Audi is putting the finishing touches to its new RS4 Avant, which is due to arrive in May 2012.
Our spies have been busy at the Nurburgring in recent days, and caught the new go-faster pooch-carrier testing at the Nordschleife at the end of last week.
Audi RS4 Avant (2012): the lowdown
There’s no change planned for the RS4’s engine; it’ll take a carbon copy of the RS5’s 4.2-litre V8, naturally aspirated to produce 444bhp and 325lb ft.
But the transmission is this time going to be a seven-speed twin-clutch transmission. Our sources in Ingolstadt confirm it will meet EU5 emissions from mid-2013 on.
Damn, my dog’s too big for the RS4…
Well, you’ll need the RS6 Avant. The latest in a line of mental Audi wagons, it is due a few months later – around autumn 2012.
It will feature a 550bhp twin-turbo version of the new Audi/Bentley 4.0-litre V8. This will be one seriously fast estate car, with a 516lb ft torque output and an eight-speed slusher from the A8 W12.