S6 Avant

STORY

The S6 began as a rename rather than a new design: in 1994 Audi relabelled the C4 S4 as S6, so the first S6 carried over the same 169 kW (230 PS) turbocharged five-cylinder, with a 4.2-litre V8 available above it. The C5 of 1999 was designed as an S6 from the start, using a 250 kW (340 PS) 4.2-litre V8 in saloon and Avant bodies. The C6, shown in Detroit in January 2006, used a 5.2-litre V10 FSI of 320 kW (435 PS), an Audi design with its own 90 mm bore spacing rather than the Gallardo unit, driving through a six-speed tiptronic only. The C7, shown at Frankfurt in autumn 2011, returned to eight cylinders with a 4.0 TFSI biturbo at 309 kW (420 PS), later 331 kW (450 PS). For the C8 in 2019 Europe received a 257 kW (349 PS) 3.0 TDI with a 48-volt electric compressor while other markets took a 2.9 TFSI petrol.