The Audi RS6 is in line to receive an "extreme" new special edition as the Ingolstadt firm gears up to celebrate its most successful performance models before going all-electric.
The new, top-rung Audi RS6 Performance will land in the UK in the coming months with output and acceleration boosted over the standard car and a raft of chassis revisions aimed at enhancing its dynamic behaviour. At £112,650 and with 621bhp from its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, it is one of the most potent and most expensive cars Audi Sport has created – but it has now emerged that the firm plans to go further with a new range-topper thought to be called the GT.
Speaking at Audi Sport's 40th anniversary celebration – at which he also hinted a more powerful five-cylinder Audi RS3 is inbound – division boss Sebastian Grams suggested Audi will emphasise the RS6's popularity and status as a halo model - potentially with more power and a sharper dynamic remit.
Asked if the new Performance edition is the most hardcore version there will be of the RS6, he said: "No, we can go more extreme."
He added: "You can see that we are sharpening our portfolio. We are always trying to take the maximum out of the technology. This is how I challenge my R&D department. We can go even further. We can make the car even stronger, even more performance, even sharper...
"But don't forget the RS models are used on a daily basis: we are not trying to lose our DNA. An RS model needs to be an all-day car, but it needs to give performance if needed."
New photographs of a camouflaged RS6 testing at the Nürburgring are thought to show this hotter new take on the super-estate, but beyond the addition of a chunky rear wing and subtle tweaks to the front and rear, it remains to be seen how extensively it will be differentiated from the standard car.
This mule is fitted with what looks to be a full race-spec roll cage, but it's unclear whether the back seats remain, nor whether this is something that could make production.
Any limited-edition, range-topping V8 RS6 could arrive as soon as next year, with Grams confirming that Audi Sport will reveal a combustion car in 2024 - along with its first EV, based on the PPE architecture developed with Porsche, which is likely to be a hot version of either the upcoming Audi Q6 E-tron or Audi A6 E-tron.
