Audi’s new A6 is the perfect car for somebody who irons their underpants, arranges their sock drawer by colours and manicures their back yard to Gary Player standards.
It doesn’t really challenge any design boundaries with wacked-out body lines and it doesn’t try to classify itself in a newfangled vehicle segment that’s never existed before - as many recent Audis (and BMW’s) have done.
What we have here is a straight-laced, four-door sedan positioned in the middle of the gap between Audi’s smaller A4 and flagship A8 ranges. It’s designed and built with faultless precision inside and out and, having driven it recently at its international launch, I’ll say it’s possibly the most immaculate Audi ever. Frankly, its perfection on wheels.
Recent Audis have been accused of being a little cold in character, and almost anal retentive in nature, but I get the feeling that Audi is taking that as a compliment and running with the idea. Cars such as this serve one purpose only - to transport up to five mid-execs from boardroom to lunch and back in ultimate German class with zero compromise on quality.
But don’t make the same mistake I did and let staid first impressions fool you. Audi has packed this car with enough electronics to open a mobile Hi Fi Corporation, and pretty much every gizmo featured on the upmarket A8 can be found here too.
Applause is in order for the finest automotive satnav yet, using US Navy-sourced images of actual roads, trees and whatever else was snapped by satellite cameras. It comes courtesy of Google Maps, but unfortunately it’s not in the order books for South African consumption. At least not for the foreseeable future. We’ll get the usual high-quality, computer generated 3D graphics instead.
However, an ingenious new development, that enables the car to adjust gearbox shift patterns and head/corner lighting settings according to what the satnav says is on the road ahead, is possible with the “normal” satnav and will be available here. So, if you’re driving on the N2’s flat, straight bits approaching Sir Lowry’s twisty pass the A6 can automatically prepare the gearbox for more aggressive settings and ready the cornering lights for action. Another round of applause is in order. Well done Audi, this is good stuff.
We’ll also get cool kit such as a 1300-watt Bang & Olufsen sound system with mechanised dashboard tweeters that extend upward when operational, lane-keeping assistance programme, radar-based cruise control, auto start/stop, a handwriting touchpad, night vision, parallel/perpendicular parking assist and a camera that recognises road signs and communicates info via the instrument cluster - but keep in mind this is all optional equipment and will cost a pretty penny.
Three derivatives will make their way to South Africa in June: a front-wheel drive, 150kW, three-litre TDI with an eight-speed multitronic (CVT) transmission, a higher output, 180kW, three-litre TDI with quattro all-wheel-drive and dual clutch S Tronic gearbox, and a 220kW, supercharged petrol three-litre V6, also with all-qwheel-drive and S Tronic. A two-litre TDI and two-litre turbo petrol will arrive in November 2011.
The the new A6 shares its chassis with the sleek and sexy A7 Sportback that’s already been launched overseas and will debut in SA in March, which means that optional air suspension systems and sport differentials are all possible if you tick the right boxes at dealers.
The new generation of Audis is also one of the few that weigh less than their predecessors; thanks to a lot of new aluminium body bits it’s as much as 20 percent lighter depending on model.
Audi’s test route over the Italian island of Sicily’s fast-paced highways and twisty mountain sections demonstrated the new A6’s ultra-slick demeanour and I think this might be one of the best-built cars yet, in terms of attention to detail and quality... full stop.
The cabin’s as quiet as a monastary at meditation time even at speeds north of legal, and the ride is as smooth as Justin Bieber at a matric dance even with Audi’s notorious big wheels and lo-pro tyres - which look awesome, by the way.
Pricing will be announced closer to the South African launch. -Star Motoring