I’m in the latest offering from the people who gave us “Vorsprung durch technik” the Audi A6 Avant Quattro V6.
My test car features a very meaty 225bhp 3 litre TDi with ‘Tiptronic’ paddle shift automatic gearbox. It is seriously rapid for an estate car and can go from 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds and where speed limits allow all the way up to 240km/h (149mph).
Pulling power is superb with 450nms of torque available from just 1,400rpm. In simple terms you only need to look at the accelerator to embarrass any baseball hat wearing modified car owner.
The Avant is a five-seat family car with rapid performance. Audi don’t make cheap cars and the A6 Avant suffers badly from the ‘satanic tax’ that is VRT! Prices start in the late €40’s with my 3 litre TDi Titronic starting at a cool €69,160 but with a few extras that you would expect to be standard for the money (leather seats, heated front seats, parking sensors, auto air con etc.) it weighs in at €81,475 – ouch!
Is four wheel drive all it’s cracked up to be?
This year Audi celebrates 25 years of its all wheel drive system, cleverly called ‘Quattro’. Quattro continues to be one of the coolest and most familiar motoring buzz words among enthusiasts.
It’s right up there with AMG, Aero, Cosworth, Brabus, Supercharger etc. all of which scream performance. Audi ruled the world of rallying for a golden period with the original Audi Quattro and that machine alone secured the German manufacturer’s place in motoring history as the four-wheel drive production car pioneer. Nowadays there are lots of four-wheel drives on our roads, mostly SUVs.
There is no denying the ability of genuine four wheel drive off roaders, they are incredible and can climb and go places where you wouldn’t even think of climbing with ropes. On tarmac they seldom if ever need to be driven in four-wheel drive mode so they are clearly uneconomical in terms of fuel consumption for their owners.
Only Subaru and Audi offer all wheel drive on their standard road cars. So all wheel drive is a nice talking point and has a certain exclusivity to it still.
In the real world two-wheel drive cars fitted with traction control offer almost as much grip on tarmac. It is only when the going gets wet or slippy that the extra traction can make a difference especially when moving off.
When it comes to stopping a four-wheel drive will offer better engine braking through the four wheels but as the experts say “Gears are for Go - Brakes are for Slow”. Car brakes use all four wheels and with anti lock (abs) now standard on all new cars thanks to a pan European manufacturers agreement four-wheel drive provides no advantage when it comes to stopping.
In fact as drivers of large SUVs soon realize the bigger the vehicle the more likely it is to need a greater distance to come to a halt and that’s down to sheer bulk.
Back to the car. The impressive success to date of the saloon (see motors archive) has helped Audi sales grow by 45%. This upward trend should grow even further as Audi has just introduced an entry level 2 litre turbocharged petrol engine in both saloon and estate/avant form. Prices start at a far more affordable €46,410. Audi predicts the 2 litre unit to be the volume seller in the range.
The three litre V6 is a good car but it is savaged by taxes, so it only makes sense if you have a holiday home in the Alps!
Michael Sheridan
