2021 RS6 (C8) Jack Points

[DGTT]

Howdy Y’all, disgruntled RS6 owner here. Today I offer you a rant followed by some helpful information on jack points for a C8 RS6 Avant. If you’re not interested in a rant, skip to the bottom for instructions on how to safely (ish) place all four corners of the car on jack stands.

This whole story begins with winter tires. I kept forgetting to order them until it snowed 4 inches overnight, at which point having winter tires became rather urgent. I know from personal experience that an RS6 on performance summer tires on ice is a genuinely sketchy ordeal. I grew up in the mountains, I’m comfortable driving in snow and ice, I love sliding cars around when the snow falls, but I have no desire to drive a 5600lb torque monster on steamroller tires around on ice again. Quattro is great and all, but only if you have grip. Anywho… After ordering a set of alarmingly expensive winter tires, I decided that the smart thing to do would be to put the car on jacks for a day or two and load the wheels in a second car to take to the tire shop. This is where the story gets interesting.

I scoured the internet (for about 5 minutes) looking for any information on RS6 jack points, but I couldn’t find anything helpful. Figuring that it couldn’t possibly be that hard, I crawled under the car to see for my self. What I saw under the car, to my absolute horror, was a never ending sea of plastic. Edge to edge, corner to corner, there’s nothing but plastic panelling covering the entire underside of the car. The silly Audi engineers even stuck plastic panels to the underside of the rear lower control arms! Madness I tell you.

After taking a moment to collect my thoughts and reassure myself that I didn’t want to crawl under the car and remove the plastic panelling with all 5600lbs of station wagon teetering over my head supported only by a single floor jack, I set about finding a creative solution to my jacking problem. The only places that I could find that didn’t have plastic over them and that seemed structural enough to support the full weight of the car were the factory jacking points on the front and rear of the rocker panels and the front lower control arms. Since I couldn’t fit my jack and a jack stand next to each other under a single jack point, I knew I wouldn’t be able to lift the car from the rear. That left me with lifting the car from one of the two locations in the front. I figured that lifting the car by the control arm was a bad idea, so I decided to lift the entire driver’s side of the car from the front factory jack point and place one jack stand under the rear jack point and a second jack stand under the front control arm. It worked, so I repeated the process for the other side of the car. That also worked, so I called it a victory and stood back to admire the totally preposterous amounts of suspension droop.

Wheels are off now and loaded in the back of the truck to go to the tire shop tomorrow morning, but I’m still sitting here scratching my head about the jack points. Are those really the only jack points on an RS6? Does Audi just assume that anyone who works on one of these cars is going to have a lift? I get that most modern cars are intentionally designed to be difficult to work on so that you take it to a dealership and pay them way too much money to fix it for you, but I’ve never seen a car with only four exposed jack points before. Then again, the RS6 doesn’t come with a spare tire and instead leaves the factory with some sealant goo that doesn’t work and an air compressor with cheap plastic fittings that leak so maybe the Audi engineers just slacked off on this car. What are your thoughts? I’m open to feedback if there’s something that I missed or didn’t do correctly. Has anyone else put an RS6 on jacks, and if so, how did you do it? I’m here to learn…




TLDR: (1) Start by placing a floor jack under the driver’s side front jack point. Make sure to use a rubber block with a notch in it or something that won’t damage the pinch weld. (2) Lift the the car until both the front and rear wheels are in the air. (3)Place a jack stand under the rear factory jack point (again with something that won’t damage the pinch weld) and another jack stand under the front lower control arm. Make sure to pick a spot on the control arm that is relatively flat, not directly under the round spot where the bushing is. (4) Lower the car on to the jack stands slowly (5) Repeat the process on the passenger side. (6) Rejoice!

IMG_5056.jpg
Rear Jack Stand under rear factory jack point

IMG_5054.jpg
Front jack stand under front control arm

IMG_5060.jpg
An elephant on stilts

[two+2]

Oh $hit. I better check my underside. Had a company mobile wheel company come by to put on my winter set (tires needed to go on rims) and they did it pretty quick. Did not hear about issues with jack points.

[S4-2-RS6]

This is exactly why I always buy winter wheels to go with winter tires. Plus mounting and remounting 2 times a year you are bound to get some rim damage. Also its nice to drop down to 21" wheels for the winter.
Then with a full set to swap I can just jack up one wheel at a time and never have an elephant on stilts.

[DGTT]

Yea two sets of wheels is absolutely the way to go. I can't go down to a 21" wheel because of the ceramic brakes, which is why I'm putting the winters on the factory 22s. The plan is to mount the winters on the factory rims and get a set of schnazzy wheels for the summer tires.

[S4-2-RS6]

Yea two sets of wheels is absolutely the way to go. I can't go down to a 21" wheel because of the ceramic brakes, which is why I'm putting the winters on the factory 22s. The plan is to mount the winters on the factory rims and get a set of schnazzy wheels for the summer tires.

Yep, that's a plan. Sounds like you just got jammed up with the early snow..

[Noggybowl]

I believe there are small triangle looking arrows molded into the rocker panel that will direct you to the Jack points. Also, there is information in the owners manual about where to Jack up your vehicle.

[phaphaphooey]

Yea two sets of wheels is absolutely the way to go. I can't go down to a 21" wheel because of the ceramic brakes, which is why I'm putting the winters on the factory 22s. The plan is to mount the winters on the factory rims and get a set of schnazzy wheels for the summer tires.

