New Audi RS6 with 780hp V8 INCOMING!.mkv

Audi is getting ready to launch the new C9 generation Audi RS6. Well, it's actually going to make two completely different versions of the new RS6. These cars will all be separate with different chassis and unique powertrains. But what the heck is going on? I'm going to tell you all. I'm Matt Watson and you're watching CarWow. Audi has a reputation as the sensible German carmaker. But look at its back catalogue. It's always doing things differently. The original Quattro was the first mass-produced four-wheel-drive performance car. Audi also brought mid-engine supercars into the mainstream, well, sort of into the mainstream, with the first R8. And it engineered a 500-horsepower twin-turbo V12 diesel engine from scratch and used it once in the Q7 SUV. And when all the other German brands were working on flagship hybrids, like the MG GT4 door and the new BMW M5, Audi built the RS6 GT. This car is truly bonkers for a few reasons. One, it has a racing livery, like on an oversized Tamiya radio-controlled car. Two, it has manually adjustable coilovers. Three, it costs £50,000 more than the standard RS6. But Audi isn't done with mad-looking RS6s yet, because there's a brand-new model on the way. And it's based on the A6 that was revealed last month. As these exclusive CarWow renders show, it's set to be a stunner. It'll be much wider than the standard A6 Avant, much lower and covered with even more intakes. The old RS7 and RS6 looked like they were made out of metal origami. But this new car is much more rounded. It looks like it was sculptured from a block of clay. It must have been a very large block of clay, because look at the wheel arches. They are vast. The GT-inspired vents under the bonnet have also grown, and they make this new car look ridiculously wide. There are even more vents down the side, like the ones on the RS e-tron GT. And as with all Audi RS models, there'll be a range of alloy wheels on offer, which will inevitably measure at least 20 inches across. Carbon ceramic brakes should make an appearance too, probably as part of an optional RS driver's pack. At the back end of the car, you can spot a load of tried and tested RS features, such as the big rear diffuser, contrasting silver trim and GT-esque rear wing. But the exhaust placement is completely different from any RS model I've seen before. These poke out closer to the centre of the diffuser, instead of behind the rear wheels. In fact, they're just like the exhaust I've spotted on a new RS5 Avant prototype. There could be a very good reason for this location. I'll go into more detail later, but first, let's talk about why Audi's building two different RS6s, and I'll reveal what the other car will look like. You see, it's a difficult time to be a performance car maker. Either you commit to going fully electric, or you try to keep internal combustion engines alive, usually through a combination of downsizing and hybridisation. BMW, for example, picked the hybrid route with the new BMW M5. And so did Mercedes. AMG, however, is also developing a new electric-only platform that could underpin a replacement for the GT4 door. I had expected Audi to go the electric route because I've already spotted prototypes of a high-performance RS6 e-tron being tested. And a few years ago, Audi also confirmed it would reveal the last new Audi with an internal combustion engine in 2026. But this month, Audi announced it was rethinking this strategy, and it will launch new cars with internal combustion engines after next year. And this includes high-performance RS models such as this RS6. But before we get into that, I need to give you the headlines about Audi's new electric RS6 e-tron, because these performance stats show you what to expect from its sister car with an internal combustion engine. Firstly, the electric RS6 will use the same platform known internally at the VW Group as PPE, as the A6 e-tron, and the electric Porsche Macan. That Porsche has dual motors producing 639 horsepower and 1,130 Nm of torque, and it accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds. I think that's the ideal performance ballpark for the new RS6 e-tron. For starters, it's a tenth of a second quicker than the best time I've had from an outgoing RS6 performance. And it's also three-tenths of a second quicker than the best time I've had out of the new BMW M5 hybrid. And that car was already a tenth of a second quicker than BMW claimed. But what engine will actually power the new internal combustion engine RS6? Well, there are two main possibilities. One is to use a tweaked version of the forthcoming RS5's hybrid V6. This will replace the old RS4, and is expected to use a revamped twin-turbo V6 with a new plug-in hybrid system derived from the one in the A5 PHEV. That car's just been revealed, and it uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine and an electric motor to produce up to 367 horsepower. But the motor alone contributes 143 horsepower, which is an OK number, but it's the 500 Nm of torque very impressive. It's only 100 Nm less than you get from the outgoing twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6. Speaking of which, if Audi chooses to breathe new life into that 450-horsepower engine with a plug-in hybrid system, you could be looking at a new RS5 with approximately 600 horsepower. That's a very healthy number for that car, but it's definitely not enough for the next-generation RS6, simply because it's 30 horsepower down on today's RS6 performance. Audi could turn up the wick on the V6 to get more power out of it, or it could fit a larger electric motor that's already being used elsewhere. For example, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo E