Most of Audi‘s RS lineup is currently powered by a 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 that makes 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. For most people that’s plenty of grunt, but for those who believe more is always better, longtime Audi tuner Abt Sportline will happily beef up your RS engine to 690 horses and 649 lb-ft. For those counting, that’s nearly as much as the chest-thumping Dodge Challenger Hellcat.
All RS variants with the V-8 are able to receive the upgrade. That means the RS7, the RS Q8, and the extremely excellent RS6 Avant wagon are all eligible for the power increase. The bump in power results from the addition of Abt’s engine-control unit, a new exhaust, and small engine-management changes, and the upgrades are said to take the RS6’s top speed from 174 to 199 mph and lower its zero-to-60-mph time from a factory-stated (and likely conservative) 4.4 seconds to just 3.4 ticks.
The RS6 and it’s RS brethren also benefit from a host of other Abt-specific upgrades a unique suspension, new wheels, and body addenda. If you’re on the fence about upgrading, consider Abt’s excellent track record. The company has been working on VWs and Audis since 1992, and its products like the B7 Audi AS4-R, current RS5-R, and last generation RS6-R are pretty good proofs of concept. Not only do those cars look and sound incredible, they all have massive power upgrades to boot.
Perhaps the best thing about upgrading your Audi through Abt is its fantastic warranty. Despite packing in 99 more horsepower and ostensibly additional stress on the engine internals, Abt offers a four-year, 100,000-mile warranty on its products. If it were our RS6, we’d probably be handing the keys over.
