Audi's 450-horsepower RS6 sedan to come stateside by mid-2003





When we named Audi’s ultra-high-performance RS6 Most Fun car at the Geneva motor show, we hinted it might head stateside. At the New York show, Audi of America vp Len Hunt confirmed our suspicions: The A6-based five-passenger RS6 sedan comes stateside by mid-2003.



Packing a bi-turbocharged, 4.2-liter five-valve-per-cylinder V8, the 450-horsepower RS6 reportedly goes 0 to 60 mph in a mere 4.6 seconds and tops out at an electronically governed 155 mph.



The engine develops 415 lb-ft of torque from 1950 to 5600 rpm. A five-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission with new paddle shifters sends the power to the quattro all-wheel drive and the nine-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels.



RS6 is also the first Audi equipped with Dynamic Ride Control, an active suspension system that stiffens shock dampening to help reduce or eliminate body roll and pitch during hard cornering. RS6 is also fitted with stiffer shocks, springs and antiroll bars, stability control and Brembo brakes with eight-piston calipers.



We won’t get the avant (wagon) version here, but who’s complaining? Certainly not one of the 860 buyers willing to pay the $80,000 or so it’ll take to drive one of these rockets home.