Interior
The interior layout, fit and finish
In traditional RS Audi fashion, the RS6 simply takes the standard A6’s already impressive configuration and dials the sportiness up a notch. There’s a flat-bottomed steering wheel, swathes of carbon fibre, plenty of Alcantara wrapping and heavily bolstered, diamond-stitched-leather sport seats. Of course, these additions are just visual garnish, but the seats are genuinely superb; they’re figure-hugging yet remain supremely comfortable over long distances, thanks to their multiple electrical adjustments, which include four-way lumbar support.
The front sports seats allow the driver to sit nice and low behind the highly adjustable steering wheel. Our only complaint with the driving position is that your left leg is pushed over to the right due to the encroaching side of the footwell. That said, this problem is one you get used to, and it's also apparent, but far worse, in the Mercedes-AMG E63 S.
There are two touchscreens. The lower screen is mainly for the climate controls, while the upper screen does the rest of the features: media, navigation, car settings and so on. The software is really responsive and on the whole the menus are simple to follow, but with so few physical buttons and so much operated through touchscreens, you do find yourself looking away from the road continually to make adjustments. While the Porsche Panamera is no better, we think that for ease of use, the rotary controllers you get in the E63 S and, in particular, the BMW M5 are better and safer to operate while driving.
The RS6's build quality is right up with the best in the class. The M5 and Panamera also offer top-notch quality, but although the E63 S's interior looks richer and more elaborate, the way it's screwed together isn't as good in places.
Visibility is good in the RS6. It's easier to see out of than the E63 S Estate and Panamera Sport Turismo and comes with front and rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, adaptive Matrix LED dipped beams and even laser-light main beams.
