Audi pulled the wraps off the new 2013 RS4 Avant in Geneva, looking every bit like an RS5 longroof. We won't get it here in the US, but that doesn't mean we won't drool over it and all its precision details.
The RS4 Avant brings no surprises to the table. It just follows the standard RS recipe, with a 450 horsepower V8, seven-speed dual clutch transmission drivetrain lifted straight out of the RS5.
Compared to the next hottest Audi wagon, the S4 Avant, the RS4 gets two more cylinders, 112 more horses and actually seven fewer pounds feet of torque. The RS4 is 0.7 inches longer, 0.7 inches lower, and 0.9 inches wider than the S4 Avant, but then the RS4 is also a fair $26,500 more expensive than its S4 equivalent. That puts the price at $101,400 in Europe.
The Audi quotes the RS4 Avant at 4.7 seconds to 62 mph, with a top speed of 173. The steering is electro-mechanical.
At this point Audi doesn't have an overwhelming need to innovate. Their cars are selling amazingly well, and Audi recently overtook Mercedes to become the second largest maker of luxury cars in the world.
A straightforward formula helps, and we don't mind in the least, so long as Audi builds thundering speed wagons like this. European deliveries are scheduled to start at the end of this year and US sales will never happen.
Photo Credit: Josh Decker/QuattroWorld/Audi USA/Flickr