Standard wheel is 21" with option for 22". You can order the car from the factory with CCBs and the standard 21" wheels. They will fit.

[DGTT]

Standard wheel is 21" with option for 22". You can order the car from the factory with CCBs and the standard 21" wheels. They will fit.

That's not what I was told by my local Audi dealership and they've been good to me thus far. The official winter wheel package they showed me from Audi was just the regular 22's but painted black.

[OneFastBMW]

I have a thick rubber disk with a slot cut down the middle. This sits on the jack’s saddle and fits on the factory jack points and reduces the chances of crushing the factory pinch welds. 1,000 percent would recommend.

Then you can use a jack rod to keep the weight on the jack, but remove pressure from the hydraulics. When a floor jack fails it is a failure of the hydraulics.

https://agatools.com/products/jack-r...caAtwzEALw_wcB

[phaphaphooey]

That's not what I was told by my local Audi dealership and they've been good to me thus far. The official winter wheel package they showed me from Audi was just the regular 22's but painted black.

There are literally pictures of cars with that combination on the forum:

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...ghlight=wheels

[VelocityRS6]

If you do Jack up your car at home and your C8 has bags, do not turn on the car or you will damage the bags while the car is lifted. They will over inflate.

[FBAnder]

If you do Jack up your car at home and your C8 has bags, do not turn on the car or you will damage the bags while the car is lifted. They will over inflate.

There is a wheel change setting in the MMI to mitigate this...of course you have to remember to toggle it.

Replacing wheels
You must complete the preparation before
changing a tire.
> Read and follow the important safety precautions
> page 286.
> Set the parking brake.
> Select the “P” position.
> When towing a trailer: disconnect the trailer
from your vehicle.
> Lay out the vehicle tool kit > page 286 and the
spare tire > page 292.
> Applies to: vehicles with air suspension: Select
on the home screen: VEHICLE > Settings &
Service > Air suspension: wheel change.
> Switch the ignition off.

[mercury26]

I just put my winter wheels/tires and use the factory lift points under the side skirts. They have little arrows embossed in the side skirts to show you where they are at. I also have a two post lift that makes a bit easier. So many options for two post lifts (even low clearance garages) that I moved off jack and jack stands a decade ago. IMG_2319.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

[pwdrskr]

Might I suggest Quickjack for those who want something more than a single jack point but can't spring for a full scale lift? I've been using this system for years now and have zero complaints. I still have a floor jack for those times when I just need to quickly lift a corner. The Quickjack has been great when I've gotten into more involved projects.

...and I use a couple different Jackpad sets to protect the pinch welds.

[two+2]

Might I suggest Quickjack for those who want something more than a single jack point but can't spring for a full scale lift? I've been using this system for years now and have zero complaints. I still have a floor jack for those times when I just need to quickly lift a corner. The Quickjack has been great when I've gotten into more involved projects.

...and I use a couple different Jackpad sets to protect the pinch welds.

So you must be running a Quickjack 7000 in order to support the weight of the hefty RS6?

[pwdrskr]

So you must be running a Quickjack 7000 in order to support the weight of the hefty RS6?

Actually, I have a 5000TLX series, 5000 lbs limit. I bought it several years ago, first to work on a B8.5 A4 Allroad, then our B9 RS5. I’ve yet to use it on our RS6 (4,982 lbs), but did use it on our now gone ‘21 A6 Allroad (4,486 lbs). The 5000TLX is pushing its limits with the RS6, so looks like I may be springing for a 7000TLX or a 6000ELX. It also looks like they sell the lift frames separately, too.

Hmm, and there is an updated power unit.

Looks like I have some shopping to do…

[mercury26]

I would recommend the MaxJax for low clearance garages. You can unbolt it and tuck against the wall, when not in use. I had one for a few years until I upgraded to a full height lift.

https://www.maxjax.com/

Best, Chuck

[JohnEnglish]

The lifting instructions for the car are right in the manual. There's no need to scour the internet; it's all in the owner's manual. There are arrows on the rock panel showing you where to lift. You'll also need jack pad adapters to fit into the jack point cutouts if you're using non-VAG jacks or stands.

https://www.powerflexusa.com/shop/pr...ter-3802#attr=

Capture.JPG

[pwdrskr]

The lifting instructions for the car are right in the manual. There's no need to scour the internet; it's all in the owner's manual. There are arrows on the rock panel showing you where to lift. You'll also need jack pad adapters to fit into the jack point cutouts if you're using non-VAG jacks or stands.

https://www.powerflexusa.com/shop/pr...ter-3802#attr=

Capture.JPG

Not all Audi jack points are the same width! I found this out when I lost one of the jack pad adapters I'd been using for a B8.5 Allroad, ordered another one that was a different brand and it didn't fit! I now have a few different ones with different widths.

[trackvaulter01]

I would recommend the MaxJax for low clearance garages. You can unbolt it and tuck against the wall, when not in use. I had one for a few years until I upgraded to a full height lift.

https://www.maxjax.com/

Best, Chuck

I’ve always been wary of mobile two posts, but I guess if you bolt them down its ok. I’ll likely go for the quickjack setup, but I’ve considered a 4 post with bridge jacks for the storage potential.

[mercury26]

I’ve always been wary of mobile two posts, but I guess if you bolt them down its ok. I’ll likely go for the quickjack setup, but I’ve considered a 4 post with bridge jacks for the storage potential.

You absolutely need to bolt it to the ground. If installed properly, it's totally safe. As safe as any other 2-post lift.