Hybrid, Lamborghini Urus SE, and new Bentley Continental GT Speed all use electric motors with approximately 190 horsepower. And Audi could make one of these with the 450-horsepower V6 to bump the power to 640 horsepower. But this probably won't be enough to overcome the weight penalty of a heavy hybrid system. After all, BMW decided that the new N5 needed an extra 100 horsepower to overcome its half-ton weight gain compared with its previous generation model. The N5 uses a relatively small 14.8-kilowatt-hour battery, but the new plug-in hybrid system Audi revealed for the A5 has a 20.7-kilowatt-hour battery capacity. Thankfully, the A6's chassis, known internally at VW Group as PPC, is pretty adaptable. It has a much more advanced electrical system than the old RS6's chassis, which was known internally at VW Group as the MLB Evo platform. But the mechanical architecture is actually pretty similar. That means it's still compatible with a wide range of inline-four petrol engines, V6s and, yes, you've guessed it, V8 engines too. What does this mean? Well, Audi has all the ingredients necessary to blend its hard-as-nails 4.0-litre V8 with the latest, most powerful plug-in hybrid systems. But just because this combination is possible doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen. It would be very hard to justify the development costs of a new plug-in hybrid V8 if Audi was only going to use it in a single car. I think it's probably learnt the lesson the hard way with the V12 Q7 TDI. However, the RS6 isn't the only Audi that might need a new hybrid V8. Audi has just been spotted testing new prototypes for a flagship SUV, possibly called the Q9. This car will most likely be aimed at the Middle East market, where big V8s are a must-have. However, there are also suggestions it could make its way to China, the US and even the UK too. Reports hint that the giant SUV could be available as a sporty SQ9 model with a plug-in V8 hybrid. However, this wouldn't be the first V8 plug-in hybrid from the Volkswagen-Audi group. As I've already mentioned, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, Lamborghini Urus SE and Bentley Continental GT are already using twin-turbo V8s with a plug-in hybrid system. These consist of a revised 4.0-litre V8 with a new fuel system, revamped tuning and very different turbos with new single-scroll turbines. These help produce more power at high revs and use the hybrid system to fill in any gaps in torque at lower RPM. It's clever stuff and it has the added bonus of further reducing emissions. The very latest version of this system comes in the Bentley Continental GT Speed. Its hybrid V8 produces 782 horsepower and 1,000 Newton-metres of torque. Bentley claims that car will do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. Those stats would mean the new RS6 is at the sweet spot in terms of performance and they'd match the likely 0-60 time for the forthcoming RS6 e-tron. However, there are a few issues. Bentley uses an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, while Audi is expected to use an eight-speed torque converter automatic like the Cayenne and the Urus. And Audi's famous Quattro all-wheel drive system will require an overhaul to play nicely with the instant torque of a 190-horsepower electric motor. Another important part of the development process will be benchmarking the new RS6 against the latest BMW M5 hybrid. And that means Audi will try to match, or better still, beat, that car's insane mid-range acceleration. Just check out what happened when I compared the new M5 with the outgoing RS7 and an AMG GT 4-door in a rolling race. Wow! As well as performance, I'm very interested to see how the new RS6 compares to the M5 in terms of handling, because Audi has another trick up its sleeve. The new C9 is expected to come with a version of the awesome Active Suspension Audi developed for the RS e-tron GT. This uses a combination of active air suspension and adaptive dampers to lean the car into corners and stop it pitching when you brake hard and accelerate. That was something the old RS6 was prone to do when you launched it. It did look cool, though. There is a downside, though. The new suspension doesn't work with a conventional 12-volt or 48-volt electrical system. It requires much more power. But the new RS6 is expected to use a 400-volt hybrid system, which will have more than enough grunt to operate this fancy suspension. This has the potential to transform how the next RS6 drives. It could help disguise the weight of the new motor, batteries and associated electrical system. But how long will I have to wait to experience this car for myself? Well, Audi confirmed at its recent annual press conference that its two biggest reveals in 2025 will be the new A6, which has already happened, and the next Q3, which arrives this summer. However, it also confirmed it will launch 10 new models in North America by the end of 2026, and many of these will also be sold elsewhere around the world. This time frame broadly aligns with the RS6's development schedule. The very test mules were spotted back in 2023, and we saw the first real prototypes using the new car's chassis and body at the end of 2024. So the car is already at a pretty advanced stage of development. But how much will this new hybrid tech cost? Well, let's use BMW as a yardstick. The new hybrid G90 M5 costs just over £111,000. That's only a few thousand pounds more than the old non-hybrid F90 model. The outgoing RS6 Performance is already more expensive than those two cars. It costs over £117,000. As a result, Audi can't afford to bump up the price too much for a hybrid C9 model. So you can expect it to be priced around £100,000 to £125,000 when it arrives in a few years' time.