The Audi RS6 is coming to the USA and it's ready for the all-American road trip

[MUSIC] [SOUND] Yes, we're going on a road trip. This is the first Audi RS6 [INAUDIBLE] to be sold on the western side of the Atlantic We thought we would introduce it to some of the sights and sounds of the USA during our brief time with it on the launch. First task is to escape to choked up morning traffic around Los Angeles. Then we're heading north, where well there still isn't much chance to really use the turbocharged four liter V8, 592 horsepower. 590 pounds sort of talk. The big difference about this particular engine though is that it's got a mild hybrid system in it. It's got a 48 volt architecture, and it's got a belt driven alternator starter motor, and it's effectively all about efficiency, so it doesn't give any more power. But it means on a journey like this, well it can sail it Effectually [UNKNOWN] 34 miles an hour and 99 miles an hour. If you lift off the accelerator then it will shut down and just go along without the engine. It also has cylinder deactivation, so shut down cylinders two, three, five and eight. And run as a four-cylinder, and then what we experienced in traffic this morning in LA is that it has stop/start, which can start at 14 miles an hour. So if you're coming up to something, you lift off the accelerator because you're coming up to a junction It will just shut down from 40 miles an hour which is quite spooky. It also has a clever thing whereby it vibrates the accelerator. Yeah, I know it sounds horrible doesn't it sounds like this Lane Keeping Assist systems but if it can tell that you've got a speed limit coming up with lower than What you're doing at the moment, or if the setup says you're going to turn off soon it'll vibrate. Just tell you to lift off the accelerator and it knows that you'll lose the speed that way. quite clever. All about efficiency. Talking you stopping and starting, where's the first place you need to stop on a road trip? That's right. a grocery store. For supplies. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Now of course as some of you may know, the [INAUDIBLE] was actually sold in the US back in the first generation, 2002, 2003, but not as an estate or avant, which this one is. That's the whole point. Now if you want to get An entirely constructed exercise bicycle, perhaps a basketball net, you can. Not today, though, not today. [MUSIC] Of course, one of the nice things about the RS6 coming to America, at least for us, I suppose, is that it can get rid of any front [UNKNOWN] plate, out here in California. [UNKNOWN] this thing looks great, doesn't it? You can get the whole thing about it, trying to look a bit more like the R8. Of course, it got rid of all the chrome around here as well, and all the black packing it. It just looks really good, doesn't it? We'll design things later. Now onwards., [BLANK_AUDIO] I did ask Audi why they haven't bought the estate version or avant version of the RO6 The United States before and they said well, there just wasn't the sort of request for it in the past. I think it was the perception that if you wanted something practical and fast, then you drove around in something like that. That. So now that it has finally arrived in the USA, what does it feel like? What are the first impressions, getting into this? Well, for a start, it feels like it fits. I mean, the RS6 is a big car, in the UK or rest of Europe. You might argue, it's even too big. But out here Well, it's surprisingly dwarfed by some of the other vehicles and it just feels the right size. Mind you, everything feels small and some of the scenery in America. This is the Red Rock Canyon, which seemed to wear the detour given our RS6 is particularly fetching a shade of paint, Tango red to save you getting shot. [MUSIC] Other things you'll notice straight away, these steering wheel as soon as I got in here, it just It's lovely. It's covered in our cantara. It's the right sort of size. And there's something quite simple about it. It's not too overly padded. It just feels nice to hold. It feels like the right sort of steering wheel for an RS. There's something else I should mention on the steering wheel. These pedals. I've complained about them for a long time and yes, they're still pretty small but they are at least now not plastic. Stick. They're aluminium. Or as we're integrating this into the USA, aluminum. There are various other aluminum parts on this car as well. The sub frames and the five link suspension all around as well. Lots of parts in that are aluminium to help save weight. Talking of saving weight, anyone else peckish? [BLANK_AUDIO] Mr. Goodbar. Don't find that sort of thing hiding behind the sun visor in Europe do you? [BLANK_AUDIO] This car is speced with the carbon ceramic brakes, which save 34 kilos, which is 75 pounds, over the standard steel rotors. It's pretty impressive. other things about the spec of this car. Well, we've got the optional 22-inch rims. You can have 21-inch rims, and you can have the 21-inch rims with the carbon ceramic brakes. And you get a slightly higher side wall with the tires, on the 21-inch And rims you get 35 profiles based to 30 which in some countries certainly could be a good thing. The look normally you think it's suffered but almost they look caricature Should I think the sort of the big 22 inch rims on this they do sit up in the arches really nicely, but I don't think you would really suffer by having the 20 ones on it. [SOUND] Now when we planned this trip, we had rather thought that the California weather would stick to type and be sunny. But almost from the moment we set off, it was clear that the Golden State's recent drought was about to come to an end, quite high spectacularly. It was going to end as we approached the hottest, driest and lowest National Park in the whole of the United States. We would never have guessed. [MUSIC] What are the odds? I think literally a snowball's chance in hell we pass signs for Death Valley furnace Creek. This is somewhere that is meant to get around about two inches, five centimeters of rainfall every year. Or in some way, it's quite a privilege to see this like this. Not all we planned and hoped for but quite a privilege. And to be fair, [UNKNOWN] pretty useful in this. It's freezing. [LAUGH] That quattro system spits the top 4060 front rear biomechanical center death, it can send up to 70% of the front wheels and up to 85% to the rear. The snow did disappear quite quickly as we