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-   -   RS 6. The Hunt. Sitting comfortably ? (https://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9586)

IT 20th February 2015 03:19 PM

RS 6. The Hunt. Sitting comfortably ?
 
Short Version

Well. I found one. And I bought it. Its great. Thanks for reading... ;)

Long Version

I actually found it in the first week of looking, but it took 2 months to persuade the owner to sell it to me. No seriously, it did. There were times when I genuinely thought I had more chance of prizing Amar out of his. But I tried that and he wasn't budging dam it.

During that time my office wall was turned into an Ebay / Pistonheads / Autotrader Muriel of every RS6 available in the country. Arranged in pricing bands.

Every printout had the real spec (not from the text!), the plusses, the minuses and the gradual price reductions and dates noted.

It was a seriously time consuming task. Multiple times a day, every day. 7 days a week, cross checking every car. Some dealers have different prices on different sites to make it more interesting, and some dealers drop listings for a couple of weeks so it looks fresh and new after a break.

And then there's the lies. The misrepresentation, the 'fully loaded' mint examples that there isn't a barge pole long enough to go near with. I had a section of wall reserved for 'over my dead body' cars that simply couldn't ever be cheap enough to buy and drive. They're all still for sale.

After some time I reluctantly conceded that perfection didn't exist, or at least not in the time scales this excited little school boy could wait, and so devised a new method for scoring each car available for sale.

It got high points for options I really wanted, low points for options that were vaguely useful or added resale, extra points for low miles, warranty, low price and lost points for stupid colours, wood trims or modifications.

30 was an acceptable score. 35 was 'go and buy it right now'.

As most adverts were vaguely worth the paper I'd wasted printing them, I had to get the full build spec for each car to determine *exactly* what it was built with, and from photos determine if anything had changed. then HPI check, and cross reference the service history from Audi and so on.

In terms of learning curve, this was a cliff face. In terms of effort, it was exhausting.

2 cars came very, very close to purchase:

Number 1, at a Citroen dealer almost unbelievably had been for sale for 8 months. It was reduced down to their buy in price. Mileage was a little high, but it was specced to the moon and back. And they didn't know it. It was cheap too. Monza Silver Avant over black leather. Nice colour. After my 3rd phone call with the sales guy trying to arrange to go and view/buy the following day, he rang back and said head office had taken it off their stocklist and were going to collect it, so they couldn't sell it. I protested I actually wanted to buy it, but he said his hands were tied. It vanished.....

Number 2 was another Avant. Blue / Black leather. Very high spec, low miles. Dealer had no idea at all. They sold german cars but knew nothing. This car had everything from blinds to homelink to ACC to sunroof. Yum. But, when they got it 4 months ago at 40000 miles, they took it to their mate round the corner for a cheap independent service, and helpfully stamped (aka ruined) the service book. So that was goodbye to FASH, and audi warranty. Still, I was there on site, very interested, just wanted him to take me out in it for confirmation. They refused. Someone else was coming the following day who might buy it. But I might buy it today? Nope. The boss wasn't moving, they wanted the guy tomorrow to come and view. Salesman was fuming as he was on commission and didn't care who bought it. I left. I was really quite annoyed, but pleasantly happy as it sat advertised for sale for a good while after and had friends check on its still available a couple of times for complete smug satisfaction.... :D

RS6, and daily driver are probably not terms that are often mixed. Well, I wanted an RS6 and I have no spare time to drive something during the week, and find time to drive an RS6 at some other point. Its that simple. But for that reason, I wanted comfort, toys, reliability and being Yorkshire, I wanted value, so that swayed me towards a private deal.

I was hell bent on having adaptive cruise, which will come as no surprise. But putting that in perspective, it narrows down the pool of potential cars from around 50 to more like 5. Then I really wanted a facelift > 2009 car, which is tricky as the recession bit in 2008 and many preface RS6's sat around for a while, so many 2009 avants are actually prefacelift. If you want guaranteed facelift, with the newer 3G MMi then a saloon is the easiest way to guarantee that. The saloon loses some practicality, but also loses 0.1 seconds off the book 0-60 time so that's always handy in a game of top trumps, and hey, the back seats fold through so that's good enough...

To reiterate the magnitude of this problem, there was only 1 facelift car for sale in the UK with adaptive cruise. It has high mileage, and is still for sale today, 3 months later. I've been to see it twice. Its overpriced and has bucket seats which are uncomfortable unless your BMI comfortably confirms you as underweight.

