Why not start off with the good stuff? And a general introduction.
I wanted to start this off carte blanche. But, I decided a general introduction is needed. In short: a car collection that got out of hand. In the long run, well, that’s why I am here and I hope that’s why you are here too.
Every car is special in its own way. Every car is unique. Every car belongs to someone. A small bunch of cars belongs to me. They’re everywhere and nowhere, they’re cool, they’re basic, but they all have a reason to be here. To have an idea where this is all coming from, we need to start from scratch. Don’t worry, everything will be cleared up. The star of the show to explain everything is my own Audi RS6 Avant.
What is it?
It’s an Audi RS6 Avant from 2015. I’m the second owner and this is the original state it was in, visually that is. The color is called Navarra Blue and that’s clue number one. The first owner did the right thing by selecting the silver 20 inch wheels and the Aluminium Design Package. It gives a bit of light to the color, while the color itself accentuates the agressive aspect of this car.
For those who are unfamiliar with the RS6: it started life as an Audi A6 Avant, a mid/big sized Audi stationwagon. Then Quattro GmbH (now Audi Sport GmbH) unleashed their magic on it. Visually they kept it to the necessary, only widening the arches to accomodate bigger wheels, add better brakes, and beef up the chassis. All this is to support the 4.0 liter V8 engine with two turbo’s that pushes 560 horsepower and 700 Nm onto the road. More on that later. For now, everything that matters is that the RS6 is a sports car engine wise, while the car itself is a practical stationwagon.
How and why did I get it?
Because of this ‘golden combination’, I loved it ever since I laid my eyes upon it. Because not only does it seem fast, it is fast. It’s a dream car, basically. Back when it rolled out, I didn’t have the money to afford one, but I always kept my eyes open for good deals. And I didn’t just want to find a cheap one and call it a day. No, it had to be perfect. Perfection doesn’t exist, and I was eager to get some kind of bright color. However, if somebody had a cool color, they selected the wrong wheels. If somebody had the right wheels, they had an optic package I didn’t like. I even found a car in a good color specification, but the original owner literally did not select any other option. Not even sports seats!
So not only did I search for it myself, other people were helping the search. It was one of my coworkers who found this example. Now, remember: I wanted a dream spec. He called and said: “it’s not the bright color you asked for. It’s dark blue, Navarra Blue it’s called I think. But it has a load of options and the right wheels and optic package!” So my first time hearing the word ‘Navarra Blue’, it was in combination with disappointment. Go figure. Because I only needed to see one pic to be truly in love. I never imagined it would look good in this spec, but it does look good.
What plate does it have and why?
Hold on: plate? Relevance much? Well, let’s get this out of the way now: I love numberplates. When I moved to the UK I noticed people having custom plates, but not as I always expected them. The UK has a very intricate plate system, I’ll probably make a separate post on that in the future. For now all you need to know is that having a good numberplate is a key aspect to any kind of vehicle, in my opinion. And yes, I’ve made deals because it could have a brilliant plate, or no deals because no plate.
The numberplate for the RS6 is ‘RS6 4 NAV’. Legally it reads RS64 NAV, but I took the liberty of spacing it. It literally reads ‘RS6 for Nav’, cheesy I know, but I’ll have you know that it’s kind of the best thing you can get in the UK system. And it’s true! When I got handed the keys, it literally was an RS6 for Nav. A moment I remember clearly and want to cherish every time I think about it. The UK system basically in any case consists of three randomized letters. A perfect opportunity for me to have my nickname on all my plates: Nav.
What did I do to it?
Now, on to the fun stuff. As I said, every car is unique, so is my RS6. It’s my personal halo car. I own some pretty cool cars, but none has ever made me feel like the RS6 does. So what did I do to make it unique?
1. ABT 120 Year Anniversary kit + APR Exhaust
If you need anything done to the performance of your Audi, Volkswagen or any VAG brand, you can’t ignore ABT, the soul child of Hans-Jurgen Abt in Kempten, Germany. They do crazy stuff to any VAG car but Audi is their main point of interest. They offer tuning packages for the RS6, but mine has the craziest one they’ve got (not including the 1,000 hp RS6-E as it’s a one-off project and not available as custom kit): the 120 Year Anniversary kit which was offered in 2016 to celebrate 120 years of ABT. It was originally only offered for the facelifted Performance version. They brought a few pre-built cars and a limited time offer for tuning original RS6’s. It’s safe to assume mine is the only pre-facelift RS6 with this package, same goes for the fact I decided to not have any visual ABT-upgrades. Yes, they’re cool, but I selected this spec for a reason. The only way you can tell the crazy performance of this car is the little ABT-badge, mirrored to the RS6-badge on the bootlid.
