin-turbo V-8, eight-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel-drive system with the $127,895 RS6 Avant Performance. But the GT is more than just a design exercise, even if some of the most noticeable changes are to the model's exterior. These include restyled front and rear fascias, a beefy rear wing, a set of six-spoke 22-inch wheels, and—in the case of U.S.-bound GTs—Arkona white paint with red and black graphics and white six-spoke 22-inch wheels.
Additionally, the GT ditches the roof rails of lesser RS6 Avants, comes standard with carbon-ceramic rotors (an $8500 option on the RS6 Avant Performance), and adopts a carbon-fiber hood and front fenders, the latter of which incorporate a vent aft of the front wheels that reduces air pressure within the wheel arches and aids in cooling the brakes. As a result of these changes, the RS6 Avant GT is a claimed 88 pounds lighter than its Performance kin.
The lesser mass of the GT allows it to accelerate to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, according to Audi, 0.1 second quicker than the negligibly heavier Performance. There's a good chance Audi's acceleration claims are on the conservative side, too, given our 3.1-second result testing a 2021 RS6 Avant.
But the GT is not only quicker than the Performance, it's sharper too. Credit tweaks such as the trim's distinct Dynamic drive mode tune for the torque-vectoring rear differential, 30 percent stiffer front and 80 percent stiffer rear anti-roll bars, and GT-exclusive coil-over suspension. Both the ride height and three-way dampers are manually adjustable. Leave the former in its default mode, and the GT sits 0.4 inch lower than the Performance variant.
At our drive opportunity in Germany, we were unable to confirm the damper setting of the RS6 Avant GT we drove, but we suspect the dampers were in their softest setup. Even so, the GT relished every roundabout and snaking highway on-ramp we pointed it toward. Cornering was flatter than the income tax rate in Kazakhstan, while the low-effort steering's tactile feedback allowed us to comfortably push the Continental WinterContact TS860 S winter tires to their limits. While Continental SportContact 7 summer tires come standard on the GT, Audi fit winter rubber to the car we drove in response to the typically cold and gray March weather in Wolfsburg (although the day of our drive was unseasonably sunny and warm with temperatures in the mid-50s).
The wagon also felt right at home barreling down unrestricted sections of the autobahn in Dynamic mode, the V-8 growling like a lion in a battle for territory as it raced toward the 6750-rpm redline and the transmission backing up the drama with a satisfying shove at each upshift.
True, you can get this same satisfaction from an RS6 Avant Performance. But the RS6 Avant GT is the kind of car that shuns logic and embraces emotion. It's a celebration of what this generation of RS6 aimed to achieve: a dedicated sports car hiding under a wagon body. The 2025 Audi RS6 Avant GT more loudly trumpets its sporting capabilities with its head-turning looks and lowered suspension. It's an impassioned final breath for the fifth-generation A6 model line and a celebration of raw V-8 power matched with wagon versatility.
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