When designing an interior fit for a £70,000 supercar-baiting estate, the standard A6 is a good place to start. It’s ergonomically and elegantly designed, while providing enough space for five adults – and, with 565 litres of boot space with the seats in place, their luggage too.
The RS6 adds to this with sports front seats with integrated head restraints and adjustable thigh support, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and a littering of plush materials. The seats strike an excellent balance between support and long-distance comfort, although to charge an extra £180 for a memory function seems a little tight-fisted.
Despite wearing relatively broad 275mm-wide tyres, road noise is kept to a minimum, as is wind noise. This high-speed refinement, coupled with the cabin’s space, comfort and ambience, qualifies the RS6 as a first-rate long-distance tourer.
There are a number of different ways to look at the costs that come with the RS6. First, £77,730 for 572bhp and 4.4sec 0-60mph performance represents fairly good value, if you consider that a Porsche 911 Turbo will set you back another £33,000.
The slightly more realistic view, however, is that the RS6 is an extremely expensive car, and not only to buy, but also to run. Expect an average of around 16.1mpg in mixed driving, meaning each trip to the pump will cost close to £100 and get you less than 300 miles. Buy an RS6 yourself and after three years it will have lost you £50k. Get the company to worry about depreciation and you’re looking at a tax bill of £907 each month. With figures like these, a trifling £400 for annual road tax probably won’t even register.