A cross-section of two modern German super hatchbacks has a surprising and surprisingly clear winner

They’re dream cars of sorts, one a widely respected legend and the other a rookie who doesn’t really even compete directly with him. Still, it’s better in practically everything you can think of when it comes to dynamic comparisons.

When you walk down the street and ask random passers-by the question: “What do you think of when you hear the word German super hatchback?” about 9 out of 10 people will answer you – if they answer you at all -: “Audi RS6 Avant.” It was Audi that started with sharp station wagons, and although there was no RS6 at the beginning of its journey, over time the er-es-six crystallized as a kind of industry standard from several offers in this field.

It has its own logic. It is large and comfortable enough to serve practically anything you can think of, but at the same time, thanks to V8 engines and a lot of other sophisticated technology, it is powerful and dynamic enough to conquer basically anything except the cream of super sports. Can we go further? Of course you can, but Audi has made such a name for itself in this field that the Mercedes-AMG E63 Kombi lives only in its shadow, and BMW, for a change – after two not very successful attempts – completely resented the M5 Touring.

However, the Munich brand has a new joker up its sleeve in this regard, which actually does not even directly compete with the RS6. It is the M3 Touring model of the G81 generation, i.e. the first bona fide station wagon built on the basis of the legendary M3 that you can buy. It is a car a class smaller, under the hood it “only” has a 3.0 R6 bitrubo engine with 510 horses, while the RS6 has a 4.0 eight-cylinder engine with 600 horses. All-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic with a hydrodynamic converter are common to both cars, but there is one more significant difference – 1,865 vs. 2075 kg. Both are too much, it’s something like stupid and stupider in terms of weight, but it doesn’t change the fact that the BMW drags 210 kg less ballast. And this has surprisingly far-reaching effects.

The people from the British Carwow decided to show it graphically, who pitted the RS6 and M3 Touring against each other at the airport in weather that reveals the effectiveness of the all-wheel drive systems. It was supposed to be a clear solo for the significantly more expensive quattro, but hey, it turned out to be the opposite. Not only did the iconic Audi not confirm the position of “the German station wagon”, it basically got smashed in everything it could get smashed in.

When accelerating from a standstill it was very even and it depended on the first meters of the start how the race turned out, but in the end the M3 Touring won by a ratio of 4:2. The RS6 pulled for a while with a longer piece of rope during a flexible start in the most comfortable engine and transmission settings, but as soon as the settings went up, the Touring clearly won over the Avant again. And in terms of braking, the lighter Bavarian, additionally equipped with carbon-ceramic brakes, reigned again.

Who would have said? A relatively even race was to be expected, but this is a surprising and surprisingly clear victory for the smaller and cheaper BMW.

Historically the first sharp station wagon of the 3 series that BMW created, it is nothing in terms of image… Photo: BMW

…next to the Audi RS6 Avant. In the dynamic comparison of these machines, however, BMW clearly rules. Photo: Audi

Source: Carwow@Youtube

Petr Miler

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