Modern Classics Magazine article featuring C6 RS6

[stevo55]

Modern Classics a few weeks back were on here asking for a forum members car to feature in a forthcoming article. They approached me and agreed (car is being sold so figured it'd be a nice momento). Yesterday it went off for the shoot and its a comparison article between:

C6 RS6
E60 M5
E63 AMG
Vauxhall VXR8
Jaguar XFR
Maserati Quattroporte

So all powerful saloons in RWD/AWD. Got the car back yesterday and had a good chat with the Editor about how it all went. To sum up (from what I could gather):

M5 felt old tech with clunky gearbox
VXR8 was great fun but was all over the place
Jaguar XFR wasn't liked much
E63 was a monster and very driveable
C6 RS6 (my car) was an absolute beast and its a close run thing between it and the Merc for the favourite. The guys couldn't believe how quick mine was and how it continued to build up crazy speed all the time. Off the line was epic. In the corners started to understeer. Nothing new to any of us, but all told the C6 held its own and then some. As for the Maser he didn't say but my prediction would be 'beautiful car, very comfortable but felt slow in comparison'. Time will tell what the article will say but I'm pleased with the result. Its the June issue which comes out early May.

[IanH755]

The temptation to sneak a Stage 2 into the mix but saying it was still stock would have been too much for me! Just imagine the journo's faces swapping between all the 400-500hp cars and then jumping in one with 750hp

From my own experiences of the cars above -

E60 M5 - Driven once - Epic engine which sounds stunning but god awful jerky GB, love the exterior and interior, really poor brakes (probably not all M5's, just this car).
E63 AMG - Driven 2-3 times - sounds bloody amazing, horrible interior, very stiff but wallowy (no idea how?).
Vauxhall VXR8 - Never driven/passenger - sounds lovely
Jaguar XFR - Driven once - sounds lovely, lovely interior but tech felt very old, didn't feel "fast" but was, felt very comfy.
Maserati Quattroporte - Never driven, been a passenger - slow, odd GB, very comfy.

[rs6_sid]

I had a facelift m5 and it was a nice car to drive it was a more complete driving experience than the rs6 and the engine is a master piece. But it Dosent have the raw grunt of the 6 in a straight line. The only benefit of the m5 is you can turn it onto yob mode and let the back end hang out of every junction, although that was what inevitably killed it ! It's gearbox is that snappy when you turn traction off and go for the hidden fastest shift it shoved move across the road changing with wot. But it had an even worse drinking habit than my c6 ! About 120miles to a tank round town

[longman h]

I owned an M5 Touring a while ago and as much as I loved the looks, engine noise and driveability, the gearbox ended up driving me up the wall. The car held up well on track but overall and for day to day use, the RS6 is a far better allrounder, in my opinion of course. Plus, it only really felt proper fast once you were at high speeds and high into the rev range.
The gearbox in the RS is nice and smooth in auto/lazy mode but changes are pretty damn fast when using the paddles. Power is pretty much always on tap and it's just a great drive.

[rs6_sid]

I owned an M5 Touring a while ago and as much as I loved the looks, engine noise and driveability, the gearbox ended up driving me up the wall. The car held up well on track but overall and for day to day use, the RS6 is a far better allrounder, in my opinion of course. Plus, it only really felt proper fast once you were at high speeds and high into the rev range.
The gearbox in the RS is nice and smooth in auto/lazy mode but changes are pretty damn fast when using the paddles. Power is pretty much always on tap and it's just a great drive.

I think the m5 feels faster than it is as it's reving it's nuts off . But they are just 2 completely different cars but I will say that was my first big n/a engine and it was quite nice to drive

[stevo55]

I think it's very telling whereby the next generation on super saloons will offer AWD in some form or another (E63S now and future M5). Audi really has held the monopoly for years now and AWD in a largely damp country really makes sense. It's corrupted me and my choice of next vehicle now can only be a newer RS6. After many years with great RWD BMW's it makes perfect seems to me. If you can run two cars (with a playful RWD in the mix) the worlds your oyster-I'm only going to run one so it needs to be a great all rounder. Enter stage right another RS6. In 2-3 years come trade in time the choice will be much better I reckon (C8 RS6, new M5 plus E63S)

[IanH755]

I think it's very telling whereby the next generation on super saloons will offer AWD in some form or another

I'm guessing it's mainly down the fairly ridiculous power levels most of these cars are currently running or will be in the future. I mean the E39 M5 era were all 400hp-ish where RWD is still usable at that power level but now, with the new M5/E63 both hitting 550-620hp, RWD just isn't cutting it any more without a billion different safety systems trying to prevent you from actually using all the power on anything other than a perfectly straight/dry road.

The new C8 RS6 design had better bring some improved dynamics to fight off this new generation of AWD BMW/MB cars now it no longer has AWD as a USP!