<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  Lausitz, Germany \u2014 We at Road &amp;amp;amp; Track drive a plethora of exciting cars on a regular basis, and it has to be something special for us to take extra notice of a particular performance car (&amp;quot;Ho-hum, just another vehicle that gets to 60 mph in 5 seconds...&amp;quot;). Ah, but there are those rare occasions when something comes along that makes us scream, &amp;quot;Hooweee!&amp;quot; and compels us to grab our iPhones and Blackberries and text anyone in cell range about the thing. One such car is the latest Audi RS 6 Avant.   First, the bad news: The car is not available in the U.S., and Audi has no firm plans to bring it stateside. It&amp;#039;s too bad because the RS 6 Avant is the most powerful production vehicle ever to wear the four rings, and despite being dressed up as a station wagon, its on-road prowess is something to behold.   Under the hood resides a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V-10 featuring Audi&amp;#039;s FSI direct fuel injection. It produces 580 bhp at 6250 rpm and, more important, a sumo-sized torque curve of 479 lb.-ft. from 1500 to 6250 rpm. Audi claims the RS 6 gets from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.6 seconds, which is impressive for a car that weighs 4465 lb., but it&amp;#039;s how this wagon gets there and beyond that makes it special.   As I entered the Autobahn right outside of Lausitz in eastern Germany, I floored the throttle pedal. The power came on in the blink of an eye. There was no wheelspin whatsoever \u2014 due to the Quattro all-wheel drive \u2014 just a massive surge forward as the exhaust bellowed out a deep vicious growl. The engine reached its 6700-rpm redline so fast that I was late flicking the upshift paddle. No problem; the 6-speed Tiptronic transmission grabbed 2nd gear for me, triggering another intense surge forward.   The car&amp;#039;s high-speed stability felt rock-solid, making 125 mph feel like 50. And like a thoroughbred hitting its stride, the RS 6 begged to keep going. The speedometer showed 290 km/h (180 mph) until traffic forced me to back off. The &amp;quot;official&amp;quot; top speed of the RS 6 is 250 km/h (obviously our speed governor was disabled).   The RS 6 changes direction well too, which I discovered on the road course at the Euro Speedway. There&amp;#039;s some understeer at turn-in, but the awd system keeps the rear tires from squirting out through all variety of corners. Of course, if you&amp;#039;re too harsh with the throttle application, bad things can still happen, especially if you have the ESP and DRC system (Dynamic Ride Control) switched off.   The RS 6&amp;#039;s lightweight suspension is tuned firmly, but ride quality hardly suffers. You can feel the car&amp;#039;s bulk through left/right transitions, but the steering feels relatively quick and the fat tires \u2014 255/40R-19 front and 275/35R-20 rear \u2014 help keep all four corners planted to the driving surface.   The RS 6 Avant&amp;#039;s styling is attractive inside and out. The only hints that this is Lucifer&amp;#039;s family hauler are its giant 20-in. alloy rear wheels and &amp;quot;RS 6&amp;quot; badges. The interior design and trim are similar to the stock A6 Avant&amp;#039;s.   Audi will not comment on a possible RS 6 sedan for the U.S. market, but we&amp;#039;re keeping our fingers crossed. The RS 6 Avant sells for 109,600 Euros in Germany, which calculates to about $171,000. If Audi can cut about 40 percent off this sum, I say bring it over. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a14287/2008-audi-rs-6-avant/?src=global_footer>