2007 S6 – Great Handling Car Under Pressure

[S6Guy]

I’ve got almost 10,000 miles on my “new” S6 now, but it wasn’t until this weekend that I had a chance to push it to its limits in a controlled (obstacle-free) environment – what an eye opener!
Last Saturday I took the car to the Porsche Club Driver Skills Day. They run it on an abandoned runway that is now used as a drag strip (complete with VHT Trackbite). They have a skid pad (wet and dry), slaloms (slow and fast), an obstacle avoidance maximum braking exercise, a cornering oval and both a slow and a full-on fast autocross course.

What I found was that this car is an absolutely incredible handling machine. The fixed 60-40 power split allows you to drive the car as you would any other rear wheel drive – steering with the throttle – but you simply can not get the car to spin unless you goose it on wet VHT, which is like goosing it on ice. There is very little body roll under the most aggressive cornering I could force on it. The steering is dot on precise, the brakes are much better than I thought they were based on the “feel”, and the power is incredibly smooth and available.

I have driven this same program in my 1988 Carrera and my 2001 E55. The Carrera is more nimble in the tight slalom and autocross, but this weekend I could hold my own against the best Porsche now has to offer in the more open courses. There was no comparison to the E55, which was a lumbering slug by comparison.

I found that I could not get the ASR/ESP to engage, or if it did, it was not noticeable, even when turned on in the middle of the skid pad at the limit. However, I did not miss it or need it in any of the events. I think it must really be a “life saver” mode system and I likely don’t want to see it activated.

The veteran instructors were lining up to ride with me, and to a person they were amazed at the car’s abilities. (They also lined up behind me, with most of the other run group members, whenever I took off on a course so they could listen to the howl and rumble of the V-10. Audi needs to pipe that sound into the cabin on demand so the driver gets the same thrill.)

All in all, a wonderful experience. I have commented on the stiff ride of this car in my earlier entries, but now that I know what the trade is, I think I’ll just shut up and drive!

PS I should mention that I did all of this on 255/40ZR-18 Avon Tech M550 A/S XL all season tires, which behaved very nicely. I can not imagine what these exercise might be like with a high performance dry tire. I can, however, recommend the Avons highly, and they are only $134/ea at Tire Rack.