It's not a hidden fact that BMW and Audi have been successfully challenging the supremacy of the Mercedes Benz E-class in India for quite a while now. While the BMW 5-series became known as an aggressive looking car, the Audi A6 has been the subtle and understated kind. The downside to that though was that many considered the older A6 to be too serious and boring. Audi seems to have acknowledged that fact, for now there is new A6 – and this time the letter 'A' stands for aggression!
The face now has a striking new design. It sports a big hexagonal grille at the centre and the bumpers are more aggressive with the clawed-in appliqués at either corner. The fog-lamps are included with the headlight assembly and while the base trim comes with conventional projector-beam headlights, you can also have an all-LED package. However, it not only sets you back by a big chunk of money, it will also give your A6 a zombified look. But that said, it is the design of the front-end that contributes heavily to the new found aggression of the A6.
The side profile still sports clean, straight-ish lines. Since the new A6 finally adopts Volkswagen's Modular Longitudinal Platform, the front wheels have moved forward marginally. This gives the car a 3-inch longer wheelbase – and makes the cabin appear longer. The A6 does not adopt a stylish, coupe-ish roofline design because that would simply make the A7 look pointless – and therefore this car still has the classic boxy design that you would expect from a corporate saloon.
The taillights of the new A6 have a shape that is similar to that of the headlights. It gets the seamless LED strips that look modern and the prominent crease that connects the two taillight units makes sure that the tailgate doesn't look drab. The car we have tested here wears the 2.0 TDI badge and apart from this monogram on the tail and the absence of the ‘quattro’ badge on the grille, there is no other way to differentiate the base A6 from the rest in the line-up.
The new A6 is not understated anymore and that could make the A6 purists shy away from this model – especially from the one with the LED headlights. However, the new A6 does look more innovative as compared to the E or the 5 and is therefore becoming a popular sight in corporate spaces.
Get inside the car, thumb the push-button starter and the cabin comes to life in a very animated way – the MMI screen will slide out from the dashboard and the instrumentation will illuminate with tons of tell-tale lights. The clocks have a very sporty design that is borrowed from the A7 and sport a large LCD in the centre to display the trip data and most of the stuff that is happening on the MMI. Press the brake and thumb the starter again and the diesel engine will start and quickly settle into a silent burble. In fact the sound insulation is so good for the engine bay, that even the sound of the German horn seems relatively muted. Even the blowers are quite silent at normal operating speeds and that adds to the comfort inside the cabin. In spite of being the base variant, the A6 2.0 gets four-zone climate control and that is a good feature to have.
The driver's side has a memory-seat which can save up to two settings. The front seats also get adjustments for reach, height, angle of the backrest and level and intensity for the lumbar support. The steering too is adjustable for rake and reach, but mechanically, not electronically. The leather and the padding felt stiff even after an age of 10,000 kms on our test car. The leather has a walnut brown shade which is darker than the regular beige that you get in most cars. It goes very well with the black dash. The presence of the aluminium bits in the dashboard also give the entire cabin a sportier feel as compared to the higher end variants which still use the old-school wooden trim.
The rear seats feel plush – thanks to the huge leg room at the back. However, the seating is slightly lower and therefore, the ingress and egress tends to become a little cumbersome for the aged passengers. The low seating also reduces under-thigh support to an extent but the generous knee-room and foot-space makes up for it. You get cup holders and audio controls on the centre arm-rest and the floor and B-pillar mounted air-con vents get climate control too. Our test car also came with the optional LCD screens for the back bench.
Adding a touch of class is the ambient lighting. You can’t choose the colour of the illumination like you can in the A8, but you can set the intensity of the amber light to suit your mood. Contributing to this effect is the Bose surround sound system which sounds absolutely amazing – no matter what genre of music you are playing. The overall level of comfort and premium feel of the A6’s interiors is top notch – in spite of the 2.0 being the base variant. Climb up the variant list and it will only get better.
As I mentioned earlier, the engine settles into a silent burble in a jiffy. In fact it feels so silent that for a moment you’ll forget that it is almost the same engine that you get in the A4, the VW Passat or Skoda Superb (and many others!). I say ‘almost’ because in spite of being the popular 2.0 TDI oiler, this engine puts out 177 PS of power and 380 Nm of torque as opposed to the 140 PS / 320 Nm tune of the mill that powers the aforementioned cars. While that power output may not sound too optimistic, the A6 manages to sprint from naught to 100 km/h in less than nine seconds – which is pretty quick. Add to it the torque which is available from as low as 1,750 RPM and A6 builds up speed instantly when you step on the pedal even when cruising at double digit speeds. Helping this cause is the class-leading eight-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission. It is also available with paddle shifters – just in case you prefer having a more personalised control over the engine.
It isn’t just the eight-speed transmission that creates news though – the A6 is also the only car in this range to have the air-suspension as a standard fitment across the entire line-up. It basically trades in the springs and uses compressed air to provide the damping. Since all the four dampers are controlled electronically, the ECU gains the ability to change the firmness of the setup on the go. The A6 will also take into account the laden weight inside the cabin and the driving style to run an optimum suspension setup. Its level of comfort or sportiness will depend on what settings you choose on the MMI.
Speaking of which, the difference between the comfort and sport modes is evident as soon as you make a selection on the MMI screen. Stay in comfort mode and the suspension soaks up the undulations and bumps on the road with ease and with an occasional thud. The steering also feels light and the engine will not go anywhere close to the red-line in any of the eight gears – no matter how hard you step on the throttle.
Point the dial to the sport mode though and the steering immediately gains weight and feels more precise. The engine will wander into the reds and the suspension will become stiffer. The ride height will be reduced too for better handling and lesser body roll. We preferred to keep the dial on automatic mode though and the computers did all the hard work of maintaining the optimum settings. Increasing the ride height manually was mandatory though to make sure we do not scrape the underbody on the tall speed humps.
Since this is the base model, you do not get the ‘quattro’ all-wheel drive system either. So what you have is a front wheel drive mechanism that makes the car more agile. The lack of grip isn’t evident on your regular driving-cycle, however, there is a slight hint of understeer when you push the limo really hard into the corner. The steering lacks feedback too, but this electronic power steering has evolved and isn’t as bad as the earlier car.
Overall, the A6 maintains a comfortable ride in the city, on the highway and around the twisties too – but it can also behave like a sporty machine if it has to. The tyres provide a good balance of grip and comfort and their low-resistance nature also contributes to fuel economy. Speaking of which, the A6 2.0 TDI returned an overall fuel economy of over 16 kmpl, which is phenomenal for the kind of performance and luxury it offers.
Conclusion
The older Audi A6 was undoubtedly a very good car. The new one pushes the envelope further. The A6 2.0 TDI that we have tested here starts at very tempting price – and in spite of being the base model it still packs in a potent engine and a decent set of features in the standard trim.
So if you have always wanted an aggressive Audi in the 40 to 60 lakh rupee range, well, your search should end with the new A6. However, if you are the kind who thinks that the understated charm of the A6 is lost in the transition, then you'll need to look for one of the older models in the used car market or look for new options elsewhere.
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