The performance speaks for itself. The top speed got raised from 189 mph (305 km/h) to 199 mph (320 km/h). The acceleration data is unknown, but it’s supposedly lowered to under 3.5 seconds. And the best thing about it? You wouldn’t even feel it was that powerful if you just gently handle it. Put it in Sport+ and it’s a different story. But in theory, none of the usability got lost.
And finally, although ABT does tamper with the exhaust, I sent the car also over to APR Performance. It’s one of the best sounding exhausts in my opinion, especially considering it’s valve controlled. So if you open the valves, well, listen for yourself.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B07_tJdo-8o/
2. Small visual changes
As I said, I want to keep it clean and serene. Remember that it is my daily driver, so nothing too flashy or extreme. No wraps, decals, bodykits, spoilers, etc. It doesn’t fit the car and will never do so. Heck, I mostly even like to change the rims, but not the RS6. It’s perfect the way it is.
One small mod I did were the taillights. I didn’t want to swap out to the facelift taillights, as that would’ve required a front end revision as well. But a hidden touch I’ve always liked about the facelift are the dynamic indicators. It’s all in the details: they do a little ‘sweep’ pattern into the direction you’re turning. I found a compromise: pre-facelift taillights with dynamic startup sequence and indicators. I think they look pretty good!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3F5lbeITen/
A major visual change it has encountered in its past was a wrap. Inspired by Jon Olsson’s RS6 which sadly burned down. I wanted to give it my own twist by keeping the base color to Navarra Blue. An original result, but I didn’t like it enough to keep it on there. Plus, I wrapped it with a friend. Never wrap your own cars for fun: do it cleverly and use common sense. Or ask a professional.
What don’t I like about it?
Every car has strong points, as you might have concluded from this text. But perfection doesn’t exist. There are also drawbacks to this car.
1. Reliability
It’s picky for me to say this, but it’s the only car that let me down once. It was on the motorway and it suddenly died out, lost power and when I pressed the throttle, an error message showed saying stop immediatly. And then it refused to start properly. Towing it away was preventative, I didn’t want to damage the engine.
Calling this a reliability issue is a bit picky because a) it’s not Audi’s fault, it was an engine management system failure in the ABT engine management. And b) regularly it shouldn’t happen, but even the best of the best make mistakes. Remember that although it isn’t a big difference, the tuning package had to be one-off custom enhanced to my car.
Fact of the matter is that this is the only car I’ve ever owned that made me call the AA.
2. Driving
It’s fast, in a straight line. But it’s allergic to corners. It’s definitely not a sports car by any chance. So don’t expect it to drive all that well. There’s understeer, there’s power overload and there’s a limited amount of controlability (no variable AWD, no variable traction control). It doesn’t drive badly, but don’t expect this heavy beast to be a nice driving car.
3. Aging interior
I like my gizmo’s, and this car just doesn’t have all that much of the latest and greatest. The Audi MMI from this era is great, don’t get me wrong. But especially the lack of Apple CarPlay and up to date built-in navigation is making the difference. There’s also no mood lighting, seat ventilation, full screen gauges or surround view 360 degree animated camera’s. It’s manageable, but definitely showing its age.
What does the future hold?
I’ve had this car for a few years now and in that time it’s proven to be an amazing allrounder. Until I can order the new RS6 Avant, this is going nowhere. I have considered swapping the APR exhaust for a proper Akrapovic, but then again, there’s nothing wrong with the APR. It won’t be wrapped because of the color it is now. No wheel changes, no further tuning: it’s perfect as it is.
Conclusion
How awesome must a car be to make even the color special enough for the owner to use as nickname? Well, a 735 horsepower hyperfast estate car seems to come a long way. It’s an allrounder, it’s cool and conspicuous for the right people, but boring and blending in for most. I’ve dreamt of this car for years and I was right: it’s incredible. After this long of an ownership, it still is.
Nav's Car Corner 