Audi RS 6 Avant - Boot space, comfort & practicality

Building on the regular Audi A6 Avant, the Audi RS 6 has a great starting point from which to deliver on load space and passenger comfort. The RS 6 will likely be an everyday car, so it needs to offer practicality to go with its pace.

At almost five-metres long, it’s a sizeable vehicle and could prove awkward to manoeuvre, but all-wheel steering gives a surprisingly tight turning circle - very handy given the extended wheel arches adding 40mm to each side of the car. The 360-degree camera should assist when parking and moving around at low speed, although this is only available as standard on the Performance Carbon Vorsprung model.

Dimensions and size

The RS 6 is certainly a big, imposing car, at 4,995mm long, 1,487mm in height and 2,110mm wide. Although, it is shorter than its closest rivals, the BMW M5 Touring (5,096mm in length) and Porsche Panamera 4S Sport Turismo (5,049mm). The RS 6 is slightly narrower than its two competitors in terms of width, at 2,110mm. The M5 Touring is 2,156mm wide, but the Panamera is a significant 2,165mm across. And while the Porsche has a low, sleek stance at 1,428mm high, the RS 6 offers an elevated, more practical roof line at 1,487mm. The M5 Touring is 1,516mm in height.

How practical is the Audi RS 6?

Seats & space in the front

There shouldn’t be any complaints from people in the front of the Audi RS 6. Even those who are six feet in height should have plenty of head, leg, and shoulder room in which to stretch out. Every version comes with electric front seat adjustment with driver’s side memory settings, and there’s even electrically adjustable lumbar support and steering column adjustment, so finding a comfortable driving position should be very easy.

We would like to see more storage in the RS 6, because the door pockets aren’t that big, and the cubby under the central armrest isn’t particularly generous.

Seats & space in the back

The RS 6 offers generous legroom in the rear despite those chunky sports seats, with its square roofline also providing a good amount of headroom. Those over six-foot shouldn’t have any issues settling into the RS 6 for a pleasant, relaxing journey.

If you happen to need to transport children in car seats, then you’ll find a pair of ISOFIX points on the outer positions of the rear bench behind some easily removable plastic covers. If you need greater flexibility, then there’s another point mounted on the front passenger seat - but do check that the front passenger airbag is disabled when you do this.

Boot space

With a 565-litre boot (548 litres in GT form), the Audi RS 6 trumps the Porsche Panamera 4S Sport Turismo (520 litres) for load carrying ability. With the rear seats folded, the advantage increases, with the Audi providing 1,680 litres (1,658 litres in GT form) and the Porsche just 1,390 litres. 

The plug-in hybrid BMW M5 Touring and Mercedes-AMG E53 have compromised boot areas because the battery pack in each of those rivals takes up some space in the load area. The E53 is most affected, having just 460 litres of space, while the M5 Touring has 500 litres of capacity.