Here’s why the Audi RS2 Avant is the coolest Audi ever made

The Audi RS2 Avant is a car that many of us have only recently rediscovered. It’s a vehicle that you could arguably say changed Audi forever. The RS2 was the very beginning of the RS brand for Audi and they couldn’t have done it without the help from Porsche. 

Before it went into production from 1994-1995, Audi didn’t have a sports department so they looked to Porsche for help – and why wouldn’t you seek help from the company that gave us the 911? This was just as the Porsche 959 was coming to the end of its production so obviously, Audi jumped at this opportunity to work alongside Porsche to produce an amazing sports car after seeing their great success making the world’s fastest production car.

Porsche took the 2.2-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine that Audi was making and massively improved it. They added a big turbo to it which resulted in the RS2 Avant producing around 311bhp and 302 lb-ft of torque and then a top speed of 163mph. This was ludicrous for a family estate car at the time. 

With this major upgrade, the RS2 could accelerate from 0-60mph in a whopping 5.4 seconds, and to put that in perspective that’s almost a whole second faster than a Lamborghini Countach… in a 90s estate car! However, if you thought this was impressive, the 0-30 time was only 1.5 seconds which is up there with the McLaren F1. Crazy stuff from Audi/Porsche.

Now of course, since this was an Audi, it still kept the brand’s infamous Quattro system which would have helped to put down the power in a smooth yet still aggressive way. Not only did Porsche tweak the engine but also added some other bits of their own. 

The RS2 Avant was fitted with Porsche brakes and suspension as well as wheels and seats. Porsche really wanted this car to reflect their brand, and rightly so! The interior also featured a lot of carbon fibre which I don’t think is necessary but looks incredible.

The RS2 only came in the Avant variant which in many ways is what makes this car so special and unique as being one of the greatest and most iconic estate cars ever produced. Despite its desirability, it is very unlikely you will ever see this car outside of Europe. Because it was only produced for a year, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to ship it abroad however I believe there are some examples dotted around the world.

It’s a pretty impressive first attempt at a sporty car, isn’t it? Kicking off the RS brand in this way is a cracking demonstration of what car manufacturers can do when they join together to make a true beast of a car. 

If it wasn’t for this car, we probably wouldn’t have the RS6 of today which is known as probably the most aggressive and well-sought-after car from Audi in the present day.