S-Line adds further polish to A6

Make:

Friday, April 23, 2010

Although — as ever was with Audi — all versions of the car were invariably terribly well built and excellent to drive, some, I have to say, were imbued with dubious styling traits.

I refer specifically to the A6 model version C5 which was with us from 1997 through to 2004. It was designed with a rounded and frumpy rear end which, for me spoiled what was otherwise a painless driving experience.

Audi, in fairness, addressed this when the current model, the C6, was unveiled. Under the guidance of Walter Da Silva, one of the most iconic designers in the business, they transformed the rear end look into a much more sculpted and eye-catching affair and, when they face-lifted the car in 2008, further refined the design.

Now, it may be that the next A6 is not too far away, but the company is currently very actively engaged in marketing the S-Line version of the A6 and it is this car, fitted with the 138 kW (170 bhp) turbodiesel engine, that we tested recently.

In its ‘brilliant black’ overcoat, this is truly a good-looking car and I couldn’t count the number of people who felt they had to tell me as much. It really is stand-out.

And, of course, with both of its main competitors — the Mercedes E-Class and the BMW 5-Series — now on sale in their latest guise, it would want to be.

Of course, the whole S-Line range adds considerable lustre to the basic A6 package, but Audi are trading heavily in the sale pitch for the car that it now costs substantially less than it did just 12 short months ago and they are advertising heavily in their marketing campaign to support the sales effort.

The S-Line spec also adds considerably to the overall lustre of the car and if, in standard form, it is well appointed, then the add-ons create a much greater feeling of luxury in what is already an impressive machine.

The basic characteristics of the A6 show us it is a big, comfortable and prestige automobile.

On top of that it is a fine driving proposal and it is built to a very high standard indeed. It is also fitted with an excellent range of both petrol and diesel engines.
In this case, the A6 did not enjoy the quattro four wheel drive system, but I have to say that this did not impinge unduly on the driving experience.

The S-Line suspension package allows the car to better cope with a wider variety of road conditions than the standard version and although the quattro system would further add to its abilities, its absence was not a problem — for me anyway.

I enjoyed driving this machine, even on some of our winter-ravaged roads, and was impressed with how it handled.

The steering is pin sharp without unnecessary understeer which can be a characteristic in front wheel drive machines and particularly those with turbocharged engines.

The car doesn’t roll much either and grip levels are impressive. I can only speculate that the further addition of the quattro system would make this a very formidable beast indeed given how good it already is.

The engine too was a dinger. With a stonking 320 Nm of torque available between just 1,750 and 2,500 rpm, there is plenty to like here.

The top speed is 204km/h and the 0-100km/h dash is achieved in just less than 10 seconds — 9.9 to be exact. Throw in a fuel consumption level of just 5.4l/100km over the combined cycle (just shy of 50 mpg).

Here again, comparisons with the Mercedes and BMW competitors — namely the 220 CDi and the 520d — come to the fore and I would maintain that this unit is every bit as good as its rivals and better in some departments.

Where the car comes in ahead of practically everything else in the executive segment is that Audi appears to have found a lot more passenger space than its rivals. Rear legroom is of the limousine variety and even despite a sharply sloped roofline the headroom is excellent as well.

The boot is positively huge — 546 litres — and I’d have to say that from a driver comfort point of view this was one of the best cars I have come across in recent times.

The level of adjustment to the seats and the steering column is excellent and the overall layout of the cabin is astonishingly driver and passenger friendly.

It is also worth noting that the multimedia interface – MMI to you and me – is very easy to live with and it not something you have to grapple with to get it to do the things you want in terms of commanding the various functions it controls.

Standard kit levels are already impressive enough and the build quality, as we have come to expect from Audi are almost breathtaking. If there was one word you had to choose to describe all of this it would be ‘polished’.

The A6 is a fine car but the S-Line adds further quality and lustre to the proceedings and if many people feel it is the poor relation of either of its main rivals, then I would urge them to look again.