First Drive: 2013 Audi S6/S7

We try out Audi’s new twin-turbo V8 sedans and quickly realize they are worth every penny! Within 8km (5 miles) of starting the twin-turbo V8 for the first time, the fire is muffled as the speed-limiter calls time just beyond 250km/h (155mph). And half of those kilometers were getting out of Munich airport and jumping onto the A92 autobahn. After the repressed driving culture of Australia, Germany is like heaven.

Even at 250km/h, you’re often not the quickest thing on the autobahn so it pays to keep one eye on the mirrors and one eye on that Polish-registered truck in the slow lane. The jiggling headlights are closing in fast so I ease into a size-able gap in the middle lane and continue to hold the throttle wide open. Just as the shape coalesces into a recognizable and legendary front end, the howling V10 becomes audible above the muted roar of the Audi’s V8. When the Porsche Carrera GT whumps past at close to Vmax, the S7 shimmers a little as the disturbed air washes over the bodywork. A mirror check and I’m back out into the fast lane hoping my co-pilot can snap off a shot but the Carrera GT has already opened up a 400 yard gap. A minute later it’s out of sight. Big respect.

Even without the electronic interference of the speed limiter, the S7 wouldn’t have held the CGT at bay for long – Audi engineers suggest it’d run to around 280km/h before aero drag would get the better of the power. The Audi’s twin turbo 4.0-litre V8 produces 420hp (309kW); a long way shy of the 604hp (450kW), 5.7-litre V10 in the Porsche. And while no one is going to confuse the S7 and its sober-suited S6 brother for a supercar, the S-twins are rapid cars.