This is where the points system came in. I needed it to test the reality of 'if the perfect car, with absolutely everything but adaptive cruise came up, would you buy it' - And the answer was yes. The spreadsheet put maths and head behind the purchasing decision, because what the heart wanted simply wasn't available at any price.

So, after a long, long time (for me anyway) I finally struck a deal with a really decent guy to relieve him of his RS6. It doesn't have a sunroof. That is my one and only compromise. And given the choice out there, that's quite some achievement. The sales process was somewhat hindered by the fact that he originally wanted to sell up to buy a C7 RS6, and by the time we'd done shuffling numbers about, he has just taken delivery of a VW Tiguan or something or other very sensible and slow. But cheap no doubt.

The car:

100% factory standard unmodified
2010 Black Facelift Saloon (one of the last)
3G MMI with AMI, DVD player etc.
Adaptive Cruise
Blinds
Privacy glass
Advance Key
TV Tuner
Soft Close doors
Full Black leather
Passenger seat memory
45000 miles
Full Audi History
1 Free Audi service pending
Balance of Audi warranty (extendable)
Garaged all its life, valeted and detailed regularly
Already recently had the engine oil seal replaced (engine out job!)

I couldn't really hope for better than that. A sunroof would have been nice, but the hunt was genuinely wearing me out and it was time to call it a day.

So, was it worth it ?

The heart wanted an RS6. The head was never really convinced. Taking Richards old D3 off him in p/x didn't help matters much as its a bloody good car at a third of the cost.

The catalyst for this hunt was my old C6 S6, which I loved. The handling, the position, the seats, the power, the size. It was all perfect. I wanted all that, but more power, but nothing else ruined. Given the RS6 is nearly twice the cost of its S6 little brother it was quite a gamble really. It has a lot to live up to, so where do we start?

3G MMI

This alone makes the car feel so much more youthful. The high res screen, the graphics and placement of items. Its missing the mifi type hotspot of the A7, but otherwise feels really modern in contrast to the older 2G system. Im pleased I didn't get the other 2 RS6's as spending 25K on a car with 10+ year old entertainment system would feel old now....

Suspension

The dreaded DRC. Oh, but wait. I have warranty. So lets not worry about that then and try to enjoy it. 'Sports Suspension Plus' to give it its full title. recently I've 'gone off' the a8 a bit, somewhat because of its size, but also the air suspension which I just started to find a big soggy. I loved the traditional springs on the S6 and the A7. I was worried that going back to a dynamic setup again might be pants. No. It definitely isn't. The suspension has 3 settings, Comfort, Dynamic and Sport. In the real world this equals 'Firm, fecking firm and off', but in a good way. And changing between them is instant and they all do exactly what you want. Its just brilliant.

Interior

Its a C6. But with carbon. oh, and clocks that stretch round to 200mph. I love the C6 interior. Its a lovely place to be. The memory sports seats are spot on still, and it has ambient lighting amongst its creature comforts to ensure you're not left pining for that A8 level of spoils. Being Audi everything is just there, doing what it should do. Awesome.

Exterior

You need to look at this car in the flesh. Really look at it. In 3 months of looking not one photo did it justice. I even bought the press photos, and they don't do it either. Sat on my driveway in full 3D this car looks rapid even with the engine off. The front looks awesome, and the width of the track pushes the arches so far out it has RS6 specific rear doors to cater for the lines. The saloon has a beautiful flick on the boot lid and its just that little bit smaller and more nimble looking than the 8. And yet, covered in salt, painted in black, with nothing more than a couple of discrete Rs6 badges, it sits patiently in a hotel car park whilst the peasants walk on past unaware....

The Engine

Well. Saving the best till last. The D3 W12, D3 S8 and C5 RS6 all have 450 ponies. But turbos always feel more angry, rapid and impatient. There is something about a big engine hitting a few thousand RPM and exploding into life like someone just fed it nitro. And this is no different. The S6 was 420 bhp, the RS6 is 571 bhp. That's actually quite an uplift, just on paper. But on the road. omg. Light touchpaper. Stand back. The roads are damp this time of year. Permanently. Its just not possible to floor it from a standstill during the winter months. I do hope it finds a bit more traction in summer. 0 to 60 is booked at 4.5. That's definitely the quickest car I've ever owned. Probably more alarming is the rate at which is pulls north from 60 onwards. Remapping is quite a tempting option, but not until I've got used to this power, and it would have to be during drier months for sure...:D

The drive

I did wonder if overall the experience might be a bit much for pootling round town, but no. Comfort suspension, drive on the gearbox and gentle throttle and its a normal A6 doing its business getting you from A to B with very minimal fuss. Get it on the motorway and it cruises with ease, and overtakes even easier.

