ABT Sportsline, the tuning company responsible for Audi’s Formula E race cars, has created the world’s first Audi RS6 Avant with a hybrid powertrain. The 1,005 horsepower ABT RS6-E concept gives us a glimpse of what tuning hybrid and electric vehicles will be like in the future.
To create the RS6-E, ABT took the already venerable 597-horsepower RS6 Performance and added an ABT Engine Control module and new exhaust system to the car’s 4.0-liter, biturbo V8, bumping power up to 720 horses. The car also has a 286-horsepower electric motor attached to its transmission tunnel, which can boost the RS6-E’s total output to 1,005 horsepower and 952 pound-feet of torque when the driver pushes the ABT “Magic Button” on the steering wheel.
Think of it like the boost system in Porsche’s E-Hybrid models, or as Formula E racer Daniel Abt puts it, like the NOS button in The Fast and the Furious movies. Unfortunately, this button can only be activated above 60 mph and for only about 10 seconds at a time due to heating problems. Boosted or not, the RS6-E darts to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds and to a top speed of almost 199 mph. Not bad for a wagon that weighs 4,300 pounds stock and has a 13.6 kWh battery in the trunk.
Other modifications to the car include an ABT front lip, rear spoiler, side skirts, fender inserts, mirror caps, and front and rear fascia add-ons. It also sports ABT’s new 21-inch Sport GR wheels with aero rings, a design that first debuted on Jon Olsson’s ABT RS6+ Phoenix.
Sadly, the RS6-E is but a prototype for now, and ABT has no plans to put it into production. Rather, the car is a fun side project to help the tuners experiment with hybrid performance. Daniel Abt, son of ABT Sportsline owner Hans-Jurgen Abt, explains his vision for the RS6-E and demonstrates the car’s insane acceleration in the video below.
