When it comes to super-fast wagons, few — if any — do it quite like Audi. The current RS6, for example, has 590 bhp, 590 lb-ft of torque, and can hit sixty in a whopping 3.1 seconds. And remember, this is a station wagon, not a flagship supercar as the figures would suggest.
This isn't particularly new for Audi, though, as its performance division, Audi Sport GmbH — or Quattro GmbH, as it's formerly named — has been responsible for creating wagon-shaped rockets since the nineties. It all started with the iconic RS2 in 1994 — you know, the one made in partnership with Porsche — which had a sledgehammer-like turbo and 311 bhp.
It was seriously fast, then, and marked the beginning of the legendary RS line. In 2002, Audi took the speed element to a whole new level, kickstarting the modern era of RS-badged machines with something bigger and more powerful: the RS6 C5. It was so quick, in fact, that it was the fastest production wagon ever built at the time.
So, let's see what made all of this possible and take a detailed look back at the Audi RS6 C5.
The RS6 C5's Place in Audi History
Throughout the '90s and early '00s, Quattro GmbH followed a tried and tested formula when it came to its performance vehicles: refined looks, Quattro all-wheel-drive systems, and thumping turbochargers. The third RS-badged car, then the one under the spotlight here, was no exception. The cars that came before it, the RS2 and the B5 RS4, were both blisteringly quick, but the C5 RS6 was a completely different animal.
Just like the B5 RS4, the C5's engine was developed in partnership with Cosworth — the British engineering firm responsible for the most successful F1 engine of all time and some automotive icons — so it had all the makings of something brilliant. And it was. Interestingly, the C5 was, up until this year, the only RS6 that was sold in the US — albeit briefly for one year in 2003 and in sedan form only. List prices started at around $81,000 dollars and went up to $91,000 with later specifications — which, accounting for inflation, is around $117,000 or $132,00, respectively.
The Audi RS6 C5 Was A True Sleeper
But really, what you got for your money was well worth it. As previously mentioned, the C5 RS6 came with a Cosworth-developed engine, which was a 4.2 liter, twin-turbocharged lump with 444 bhp, meaning sixty could be reached in 4.9 seconds and a top speed of an electronically-limited 155 mph. In case that wasn't enough, though — it is, let's not kid ourselves — a later 'Plus' model released in 2004, which had a whopping 473 bhp. And remember, this was the early '00s, and those figures were huge.
Compare them with a Ferrari 360, for example, which ran between 1999 and 2005, and even the lowest-powered RS6 still had 44 extra horses. This meant, then, that the RS6 wagon — or Avant, to give it the proper Audi name — was the fastest in the world when it was first released.
And while you may be thinking comparing it to a mid-engined supercar might be a bit unfair, and you’re probably right, because the C5 RS6 is, underneath everything, an A6. And that means it’s far more subtle and practical than any supercar, despite performing like one. This brings us on to another aspect of the C5 RS6: its looks.
The C5 RS6 doesn’t really look too much different to an ordinary A6 — to the untrained eye, anyway — but there’s just the right amount of details. Its wheel arches are wider, for starters, giving it a more muscular and aggressive look. And then there’s those pipes out the back, which are big enough to let you know it’s serious without being over the top. Oh, and there’s the wheels, too, which may be 19”, but they're still fairly understated. Ultimately, though, the C5 RS6 doesn't cause too much of a scene in the looks department. It lets its performance do that instead.
To help put all the power down, the C5 RS6 came with Audi's famed Quattro, all-wheel-drive system, and a Torsen differential. It also had independent four-link front suspension and double-wishbone at the rear, along with Audi's Dynamic Ride Control system — in fact, the C5 was the first to ever be fitted with this. According to Autocar, this essentially uses a pump to adjust the pressure of each shock absorber under accelerating, braking, and cornering. This means that despite its overall size and weight — roughly 1,880 kg, or 4144 lbs — the C5 can really move through corners.
Best of all, though, is how little you can pick one of these up for in the secondhand market. Well-used examples are now as low as $14,000, which gets you a car that can seat five in comfort, has ample space for shopping trips, and drives like your average supercar. It really is a true all-rounder.