An A-plus for Audi’s new A6

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Saturday, September 10, 2011

The Audi A6 is an enigma in the executive-car segment; a front-wheel drive in a rear-wheel driver category, it has been pooh-poohed by the cognoscenti for being out-handled by its rivals from BMW and Mercedes.

The Audi did have a secret weapon, but unfortunately its four-wheel drive Quattro system was too costly.

Sure, the A6 was wonderfully appointed, built to a standard that shamed others and imbued with a quality to which others could merely aspire, but it was still a front-wheel drive machine and thus, according to experts, forever compromised.

Now, as someone who has never eschewed the front-wheel drive system (having been reared on a diet of Minis and other front-wheel drive classics), the alleged shortcomings of the A6 never stood up to close scrutiny, as the car always changed direction with alacrity, had bags of grip and no body roll under pressure.

Even so, Audi has had to weather many criticisms of the A6 down the years and became corporately neurotic about any perceived slight.

One colleague, having criticised the C5 version (1997-2004) because of its frumpy rear-end look, received sharp responses from the Audi people.

But sometimes that’s the way it is with big corporations who are so busy looking over their collective shoulders they cannot focus on the job at hand — making the car the best it could be.

Their paranoia was misplaced as the A6 was always close to being best in class; and, in some Quattro versions, and especially so in the rabidly sporting RS6 model, it was way better than most rivals.

That was not good enough for some critics and so Audi has reacted with the latest C9 version of the A6, and the company has striven to eradicate the trenchant criticism.

The result is that the A6 is still — heroically — a front-wheel drive machine in its basic form.

But with a new steel-and-aluminium hybrid-chassis construction, a svelte and slippery new shape, a slightly longer wheelbase within a slightly shorter length, increased width and a suspensions system that is multi-link at the rear, and a lightweight (largely aluminium) five-link front system, the new A6 is well-placed to take on all rivals.

Audi is also proud of the variable damping system, which is controlled from the cockpit and offers the driver a variety of settings.

Personally, I think this is a little on the gimmicky side, because the car should be imbued with a decent set up anyway; it should not need assistance in this regard.

Leaving the car in the ‘normal’ setting provides the driver with a set-up that is pretty impressive in its own right, and provides the car with excellent ride characteristics and handling, with excellent poise and grip.

Certainly, there are limitations to what a large, luxury front-wheel drive machine can achieve, but the real praise here is for the Audi engineers, who have built a machine that comes as close as makes no difference to its rear-wheel drive rivals — despite the limitations of the configuration.

If the chassis dynamics have been improved, then the engine — the familiar 2.0 TDI four-cylinder unit — has also been upgraded and now outputs some 130 kW (177 bhp), and will race from a standstill to 100 kph in 8.9 seconds while also being capable of a top speed of 228 kph (which is over 140 mph in old money).

It will also return some 4.9 litres per 100 km in consumption — which is pretty close to 50 mpg — over the combined cycle, so in terms of the performance-economy balance, the new A6 is pretty well sorted.

And when you consider that this engine is a full litre short of anything else available in the range, then the figures make it all the more impressive.

Its refinement is worth noting, too, and while the engine is a little rattly in cold starts, it does not impose itself in any other way on the cabin occupants, so well sorted is it.

It will also be no surprise to any Audi aficionado that the interior is a delight of design and build.

Everything is ‘just so’ and reflects the fact that Audi years ago discovered that customers’ perceived quality judgement on a car came mainly from their opinion of the interior.

This has led to decades of Audi class and style and the new A6 only underlines how good the company has become in this area. Few others come near in this regard.

In terms of interior space, the A6 exudes luxury; the amount of space available — particularly to rear-seat passengers — illustrates that Audi has made a car which fills the gap between executive and limousine-standard machines.

The boot is absolutely massive and the level of standard kit is somewhat surprising, especially given how parsimonious German manufacturers can sometimes be.

All told then, the A6 is a considerably better machine than the one it replaces, even though that model was an awful lot better than some would have you believe.

This is a car which, in many ways, overachieves and is, perhaps, a lot better than it should be.

That sounds about right.