The most extreme estate by Audi is called the Audi RS6 and it is a proper sports car disguised as a form of family transportation. Despite its body style it features a 4.0 V8 TFSI engine with two turbochargers producing 560 hp (412 kW) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque for the electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph), but capable of reaching 280 km/h (174 mph), or 305 km/h (190 mph) if you take optional tweaks of the top speed limiter. This kind of power combined with the all-wheel drive gives the acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) of just 3.9 seconds. But, believe it or not, this car can be a lot faster. ZipTuning offers two stages of performance upgrades resulting in 682 hp (501 kW) and 903 Nm of torque (666 lb-ft) or 730 hp (537 kW) and 1000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque. Although the Audi RS6 in its stock version is already amazing, this moves it to a whole new level when compared with its main competitors.
Choosing between a BMW 5-Series, a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, or an Audi A6 estates is strictly a matter of preference. The three cars are made by the top three car manufactures in Europe, they offer amazing comfort, safety and, depending on the engine, either incredible performance, or great fuel efficiency, or the best of both worlds. Moreover, all three cars are offered with a wide variety of engines, making them incredibly versatile and allowing almost everyone to find the most suitable option. So, the choice is a matter of preference, rather than one car being distinctly better than the others. A few milliseconds of acceleration difference don’t really matter in everyday driving.
However, if you are aiming at buying one of the top-engined cars of the lot – Audi RS6 4.0 TFSI, Mercedes E63 AMG and BMW M5 – performance is very important to you and the car suddenly becomes a matter of prestige, especially when compared to the remaining two options. All three cars offer similar levels of performance, but the Audi has the smallest engine. So, what can you do if you’re absolutely in love with the Audi RS6 and you want its performance to overshadow its biggest competitors with higher displacements?
Tune it! There are respected tuners out there who will turn your car into a much more powerful machine for far less money than you would spend buying a special edition model, or going for the factory tune up. ZipTuning has two stages of performance upgrade for the Audi RS6 and the already powerful car becomes a rocket, confidently leaving behind the E63 and the M5.
The first stage gives 682 hp (501 kW) and 903 Nm (666 lb-ft) of torque and the 122hp (90 kW) and 203 Nm (150 lb-ft) increase is the result of OEM Bosch MED17.1.1 ECU modifications. Seriously, there are no new parts – everything remains stock including the ECU. So, how did they get so much power from the already present parts?
The first modification of the ECU consists of increasing the turbocharger pressure. The resulting increase in air induction also calls for injection tweaks, so another ECU remap boosts the amount of fuel entering the cylinders, thus improving the air-fuel ratio. Injection also starts sooner in order to improve combustion, but this also results in noticeably better throttle response.
And that’s it. This is how you get 122hp (90 kW) more from the 4.0 TFSI. In case your car did not come with the optional top speed limiter removal, engineers at ZipTuning can remove it for you and unleash the full potential of the extra power at the top end, allowing your Audi RS6 to easily surpass the mentioned 190 mph (305km/h).
If, for some reason, you feel that the Stage 1 is still lacking in the power department, you can go all the way to 730 hp (537 kW) and 1000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque with the Stage 2. However, it does require some additional aftermarket parts which are of higher efficiency compared to the ones installed by Audi.
The first example of this is the K & N cold air intake, which works really well with another new part – the advanced air-to-water intercooler by Alpha Performance. These two make the air entering the cylinders significantly colder, which means it has more oxygen in the same volume. Since oxygen is the thing that burns inside the combustion chamber, it is clear why this gives more power.
After the combustion the excess gases go through another aftermarket part – the exhaust. You can choose between Milltek, Akrapovic, or Super Sprint providing similar performance results, but distinctive soundtrack.
The new parts also call for more ECU tweaks in order to get them to work safely, complementing other stock parts, rather than causing havoc.
The ECU tuning of the Stage 1 and the new parts of the Stage 2 make the Audi RS6 the fastest estate on any road. The E63 AMG and the M5 are not even near anymore and the Audi Performance package for the RS6, which brings 605 hp for a hefty amount of money, actually becomes obsolete. The best thing (OK, the second best thing) is that all of these changes are completely safe for your car. The Stage 1 upgrades are performed by carefully following the operational design of the OEM ECU, adding the boost, but never exceeding any of the factory-stated safe limits. The Stage 2 introduces new parts that ensure better breathing of the engine, which is actually beneficial, rather than detrimental. It seems there is no better, safer, or cost efficient way of absolutely demolishing Audi RS6’s main competitors.
