2020 Audi S6
“Simplify, then add lightness.” Colin Chapman’s famous mantra transcended his lightweight Lotus cars and became synonymous with all sports cars and anywhere there was a true pursuit of on-road performance. Further explaining his thought process, he also said “adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” His goal wasn’t to outpower the competition, it was to outengineer them. With that train of thought, if Chapman was alive to experience the 2020 Audi S6 ($73,900), it might make his head explode.
Less weight translates to better handling since there’s less of it transferring from side-to-side, stressing the suspension going from one turn to the next. At 4,486lbs, the S6 is four pounds heavier than a 2020 Kia Telluride SX 4 Door AWD, yet the Audi still glides through turns and makes quick work of tight hairpins.
Just a few years ago, it wasn’t unreasonable to think the horsepower numbers we now see on a regular basis would’ve accompanied an equal increase in the number of cars stuck in ditches, totaled and written off by insurance companies. Back in 1986, the Porsche 930 Turbo made do with under 300 horsepower and still managed to earn the nickname “widowmaker.” The Audi S6 makes 444 horsepower and finishes the sprint from 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds but is eerily planted and wildly stable while powering its way up and down mountain roads.
2020 Audi S6
Chapman might get cold sweats at the sight of an S6 on a scale and scoff at its excessive power figures, but there’s no doubting he’d be envious of the mechanical wizardry underneath the Audi’s sheet metal. It’s what transforms this two-ton-plus four-door muscle car into a modern sports car adept at carving up the tarmac.
While on a drive winding through the Redwood forest above San Fransisco, in a 2020 S6 provided by Audi, the heft and size of the car never made its self known. Damp roads lined with massive redwoods and steep drops aren’t the ideal road conditions to play with 400-plus horsepower. However, sending the S6 from one curve to the next, braking into switchbacks and powering to the next bend felt no more intimidating than leisurely navigating my home town neighborhood.
All this on-road confidence is down to Audi’s active suspension, four-wheel steering and torque vectoring system, or in short, the most advanced version of Quattro all-wheel-drive yet. To be clear, none of these individual systems are brand-new to the market, but when they work together in unison, the near 4,500-lbs, 16-ft-long S6 behaves like a car a fraction of the size.
2020 Audi S6
Saying the S6 effectively “shrinks” itself isn’t hyperbole, either. At speeds over 37 mph, the four-wheel steering turns the rear wheels a few degrees in the same direction the front wheels are turned. On highways, lane changes and high-speed maneuvers feel more stable and less dramatic since the side-to-side weight transfer is reduced. Below 37 mph, the rear wheels turn opposite the front wheels, essentially manipulating the dimensions of the car, virtually shortening the wheelbase by around three-feet, shrinking its turning circle. It’s a feature that helps reduce the stresses of navigating tight parking lots with a big car and increases the fun factor on twisty roads but accentuates the stability of a long wheelbase when you need it.
Further taming all the power the S6 has to offer is the latest iteration of the Quattro all-wheel-drive system which helps manipulate the amount of thrust sent to any given wheel. Depending on a multitude of factors, like steering input, throttle position, speed and the computer readings coming from the suspension, the torque vectoring system can delegate a measured amount of power to the wheel that needs it most to keep the car heading where you want it to.
2020 Audi S6
Compared to the what likes of Ferrari or Lamborghini are pumping out these days, the 444 horses the Audi S6 is capable of might not seem like a lot these days, but it’s still easy to quote Uncle Ben’s old adage about responsibility and power. Audi seems to know that the average driver probably doesn’t know what to do with anything more than 200 horsepower, so they developed a finely tuned system to take away the burden of having skills to safely put over 400 hp to use. I don’t know if I would go so far as to call the S6 a “driver’s car. It does seem at home on the most entertaining roads Califonia has to offer but under the surface, the car and its computers are doing most of the work. The S6 is without a doubt the definition of a modern sports car, but more importantly, it’s approachable. So those spirited Sunday drives don’t have to be just for hardcore enthusiasts anymore.
