Mercedes-AMG S63 vs Audi RS6

What's the difference?

Ever since the middle of the 1990s, I've been captivated by the Mercedes-Benz S Class. It used to be known as Sonderklasse - special class - and teenage me certainly thought it was. The one that caught my attention was the W140. A huge, two-tonne beast when that sort of mass was rare, it was loaded with amazingness and owned the road.

Part of its unique appeal was that that it was properly ugly. When it hove into view it was like a battleship entering Sydney Harbour. And it used almost as much fuel, with the V12 on board.

Over the years, genuine style has invaded the S-Class and today I found myself, for the first time, in an unusually pretty pair of S Classes - the S560 and S63 Coupes. And, astonishingly, it's the first time I've ever driven an S-Class. So with all that baggage I've built up over the years, they had a lot to live up to.

When I say this is a rare review, I’m talking about the kind of rare that means you can’t even buy the car you’re reading about.

The 2026 Audi RS6 Avant GT you’re looking at in the pictures around this story is number 248 of 660. That’s six-hundred and sixty worldwide.

In Australia, there are only 22 RS6 GTs, and they’re all sold - at exorbitant prices, mind you, but we’ll get to that.

The RS6 GT is essentially a production version of the Audi RS6 GTO concept, built in 2020 and inspired by the Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO race car, which means the RS6 GT carries a lot of ‘90 GTO’ in the way it looks. More on that shortly.

Aside from its extremely limited availability and its design package, there are some mechanical changes to increase the appeal of the RS6 GT, though whether any of its owners will put the on-road (or on-track) ability of this special wagon from Ingolstadt to the test remains to be seen.

A couple of days to live with one of the few RS6 GTs in Australia should reveal how special this car feels, and result in at least one example of the rarity being driven good and proper.