Audi looks both forward and back with a rapid electric estate

It feels twee to begin with a reference to the Porsche co-developed RS2 Avant of 1994, but this is a car that is yet again worth mentioning, simply to highlight how deep Audi’s roots go when it comes to performance estates. In the 30 years since the original performance estate broke cover, its maker has installed fruity V6, V8 and even V10 engines into its mainline wagons, creating desirable – and sometimes iconic – models with breadth and everyday appeal. Indeed, with its Quattro drivelines, Audi has become synonymous with such cars.

However, in recent times the recipe has been threatened, not only because of the unchecked ascent of the SUV but also because car makers are rethinking their product offerings in the electric age, when margins are finer than ever and flights of fancy are no longer so freely tolerated. In short, the rapid Audi wagon might well have disappeared from showrooms during this tumultuous period.

We’re happy to say that has not, in fact, been the case. Audi has not only developed an estate version of its new A6 E-tron mid-size executive saloon but is also offering an S-badged derivative with nearly 500bhp. It’s called the S6 E-tron Avant, and it’s what we have here. Temper your celebrations, though. This is the hot Audi estate as we have known it before, with plenty of power and torque, yes, but more weight to carry and no burbling engine note to excite. Is it worth its near-six-figure price? Let’s find out.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

★★★☆☆

PROS Latest driveline tech promises good efficiency; vast torque at hand

CONS Seriously heavy; divisive new light signature; lacks some trick tech

The driveline technology may be different but the approach Audi takes to evolve an A6 into an S6 in the electric age follows a familiar path, as it always has with combustion-engined models. Namely, more power, control and grip, but in a measured manner, so not with full RS levels of commitment, drama and cost.

Both the A6 and S6 E-tron sit on the 800V Premium Platform Electric (PPE), co-developed again with Porsche, and use powertrains made at Audi’s mammoth Gyor facility in Hungary. The S6 picks up the baton from the most potent of the mainline A6 models – the 422bhp Sport E-tron Quattro – and ups the ante to 496bhp, or 542bhp if you’re engaging the car’s launch control function. That power, along with an eyebrow-raising 620lb ft, comes courtesy of a 10cm asynchronous motor at the front and a permanent magnet synchronous motor at the rear, with an axial length of 20cm.