RS4 Avant here now

AUDI has returned to its RS roots by releasing a wagon version of its bahnstorming RS4 supercar, making it the only high-performance compact European five-door available – for $168,100.

Powered by the same bristling 309kW/430Nm 4.2-litre V8 as the new RS4 sedan launched in May 2006, the RS4 Avant effectively replaces Audi’s original RS model, the previous-generation A4 wagon-based RS4.

Though Audi HQ revealed all three RS4 bodystyles simultaneously for the first time in 2006, the sedan and wagon will be joined in Australia by the new RS4 Cabriolet in January, priced at $187,500.

Audi launched the RS4 Avant in mid-December alongside the redesigned S6 ($195,900) and S8 ($259,900) sedans, both of which employ a Lamborghini-sourced 5.2-litre V10 that offers 320kW in the S6 and 331kW in the S8.

The latter is the flagship of Audi’s S performance brand, which will be further expanded by the all-new 188kW/350Nm S3 hot-hatch in the second quarter of 2007. The compact RS4 range eclipses all of Audi’s S cars, however, thanks to its startlingly muscular direct-injection V8, which propels the RS4 Avant to 100km/h in a supercar-style 4.8 seconds.