#11 - Bang For Your Buck
One of the most childish yet oddly satisfying games any car enthusiast can find themselves playing (often unintentionally) when trawling through classifieds is to try and ascertain how much car you can buy yourself for a set price limit. So while the wife may have tasked you with finding £30ks worth of second hand used BMW 3 series for the family car, you inadvertently find yourself trawling through Caterham’s and Morgan’s to work out what you could get if you sold the kids and moved to Spain.
The search will always inevitably start and end with some type of Mercedes because let’s be honest, they depreciate the fastest and nothing screams mid-life crisis more than 5.5 litre V8 or 6 litre twin turbo V12. What’s more, you can further enhance the game by assuming petrol is worthless and the thing will never break down.
But what if for a second you brought in some real life variables. Practicality, reliability, running costs, insurance. I admit it provides less escapism to the game that preceded it but what if it actually resulted in a realistic solution for you and the family. Allow me to introduce you to the Audi C6 RS6.
Back in 2008, Audi were one of the few car manufacturers who truly didn’t give a flying fan belt about the global recession. VW had recently bought Lamborghini and with that, a wave of new resources for them to play with. Most notably, the incredible 5.2 litre V10 power plant that came from the baby Gallardo. To celebrate this, not only did Audi drop one in the R8, but the absolute nutters decided to bolt one into an A6……and then strap 2 turbochargers onto it. The result was a 2 tonne, 5 door estate capable of doing 200mph with the dog in the back……and they say Germans don’t do sarcasm. What’s more, it was a truly usable everyday car with a great double clutch gearbox.
As you have probably guessed though, there is a BUT coming. When you create a fire breathing twin turbo V10, it tends to have a penchant for consuming the high octane black stuff. Now while that wasn’t a factor when employers were more than happy to foot your fuel bill for ploughing up and down the M1, in the greener more eco-friendly world we now live in…..that sh*t don’t fly anymore.
However, this is not an £80k car today, nor is it a £40k car……this 200mph super estate is now in the sub 20 club….and that’s exciting. The great thing about Audi’s in general is the build quality is exceptional. They have often been criticised for being boring or dull to drive, but they are built to last. And this rings even truer of the faster RS varieties. The engine and gearbox are bulletproof, so is the suspension and in most cases the electrics are as well. Yes given the cars plump kerb weight they will have a tendency to eat brakes and tyres (every 17k miles) but as long as you service them regularly, they won’t want for much. Which is great because what you save there you can use to foot the fuel bill. Combined MPG is around 17MPG which I admit doesn’t look great against modern day motors but when you factor in the actual cost of the car, dare I say it can be offset?!
I can convincingly say that no car manufacturer will ever strap a twin turbo v10 into a production estate car again and that’s what makes the C6 RS6 so special. It was the last hurrah for the oil burning super estate. It could embarrass most Italian exotica that crossed its paths while safely and comfortably carrying the family down to the South of France with the kitchen sink in the back. Let’s not forget, this was for a long time the chosen car for the cross continent drug runner simply because no European constabulary had anything (helicopters included) that could really keep up with it……as I said bang for your buck.
Happy Motoring,
Greg