Its absolutely not the daily driver for everyone. 20 mpg is a good average long run, although traffic was heavier last night from Birmingham so 21 was showing on the DIS. And for a twin turbo V10 that is not bad at all. Hit the town though and she'll reward you with single digits. She absolutely does not like sitting in traffic straining to go, but does emit a pleasant, yet non-disturbing rumble from the exhaust whilst stuck admiring the tail lights in front.

But running costs aside, it is hands down the best Audi I've ever had and I can see quite clearly now why Amar is so firmly attached to his.... :love:

Yes, I know this thread needs photos. I'm sorry. It still has the previous owners plate on it, and healthy covering of motorway salt. When both are remedied I will be posting some piccies.... +++

Norretal 20th February 2015 03:40 PM

Brilliant post Ian, I really enjoyed that. Great news that you finally got what you wanted, it sounds a fantastic car and really looking forward to seeing photos in due course +++

I hope all of that effort and patience pays off in full and you get many, many miles of enjoyable motoring in the RS6. Please keep it long enough to allow me to put my name on the list of potential future owners, I hereby claim my place at the top of said list :ROFL:

Sir WIll 20th February 2015 04:46 PM

You see if I was after an RS6 I would PM you right away for the list!

Well done, finding the perfect car is always a nightmare +++

IT 20th February 2015 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir WIll (Post 89445)
You see if I was after an RS6 I would PM you right away for the list!

Well done, finding the perfect car is always a nightmare +++

Happy to help anyone that is looking.... Seems first refusal for mine has been bagged, but I can't honestly see me replacing this in a hurry as there is just nowhere up from here..... +++

Goran 20th February 2015 05:01 PM

Congrats! Sounds amazing, cant wait to see/hear it :)

Sir WIll 20th February 2015 05:22 PM

..and forgot to add, Photos Please +++

Amanda 20th February 2015 05:48 PM

Well done .......Amar sold his best rs6 imho though ;)
Serious though congrats on buying into a very special car I sadly am seduced by the old v8 and am thrilled that audi have reverted back to it :)

Get those piccies up Asap :p

gninnam 20th February 2015 06:11 PM

Well done Ian and I hope it lives up to your expectations during the drier months too:)

Singh 20th February 2015 09:31 PM

Well done, Ian.

The C6 is epic, it's got everything I loved about the D2 (comfort etc..) with the bi-turbo shove I loved from the C5 RS 6.

The C5 RS 6 was uncomfortable, they're unreliable and just seem thrown together last minute. The C6 is incredible, properly engineered. Do you know it has five six or seven drainage points for the oil? It's dry sump! Which miffed my service manager who charged me 0.5 hours labour for a job that took him 3 hours. I don't pay normal Audi labour rates, I paid £9 labour, the tech got paid more than that an hour. :ROFL:

Also, the DRC doesn't go wrong on these. Just that oil seal, maybe a wheel bearing or two. Very very minor stuff, gearbox is bulletproof. (Mine's ran 900/1000nm for 50k miles.)

Sounds like a great spec, and hopefully now you realise why I won't sell mine. Mine's got the perfect spec 2009 3G MMI, soft close, adaptive cruise, sunroof, soft close and ceramics (which you NEED for stage two).

Oh. You're so right about not being able to put your foot down in this weather, quattro or not, mine will not go in a straight line with the ESP off.

You'll start to notice how well the 40/60 quattro and DRC work, you can get it's arse hanging out and over steering when it's slightly damp.

It's fecking awesome.

Sorry, pretty broken and unstructured post. Battery about to die.

Welcome to the 5.0 Twin turbo V10 club. +++

Singh 20th February 2015 09:35 PM

P.S One of the guys on RS246 just had his tuned by MRC to 901.5PS. Think mine will go in for the 800 package at some point as would defiantly like to keep her for good. I've had a few very good offers on it especially when I bought it and not one managed to convince me to part.


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