I Really Wanted an Audi RS6 Avant

[_Klay_]

As many of you know, I currently drive a used 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon with a long, useful warranty, which I got a few months ago. This is topical, since just today I reviewed the 2018 Mercedes-AMG E63S Wagon, which I really, really, really want. But more than I want the new AMG Wagon, I just want an Audi RS6 Avant. Unfortunately, Audi doesn't want me to have it.

Every single time I post anything about my AMG Wagon -- a photo on Instagram, a tweet, a video -- I'm bombarded with messages from people living outside North America asking me why I didn't get the Audi RS6 Avant. It's cooler. It's better. It's more exciting. Why get an "old person" E-Class when you could have the cool new thing?

Here's the reason, folks: it doesn't exist in North America. Audi never sold it here. In fact, Audi hasn't sold any station wagon version of the A6 in several years -- "RS" or not. The last time (the only time!) we got an Audi RS6 was the 2003 model year, in sedan form only -- and the last time we got any form of high-performance Audi wagon was the B7 S4, which ended production in 2008. Audi simply doesn't think we can be trusted with high-performance wagons. And, of course, U.S. import laws mean I can't just go to Europe, pick one up and bring it home with me.

Not that I wouldn't want to. If the Audi RS6 Avant was sold in the United States, I absolutely would've bought that instead of my AMG; the old RS6 Avant offered 570 horsepower, and the new one has almost 600 -- compared to a paltry 520 in my AMG. Not only that, but I simply prefer the look of the RS6 Avant, the beauty of the Audi interior and the subtlety of the overall design. If I could've had an RS6 Avant, it wouldn't have even been a consideration -- I would've.

But I couldn't. So quit asking.

Doug DeMuro is an automotive journalist who has written for many online and magazine publications. He once owned a Nissan Cube and a Ferrari 360 Modena. At the same time.