What's the news?
Christmas is coming. Just saying, you know, but by coincidence also coming is the Audi RS 4 Avant, packing the same 450hp turbo V6 engine as the RS 5 Coupe.
Available to order from the end of the year, and with a starting price of €102,350, the RS 4 gets a 170Nm torque boost over the old model (it's now up to 600Nm), and can shunt itself from 0-100km/h in just 4.1 seconds. That's 0.6 seconds faster than the old RS 4, in spite of which Audi claims that the car is 17 per cent more fuel efficient than previously, with combined economy of 8.8 litres per 100km (that's 32.1mpg for any Brexiteers reading this).
Audi says that the design of the RS 4 has been influenced by the semi-legendary 1990s Audi 90 IMSA GTO race car, which had wheelarches so boxy and huge you could have housed a family of woolfhounds in them. The RS 4's aren't quite so big, but we can see some of the resemblance. The interior, all-black for maximum sinisterness, also gets a digital Virtual Cockpit display that has RS-specific graphics and readouts, including displays for g-force, tire pressures and torque. Quite how you're supposed to find the time to grab a glance at those when they're displaying anything interesting, we're not sure but - hey - nice to know they're there.
Needless to say, the RS 4 comes with quattro four-wheel drive, and it also gets RS-specific suspension, which is 7mm lower than that of the standard A4 Avant.
Audi claims that the RS 4, which is the fourth-generation of RS estate models, "combines breath-taking driving performance with accessibility for everyday use." We'll find out when it actually lands here next year. Now, how hard do you think it's going to be to get one of these down my chimney. I think I can loosen some of the bricks to make it a bit easier...