Autocar and Chris Harris have done a great in-depth comparison of the new Audi RS6 Avant and the BMW M5.
The winner was the new Audi RS6 Avant due to its huge torque advantage, Quattro AWD, and most importantly, its ability to have its power accessed so easily and effortlessley when compared to BMW's M5 Wagon.
The RS6 Avant has a whopping 95 lb/ft more torqe than BMW's 500 horsepower V10 M5 Estate. Even though when fuel and driver are calculated for the difference is reduced, the RS6 with its automatic transmission, Quattro AWD, and monster torque can have all its abilities accessed much easier than in the BMW M5 Wagon.
The BMW M5 Wagon won praise for its excellent handling, dynamics and rear-wheel drive fun. However, a glaring problem in the BMW M5 Wagon was its mismatched transmission. The transmission was herky-jerky and not as easily controlled as the Audi's. It is ironic though that even though Audi has been producing DSG gearboxes in their cars for year, BMW will actually be the first to offer the DSG throughout their entire high-performance "M" lineup. Even if the BMW M5 had the DSG transmission, it simply wouldn't be enough to out-do Audi's monster twin-turbo V10 horsepower and torque ratings.
The BMW driver could do nothing but watch as his M5 Wagon left two huge skid marks on the road, while trying to shift into first gear in an attempt to catch the huge Quattro AWD grip and torque advantage of Audi's RS6 Avant.
Yes, the RS6 Avant may not have the excellen dynamic characteristics of Audi's brilliant RS4 and R8. In fact, the RS6 is so much different, Autocar states that it seems the RS4 and R8 were produced by a completely different company than Audi's RS6 was.
The RS6 still has some of the horrid characteristics of previous go-fast RS Audi's, but in Avant form that is to be expected. After all, BMW's M5 Avant does not handle like a BMW M3 or even an M5 sedan, and it never will.
Despite the Audi RS6's glaring similarities to previous "numb" RS Audi's and failure to match the BMW M5 Wagon's dynamic advantage, the torque advantage is simply too much, the Quattro AWD grip too great, the power too accessible, and the transmission is just simply better suited to this type of vehicle.....
The Audi RS6 Avant wins.
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