Audi RS2 Avant review: the station wagon that humbled a Porsche 911
4.3/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The RS2 Avant is not a Bahrain used-car purchase; it is a piece of Audi and Porsche history that happens to be shaped like a station wagon. Fewer than 3,000 were built, prices have climbed into serious collector territory worldwide, and none have local parts or service support. Buy one only through an internationally verified specialist, budget for imported everything, and treat the practicality of the estate body as a delightful footnote rather than the point.
Pros
- Hand-built alongside the Porsche 911 on Porsche's own production line
- 315 hp turbocharged five-cylinder that genuinely out-dragged its Porsche contemporary
- The car that started the entire Audi RS performance lineage
- Extreme rarity — fewer than 3,000 built — with values rising sharply worldwide
Cons
- No parts, service or diagnostic support of any kind in Bahrain
- Prices have moved firmly into serious collector territory, not enthusiast budgets
- Verifying authenticity requires an internationally recognised RS2 specialist
- 1990s safety equipment only; not a car for daily family transport by modern standards
Audi wanted a halo car to prove its five-cylinder turbo quattro formula could compete with the best sports cars in Europe, and rather than build it alone it took the unusual step of handing the project to Porsche. The RS2 Avant was assembled on the same Zuffenhausen line as the 911, with Porsche brakes, Porsche-tuned suspension and a Porsche-badged rev counter, wrapped around a 315 hp version of Audi's turbocharged five-cylinder.
Why it matters
The headline fact has never stopped being repeated because it is genuinely true: in period testing the RS2 Avant matched or beat the contemporary Porsche 911's 0-100 km/h time, while carrying a family and their luggage in an estate body. That combination — genuine supercar pace with a boot big enough for a weekend's shopping — created the template every RS Audi since has tried to follow.
Realistic ownership in Bahrain
Fewer than 3,000 were built and none arrived here new, so any RS2 in Bahrain is a specialist import bought as a collector asset. Values have risen sharply and continue to; buyers should verify chassis numbers and full history through a recognised RS2 specialist before any transaction, and budget for every part — down to consumables — arriving from Europe.