A Detailed Look At The 2016 Audi S6 Cannonball Record Holder

Aug 02, 2023

Cleverly disguised as a Ford Taurus patrol car, the Audi S6 had extensive modifications, allowing it to stay under the radar and out of trouble.

The Audi S6 pampers you within its elegant cabin, which has luxurious materials and an excellent fit and finish. It also has a long list of high-tech equipment, as one would expect from a high-end Audi. The finely shaped sports seats will keep you anchored during a back road race, as well as comfort you on extended excursions.

The regular 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8's jaw-dropping performance is highly anticipated. This technical marvel, which has 450 horsepower, is as elegant as it is powerful. It works in tandem with the sport-tuned adaptive air suspension to produce breathtaking athleticism during spirited driving.

It makes sense why Arne Toman chose it as a cannonball car in 2020. The benchmark time for traveling the length of the United States of America was set at 25 hours and 39 minutes by a customized Audi A6, possibly forever.

In a blatantly unlawful attempt to break the Cannonball Run record, Doug Tabbutt, Arne Toman, and Dunadel Daryoush traveled from New York to California in that amount of time.

The trio's cross-country sprint was quicker than anything else ever done, and it's not likely anyone will beat it.

The circumstances, which coincided with the end of America's COVID-19 quarantine and lockdown and the resulting decrease in highway traffic, were ideal for a high-speed transcontinental record attempt.

The trio traveled 2,816 miles in total, shattering the previous record established during the COVID-19 pandemic by just under an hour.

Let’s take a closer look at the 2016 Audi S6 Cannonball record holder.

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The Cannonball Run is a legendary street race with the sole objective of traveling from New York to California as quickly as possible.

When one first hears about a prohibited race taking place over the entire country, disorder and irresponsibility probably spring to mind.

You may have even watched the 1981 movie “The Cannonball Run,” which depicts the drive with the glamour and recklessness of street racing in a fictionalized way. Despite being illegal, the race is anything but disorderly or irresponsible.

Brock Yates, the man behind the race's inception in the 1970s, sought to demonstrate that it was possible to drive swiftly across the country. And in regular traffic without disturbing anyone or being unsafe.

There are only a select few people who are crazy and determined enough to undertake the coast-to-coast run. It used to start at the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan and end at the Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, California.

The team decided on a 2016 Audi S6 as the new set of wheels. Fun fact: they modified the S6 in 3 days.

Once more, the vehicle underwent extensive modifications, including the addition of a 45-gallon fuel cell to the trunk. Modifications such as the installation of RS7 Turbos, Alpha Downpipes, and a Dyno Spectrum DS1 Tuner made the Audi S6 a 600-hp beast.

The Audi, marketed as a “fake cop car,” emphasizes the cosmetic similarities between the S6 and the contemporary Ford Taurus, which many police departments around the US favor.

Viewing a more recent Audi vehicle in the rearview mirror would have given anyone a moment of anxiety. Toman and Tabbutt noticed the same thing and emphasized the patrol car-like characteristics of their Audi.

This included a fake “Ford” insignia on the grille, reflective tape on the back bumper, and blacked-out rims with silver center caps. It's unclear whether the disguise contributed in any way to the run's success. It's more likely that spotters assisted the two in avoiding radar gun detection.

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The Ford LTD that Arne created for the 2019 C2C Express was the source of all the police countermeasures. Arne's team put the electronic “stack” from the Corvette's back seat, which contained a power inverter, CB radio, and fuse panel, in the S6's back seat.

Arne also used the CB antenna and a few other parts taken off the Transcontinental P71 Blackturd from the 2904.

In May 2020, Arne and Doug, along with spotter Dunadel Daryoush, left the Red Ball Garage once more, although the time was no longer perfect given the increase in traffic and police enforcement.

In a time that broke all prior records, they traveled 2,816 miles in under 25 hours and 39 minutes before arriving at the Portofino parking lot in Redondo Beach, California. After stopping for gasoline five times for a total of 31 minutes, they managed to leave Manhattan in just 4.5 minutes.

Their overall average, which takes into account stops, was 110 mph, while their moving average was 112 mph. On the run, Arne attained a top speed of 175 mph.

Even though people previously reported them to the police, they avoided any run-ins with the law. This was because of their meticulous planning and driving, countermeasures, and a network of scouts dispersed throughout their path.

Marcus is a car enthusiast who loves writing about them. He travels frequently and always seeks out the best driving roads to really test a car's limits. His favorite cars are anything with a manual transmission, and he's been known to spend hours just shifting through all the gears.