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As luck would have it, one example of wretched excess was motoring up my driveway as another came down. Thanks to the vagaries of scheduling these exercises, I didn’t have an econocar to serve as palate cleanser between the two rich courses, but many such are on my list of resolutions for the new year.

BMW’s $70 grand “sport activity vehicle,” the X5 4.6is, was supplanted by a slightly less expensive (nominally – see below) but perhaps even more audacious Audi station wagon, the new S6 Avant. The “S” is Audi’s version of BMW’s M, or Mercedes’ AMG – it denotes a hotrodded edition, here, of the midrange 6 Series.

If the recent crop of sporty wagons haven’t forever dispelled the antique notions about the dork factor associated with wagons, this baby ought to do it. Pity we won’t see too many on the road, but it does make for a better surprise that way for testosterone-poisoning encounters with sporty cars.

The S6 Avant comes only in all-wheel-drive form, which Audi denotes with the cognomen quattro. Just as well – there’s no way all the horses could find their way to ground if they didn’t have four hefty tires to work through. Power for the S6 Avant comes from a 40-valve, 4.2-liter aluminum V-8. With variable intake camshaft timing, three separate intake paths and a compression ratio of 11:1, it might well be barely streetable, though in fact it’s as docile as a Tennessee Walker.

Rated output is 340 hp at a dizzying, by passenger-vehicle standards, 7,000 rpm. That rev-happiness is best understood in terms of the wagon’s Autobahn-burning potential – it is electronically limited to 155 mph in this market, for PC reasons hard to fathom. Do you think a cop will be impressed that you were only doing 85 mph over the national limit?

Torque peaks at 310 foot-pounds at a mere 3,400 rpm, and of course there’s quite a bit available on either side of that mark with the valve and manifold trickery.

Needless to say, with so much to give, the engine demands a lot, too, in the form of the most octane you can find, and plenty of it. The 21.7-gallon tank will get you 300 miles or so, depending on how badly you bend the speed laws. EPA ratings are 14 mpg city, 21 highway, enough to qualify this mount for the ignominy of a $2,100 guzzler levy.

Driving like a law-abiding citizen (most of the time), I eked 15.8, but that did involve a lot of 0-60 “verification” runs. I thought the factory’s claim of 6.5 seconds might be a little conservative and was pleased to find I could better it by a tenth or two on a high-friction surface. (Of course their number is actually a loose translation of 0-100 kilometers per hour, or 62.5 mph, which explains the seeming conservatism.)

The middleman in this transfer of power is a very acute, electronically-controlled five-speed automatic transmission. With five gears, a match between road speed and driver’s desires is easily, almost imperceptibly effected. There are more than 200 shift prog rams burned into the trannie controller’s little silicon brain.

Such is the nature of the valve and intake-path trickery that there just seems to be an abundance of power on tap at all times – even when cruising at 3-digit speeds – which is what is expected in this luxury segment.

For a greater degree of involvement, one can select gears via the Porsche-design Tiptronic semi-automatic shifting mechanism, either by using the console-mounted gearshift or by pressing buttons on the steering wheel.

The S6 Avant differs from its humbler A6 Avant look-alike in some trivial ways – brushed aluminum grille, roof rack and side mirrors – as well as in having two more cylinders and 120 more hp – and also in its suspension system. The S6’s is aluminum, instead of steel, to save weight (so are the hood and front fenders), and both shocks and springs are considerably stiffer, the better to deal with the fire-breather under the hood.

Be not afraid – Audi has done a superb job suspension tuning, and although the S variant is noticeably more close-coupled than its pedestrian look-alike, it is never harsh or unpleasant, even when subjected to considerable road rudeness.

The S6 uses the fourth-generation quattro system, which employs a viscous center differential and electronically-controlled locking differentials to make sure that the wheels which best can use it get the power. Even back in Gen 1 days, this setup made Audi cars feel as if they had a magical affinity for the road, raising any driver’s performance envelope a notch.

As time marches on, however, and cybernetics plays an increasing role in cars, even a quattro can benefit from an emergent luxury-class “must,” electronic stabilization. This keeps even the most overexuberant driver from demanding more turning force than the relationship between car and road would permit. When a skid seems imminent, the electronic overseer taps the brake on the appropriate wheel to rein in the folly. Testing that on roads lies beyond my comfort zone; suffice it to say, quattro alone allows for some very athletic maneuvering.

Another feature that’s a comer is electronic brake assist. This detects a quick and forceful stab of the brake pedal and speeds the process along to full braking faster than mere hydraulics could. Here, as on BMWs and Mercedes past, it seemed quite effective at producing maximum retardation quickly without allowing invocation of antilock. The S6’s brakes are not particularly large (12.6 inches front, 10.1 rear), but are all ventilated and the fronts use four pads.

The S6 Avant sits on Z-rated (in deference to its top speed) tires of 225/40/17 dimension. One almost looks for something even heftier in this class, but I must say, the machine never felt tire-limited.

The interior is a symphony of leather and polished wood. It’s quite elegant, though I don’t find the grey-stained wood as appealing as a warmer hue. They might as well have used brushed stainless.

The power lumbar adjustment is always welcome in a car that invites long drives, and the “puddle” lights that project a beam downward from the doors are a delightful addition. The stereo is a 200-watt AM-FM-cassette-6-CD Bose unit, with typically laudable clarity and punch. A quad diversity antenna system embedded in the glass works quite nicely.

Noteworthy, too, are the xenon high beams; luxury cars often employ them as low beams and supplement with regular halogens. These babies really lit the night, as is appropriate considering the speeds possible.

Neither the federales nor the insurance folks have crash-tested an A6 or S6 Avant. So we’ll have to derive our comfort from its superb handling and brakes, as well as the front, side and curtain air bags.

Base price on the S6 Avant is $58,700. The car in standard trim is a luxury showcase, though the tester had also a navigation system ($1,350), heated rear seats $250) and Alcantara suede seat inserts. Other extra items of appeal include a portable cell phone, OnStar assistance package, rear side air bags, an acoustic rear parking aid and a rear-facing child seat.

Total on our tester, with freight and thirst penalty, was $63,225. At that rate, you’d have to come up with $1,282 a month for 4 years, assuming 20 percent down and 10 percent interest. But so well accepted is this car that the research firm Edmunds, in tracking actual transactions, has determined the going rate is actually about $8,000 over sticker. When the well-heeled want a toy . . .