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New RS6 firms, RS5 hits ‘red line’ mass: Audi

Weight a minute: The new RS5 PHEV weighs 2355kg as a sedan, a figure that Audi Sport’s top brass is loathe to exceed for its high-performance modesls.

Plug-in hybrid power and smarts all but locked in for RS6, but will the ICE be a V8?

9 Mar 2026

By TOM BAKER in MOROCCO

AUDI Sport is putting the finishing touches on the next-generation RS6 super-wagon with emissions-busting plug-in hybrid (PHEV) power tipped to slot into the chassis of the AMG E-Class and BMW M5 rival, codenamed ‘C9’. 
 
High-output PHEV systems won an internal struggle to determine how to keep large-displacement internal combustion engines alive at Audi’s performance division some years ago. 
 
While Audi bosses demanded next-generation RS models pulled their weight on crucial CO2 measurements, Audi Sport engineers worked out that 400-volt PHEV systems could also feed sophisticated new steering and drift mode systems. 
 
“It is not only (about) CO2 regulation,” Audi Sport head of R&D Steffen Bamberger told GoAuto. 
 
“It is really also for driving performance, electric (range) and electric torque vectoring that enables a different kind of lateral dynamics,” added Audi Sport managing director Rolf Michl.  
 
The first fruit of Audi Sport’s PHEV engineering effort – the ‘B10’ RS5 sedan and wagon range – is already on its way to Australia, bringing with it the 470kW/825Nm combination of a 2.9-litre petrol V6 and 130kW electric motor. 
 
Next to receive the PHEV treatment is the incoming ‘C9’ RS6 large car, which, like its midsize RS5 sibling, will entail both the expected Avant wagon body style and, for the first time since 2010, a four-door booted sedan model as well. 
 
While the inherent CO2-reducing properties of PHEV – at least as far as official testing is concerned – mean that the next RS6 is all but certain to feature a plug in all world markets, less clear is the size and cylinder count of its engine. 
 
The outgoing ‘C8’ RS6 uses a non-hybrid 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine producing 463kW/850Nm while emitting a highly penalised 273-289g/km CO2. 
 
By contrast, the new six-cylinder 470kW/825Nm RS5 PHEV officially emits just 86-102g/km, making it reasonably compliant with European and Australian new vehicle emissions schemes. 
 
While there has been some speculation that the new RS6 will drop its V8 engine in favour of a beefed-up version of the RS5’s 2.9-litre V6, this is far from Audi Sport’s only option. 
 
The division’s highest-ranking executives confirmed the PHEV system and electric torque vectoring would work in a V8. 
 
It was also made clear to GoAuto that RS6 customers remain a traditional bunch and that Audi understands they need to be walked, step-by-step, to new technologies. 
 
This may indicate that Audi has abandoned its earlier plans to offer the next-generation RS6 in battery-electric guise alongside a combustion or hybrid version. 
 
“If somebody drove an RS6 for years and they have to (then) go fully electric, it is quite an emotional decision,” said Mr Michl. 
 
“You have to listen to the customer. Obviously, it is a step-by-step approach.” 
 
Within the Volkswagen Group, Audi and Bentley are both members of the premium department known as Brand Group Progressive.  
 
Audi Sport is likely to have relatively simple access to Bentley’s V8 PHEV system that builds on the RS5’s V6 hybrid profile by retaining the 4.0-litre bent-eight. 
 
Bentley’s V8 ‘Ultra Performance Hybrid’ produces combined figures of 575kW/1000Nm with compliant CO2 emissions of around 93g/km. 
 
This V8-based PHEV solution would help to differentiate the circa-5000mm long incoming RS6 from the new RS5, which measures 4897mm in length. 
 
A downside of the potential selection of a V8 PHEV solution for the RS6 could be vehicle weight. 
 
The new RS5 PHEV weighs 2355kg as a sedan (+15kg as an Avant), representing about a 600kg leap over the old non-hybrid ‘B9’ generation. 
 
That kind of mass is already hitting internal limits laid down by Audi Sport’s top brass. 
 
“We reached the red line (of mass), absolutely,” said Mr Bamberger. 
 
By comparison, the outgoing non-hybrid ‘C8’ RS6 has a kerb weight of 2075kg. 
 
A proportional jump to the RS5 would see a hypothetical ‘C9’ RS6 hit about 2800kg, considerably higher than the 2510kg kerb weight of BMW’s V8 PHEV M5 sedan. 
 
If Audi Sport selected a V6 PHEV system for the ‘C9’ RS6 it may be able to shave 100-200kg from the overall mass of the vehicle.

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