996 vs rs6

from standstill he stayed on my tale all the way to 105. Before i noticed i had maxed out in 3rd gear he went round me. if only i had been quick enough to snatch 4th!

Which circuit was this?

local dual carriageway

A good friend of mine has an RS6 estate, we both went along to a sort of track day at Bruntingthorpe last year. I have a 2002 996 with ECU and Exhaust tweek to 346BHP. We did rolling and standing starts on the long straight there. If I got the gears OK ( all RS6's are Tiptronic ) I could get just ahead at about 145 mph and keep it with me being radared at aroung 160 mph before breaking for the corner. The 996 Turbos were quicker than the RS6 by quite a margin.

i'm amazed at how quick that audi was. i'm going to visit my local audi dealer to test one this weekend.

We did some fast laps with 5 in the Audi, it all felt a bit wierd going so fast in such a big car. The car also attracts a lot of attention. I was with him in France and people gather round it when parked, totally ignoring the Porsche. Sounds great too. The only down fall is that it becomes high speed boring after a while. He now uses his wifes Boxster s more for running around because he says it is more fun on the real roads. I am contemplating an S4 estate as a run around car, almost as quick but no as expensive to buy!

Wouldn't bother with the S4 estate. I bought one in July and sold it last week (4.2 V8). The car is not a drivers tool and, when pushed, it doesn't excite in any way. Although compared to my previous car (996 TT) I suppose I would be dissapointed with most 'everyday' cars. I have also owned a new M3 for 6 months last year and for me, the M3 wins every time - although I do acknowledge that they are common as muck now. Forgot to mention, I have driven an RS6 too and there is a HUGE difference between it and the S4. You should also bear in mind that the Audi A4 range is being heavily facelifted in Jan 2005.

Thanks for the advice. Previously I had an S3 as run around which I had tweeked a bit. Was good fun for a while but kept putting the miles on the Porsche and not the Audi as I had planned.

Why do people always bring up the M3, especially journalists, when comparing 'sports saloons'? The M3 is a Coupe, with precious little extra space in the back than my 996. The point of S4's, RS6's et al is that they can carry a family and all the luggage to the South of France and back at a serene 140 all the way (radar traps etc. permitting). Personally, I prefer my venerable AMG C43 Estate to the S4. The Quattro system gives ALL Audis too much unsprung weight to deal with, and so they all have a horribly harsh ride and wooden steering. Also, the chaps at Affalterbach (where they rebuild M-B's properly) try a bit harder to give their cars some character (like a decent engine note). Easy choice between the the S4 and the AMG C55 Estate. Tough choice between the RS6 and the AMG E55 Estate?

Andrew I'm with you...There always seems to be these comparisons except that the C55 and E55 are rarely mentioned.. My Brother-in-law has an RS6 and I have an E55 Estate purely for the reasons you state (They call it the fastest labrador on four wheels) To my mind and interestingly enough my B-in-laws the E55 beats the RS6 hands down although the RS6 does have a slightly thumpier note to the exhaust...The loading and seating capacity on the E is far better also...And yes it is of interest when you have four dustbin lids and a wife that loves shopping! lee

Top man! People forget that AMG is a separate business (albeit owned by M-B these days) and have built most of the successful competition M-B's for the last 30 odd years. Audi's are obviously good cars, and share a Porsche connection going back to the Auto Union days, but have no real pedigree in the modern era - the R8 Le Mans car is a Porsche, let's be honest, and it was a pretty good swap, cash to develop the Touareg/Cayenne, in return for instant racing pedigree. I would stick to my 996 for 'bling' and my trusty 306 bhp C43 when I want to blend in, or just get there, or scare the sh*t out of 996 drivers! But to have to chose one or the other?

Audi Quattro was pretty successful in rallying as I recall... That is the first time I have seen this postulated anywhere, but is something I have suspected for a long time. Any facts to back this up anywhere? I'd love to know!

