There are those that do not know that a highway with no speed limits actually does exist. It is not fantasy. Portions of the Autobahn in Germany have no speed restrictions. Anybody can run their car all out in these sections of the highway system. Naturally, many drivers of exotic hypercars have been there filming astonishing top speed runs. But, astonishing top speed runs are not only limited to drivers of exotic cars. A driver of a station wagon recently took a high-performance model example to the Autobahn and leaned into the throttle to see what the vehicle could do.

The Audi A6 Competition station wagon

The vehicle for the test is an Audi A6 station wagon. In the Competition trim, it has a 3.0-liter, V6 diesel engine. The most important thing about the engine is that its motivation is helped by two turbos that help it get to speed seemingly effortlessly. Horsepower for the family hauler is rated at a healthy 326 horses. Basically, this is an all-wheel drive diesel performance monster.

The high-speed run on the Autobahn

The unlimited speed test was performed, of course, on camera for a Youtube channel called AutoTopNL. The video begins with a quick walk around the station wagon. Then the driver hops in the seat and unleashes the full power of the vehicle. A telemetric system kept track of the actual speed (not the speedometer) and is placed on the lower left of the screen for the viewers to follow along. It shows the car reaching a top speed of 261 kph. That is 162 miles-per-hour. The video is below.

The station wagon performed flawlessly on wet roads

The Audi station wagon performed flawlessly during its Autobahn run. On the approach to its top speed, the engine never complained, and no warning lights appeared on the dash. It ran like melted butter. 

If something had gone wrong, however, it likely would have been bad. The beginning of the video shows that the roadway was not completely dry. In fact, there were still droplets of water left on the car from a recent rain or from overnight dew. So, needless to say, even though the car is an all-wheel drive model, performing this test with less than ideal road conditions was sketchy. Thankfully, nothing surprised the driver or upset the handling of the station wagon. 

Few automakers still make a station wagon

Few automakers still make a station wagon. They have increasingly been replaced by minivans, crossovers, and SUVs in the United States. But, Subaru, which has more than one station wagon, has done well in that segment. Yet, according to Car and Driver, all station wagons sales combined for 2019 did not reach the sales of the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Overseas the story is different. The station wagon is alive and well there. Volvo, Audi, and Mercedes have almost always had a long roof variation of a sedan, while in the United States, Buick, BMW, and Volkswagen are halting their representation in the category.

The lack of representation from many manufacturers does not mean that the station wagon can not be a performance machine. On the contrary, the video mentioned above proves that an Audi wagon can be a serious pavement monster. A top speed run over 160 miles-per-hour is no slouch. Also, for the car to perform so well at that speed is a testament to the fine-tuning manufacturers do to ensure drivers will not have unruly vehicles.