THUG LIFE
BMW STYLES ITS M5 as the original super-sedan, but the original super-wagon? That’s Audi with the 1994 RS2, key to which was quattro all-wheel drive – an innovation that helped humble machinery go much faster before the M5 was a twinkle in Munich’s eye. Fuse all that history, go up a size and you get the RS6, Audi’s rival to the BMW M5.
The two have been going head to head for four generations, and now there’s a new RS6 from Audi Sport to give the F90 M5 a run for its money, though the Audi always has been an alternative, not a facsimile; all-wheel drive, auto gearbox, turbo torque, wagon bodystyle – these are all things the M5 never used to have.
If that sounds a bit sensible, this fourth-gen RS6 definitely doesn’t feel strait-laced as I hurry over to Wales, UK, to meet the M5 and Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe – the latter a less direct rival but a fascinating game-changer nonetheless.
The RS6’s V8 thuds with bassy intent thanks to the Performance exhaust, and it’s explosive when I need to power past slower traffic. For the first time there’s rear-wheel steering and a quattro sport diff in the rear axle as standard. There’s no question you feel rear bias and an unexpected agility when you carve the RS6 through corners. It’s more exciting and fun than its already brilliant predecessor, and I can’t make it understeer. What’s happening? This isn’t on-brand at all.
But this is not a tale of the RS6 moving towards dynamic M territory; the two might be converging, but it’s BMW M that’s conceded most ground. So the latest M5 not only evolves the old 4395cc twin-turbo V8, it’s also the first proper M car (yes, still having a dig at those M-badged SUVs) to get all-wheel drive and a