Yeah, about twenty years ago, when the car to beat was a Ford Escort! I am not attempting to malign Audi as a marque, but simply asking people to examine why Audi have a reputation or image of being good at fast sports saloons as opposed to Mercedes-Benz, despite the actual evidence being contrary to the marketing hype. The driving experience is (IMO) totally the opposite of most people's perceptions - the Audi's look great and have the right image but are all rather dull and uninspiring to drive, whereas the AMG's tend to be more understated, have a pipe and slippers, fat businessman image, but are an absolute hoot! From a very senior source at Audi (UK), at Le Mans when the Bentley won, which was "really an Audi, which was really a Porsche", I think the quote was. I was not aware that this was such a big secret. Well not nowadays! Between 2000 and 2003 it was much rumoured, and heavily denied, I believe. Oops, I hope I haven't let any cats out of preverbial bags.

Audi also have much nicer slaesman - have tried to buy a merc twice only to be thwarted by obnoxious salesman

In my opinion the RS4 was much better than the RS6 which is a bit big and heavy. My colleagues RS4 punches out at 500BHP and is a very close rival to my 996 Turbo (On the straight anyway), can be seen at Spa next May.

My daily drive is a RS4 and I absolutely love it. So far have upgraded the suspension to H&R coil overs, raised the ride height at rear to banish understeer and let her four wheel drift rather than scrub speed in understeer. Have a quickshift, mild remap and Milltek's latest exhaust. At Thruxton she pushed out a GPS logged 184mph and still had more to go but the Lambos and Ferraris were holding me up! The S4 isn't a patch on the RS4, the wider track and bespoke items make one hell of a difference. I may do ten times as many miles in the RS4 as I do in the 911 but I'd always drive the 911C4 for thrills. Something very special about Porsches. RS4 makes up for it in refinement, better seats and practicality. My bike wipes the floor with both my four wheeled toys though

Excuse my ignorance but did MB ever make a C55? I know about the C32 AMG (including estate), C36 and C43. I tought the 5.4SC used in the 55s was only deployed in the E, SL, S, CL models

They did make a C55 AMG. http://www.fantasycars.com/sedans/html/c55amg.html

No need, just upgrade the C4S to a 996TT... problem solved!!!!

The C55 AMG is the current variant available. The original AMG V8's did not lend themselves to RHD, and the UK were given some watered down versions, such as the C36 and E36. In Europe you could get the mighty E50. When the V8 was redesigned (more compact), it became feasible to build RHD V8's. Hence the C43, E55 and SL60. Since then, the 5.5 V8 has been used in all the AMG models, apart from the pretty crap (IMHO) C32 and SLK32, which used a supercharged V6. The new C-class shell will not accomodate a V8, but no-one bought the V6 cars, and so AMG now extend the front of the C55 by about 5 inches to wedge the 5.5 V8 in. I should really get out more!

You're very well informed. Worth noting that the C55 uses the normally asperated V8 as does the CLK...A stonkingly fast and torquey car whereas the E55,CL55 and SL55 uses the twin superchareged jobbie producing nearer 500 horses over 370ish. Then theres the CL65 and SL65...thats another story lee

I have taken a keen interest since buying my C43 about five years ago and have persuaded several friends to go the AMG route since! This thread is about choosing between a 996 and a fast saloon/estate. I still find that an odd decision to be making, but has, hopefully, highlighted that you must not be complacent when driving a 300 bhp sports car! I for one did not buy a 300bhp estate car to pootle to the shops, but to skulk around and scare the doodah out of sports car drivers, much like the chap in the RS6 was doing, no doubt. Beware large wheeled, German saloon cars with lots of exhaust pipes. They can and will keep up!!

Not just keep up I fear My E55 Komp is probably the fastest car I've got or ever owned and certainly faster than my Beach Buggy... The thing that impresses the most is that it never stops pulling....The Tourque is awesome.

....is the RS^5 a better proposition than a Cayenne S then? Spizz

A different and more likely question! An RS6 is approaching Cayenne Turbo money, of course. If you want or need a very quick load lugger, with the security of 4WD, want to remain fairly anonymous and don't mind a horrible ride and scandalous depreciation, opt for the Audi. If you want more bling, a better ride (with air suspension option) miles more character, and for the moment, a better long term financial picture, get the Cayenne. If you want proper off road ability in supreme comfort, and don't want to go fast, have a big garage and never need to park within 10 miles of any schools or shops, buy a Range Rover!

Andrew Is the depreciation really any worse than a 996? Certainly looks as if you buy a demo that it should be containable. Will try Cayenne and RS6 - compare and contrast. Spizz