moved further down towards death valley itself, but there was still rain as the altitude decreases And as the cloud lifted, the road it revealed was also much more spectacular than I'd ever imagined it would be. Of course, the reason that we have thought of coming here is that Death Valley is famous for cars testing their ability in the blistering heat. And we had thought it might neatly show off a couple of the RS6S new features. [MUSIC] One of which is the fact that it now comes with ventilated seats. As it is the moment I've got my agency so because that is far more appropriate than ventilated seats. [LAUGH] The other thing I was [UNKNOWN] in here. So one of the new things we've got [UNKNOWN] good vehicle, and then the RS monitor. And what we've got in here is something that I suppose is a bit like the VDA screen in a Ferrari, which tells you if everything's up to temperature, except this is slightly sort of more sophisticated, I suppose, because you're everything from support differential to [UNKNOWN] Transmission fluid, brake rotors, engine oil and coolers little sort of rainbow graph. They're telling you whether it's all up to temperature or not. Of course the idea was that we'd be in Death Valley and it might be they evil and things might have got up to temperature or over temperature or something but as it is barely could read. There are not many opportunities to fill up in Death Valley National Park and some clearly don't make it. So with the gauge reading low and the W LTP, economy figure of 22.6 MPG stop seemed prudent. Then it was back onto the long straights towards nighttime and Nevada [MUSIC] Ofcourse if there Six is really gonna feel at home in America then it needs a bumper sticker. And what better place to get a bumper sticker, than Area 51. Through this thing is a bit of a space ship. And think of lasers for lights. I mean how sci-fi is that? [MUSIC] And while we're on the subject of strange lights that dance in the night, well, the new R6 can even give Las Vegas a run for its money. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] Where is this? Radiator Springs? [BLANK_AUDIO] Boot of the R6 can carry up to 1,680 liters, which is just under 60 cubic feet. They also widened it here, so you get over a meter in width that way. And lengthwise, it's 199 centimeters, which is just long enough for me to lie down. Which is helpful if you've spent the hotel budget on the slot machines. [BLANK_AUDIO] Should probably get going. Milk Duds! Don't get them in a cubby hole in the boot in the UK. Good for breakfast. [BLANK_AUDIO] With only a few hours remaining to get back to LA, we left the Joshua trees behind in short order not to 62 miles an hour by the way is dispatched in just 3.6 seconds or the same as an AMG GTR [SOUND] Top speed is 155 miles an hour standard, which is more than enough to get you into some Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas style trouble. However, if you spent the dynamic package plus and that top speed goes up to 189.5 miles an hour. This new model that is regardless of which of the suspension options, you choose a standard, you get a suspension, whichever chamber has suspension, which is different than a suspension they've done before. But if you want the sportiest RS six, we need what we've got, which has dynamic right controls you got steel springs, and then electric Trying to control the adaptive dampers, their new type of dances they got more breath than before. And actually, I could tell that there was a certain amount of sort of worry should we be given which cars because as I mentioned should be more comfortable. But given this is on this is the most focused version of the car Really there is available and there is actually pretty good. It's perfectly comfortable. I don't really feel like we're missing out not having the suspension. That's impressive, but if you want to improve a bit more, as I say 20 ones that certainly cheese could be an optional. The dynamic Ride Control does of course cost more money and the artistics is not cheaper standard. Starting at around 93,000 pounds in the UK, and $120,000 in the US. Anyway, after just a couple more hours on the interstate, or a quick nostalgia detour onto route 66 we were nearly back to the La La Land of Hollywood. That before we gave it back, there was one more very important place we wanted to visit. A favorite driving road on the edge of the Angeles National Forest. [SOUND] Much as it has been fun taking the R6 to see some of the sights of the USA. This Angeles on a fabulous piece of road. This is where it really counts. [SOUND] In this new RS6, we've got this RS Mode button, which toggles between RS1 and RS2, which are both configurable. I've got them set up pretty much the same, apart from just the damping Thing which I've got this middle setting in RS2 and it's firmest in RE2 the extraordinary thing about this car is how agile it is. It's incredible the way on this road we now extremely twisty piece of road it manages to get over two tons through the corners with such Much, aplomb and controlled, it doesn't actually matter which of those two damn asserting if you have it in, they just give us slightly different feel to the car overall. But one isn't more compromise than the other is such which is hugely impressive. The rear wheel steering. I'm not going to suggest for a moment that it can completely disguise its two tonnes but this is so much more like the Nicola RS4 in terms of the way it now drives. So much more adjustable both on the way in and the way out, is extraordinary thinking back to R6s of days gone by. Just really, you had to wait so long to get the nose into the corner. Not a bit of it but this with, these bumps, these cameras, changes the direction. It shouldn't do that. It really shouldn't. The other thing that deserves a huge amount of praise is the braking. Yes, this has got the optional carbon ceramic brakes on it. But they're 440 millimeters of diameter with 10 pistons. Do an extraordinary job. I've been up and down this road quite a bit, and there's no way from them, no sign of failure at all. [BLANK_AUDIO] Over all though, I am staggered by what this car can do on a road like this. It has transported us over 800 miles around the country in really complete comfort with a lot of kids on board. And then it can come somewhere like this and absolutely pick this piece of tarmac apart. Journey like this really sums up the RSL and why I think everybody loves it. [SOUND] [BLANK_AUDIO]