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First impression

Recently tweaked – Audi’s A6 epitomises the well-established executive. The A6, which is sandwiched between the smaller A4 and the limousine A8, is aimed at those who like to arrive, albeit in an understated fashion.

The A6 is a quintessential Audi. Its origins hark back to the 100, which later became the 500 and since 1994 adorned the A6 nameplate.

A lot bigger than the original though slightly smaller than its predecessor, it’s a grown-up sedan for a grown-up driver. It is mature, sophisticated and features just a splash of athletic aesthetics that hint its sporting prowess.

The A6 marks its territory on the road featuring a wide, low and broad stance. Now, as seen in the facelifted version is the intelligent LED lighting system, which adorns both the front and rear light cluster. Mesmerising in action, the LED light clusters are a symphony in motion while doing the mundane functions of indication, breaking and illuminating yet is technological orchestration.

On the road

My experience with the A6 was a road trip to Dullstroom from Johannesburg. It’s a two and a half hour drive of just over 250 km’s. The drive allows for long open road stretches, meandering passes and a combination of urban start - stop driving through the small Dullstroom town.

The drive allowed for reflection, the world is changing and so too is the way in which we are living in it. Amazingly through technological advancement in engine refinement, the A6 TFSI on review is driven by a meagre 1.8l turbocharged engine. Gone are the days of large capacity engines. Today, fuel efficiency and power optimisation are key. The result: smaller capacity motors with frugal consumption figures and low CO2 emissions.

Open road cruising in the A6 is as luxurious as travelling in business class. It is a luxury driving experience in the A6 that titillates your senses. The smell of genuine leather welcomes your entrance into the cabin (rare these days, as more manufactures are now using leatherette in place of the real thing). The saying, ‘silence is golden’ is a mantra within the A6, because you can hear a pin drop - even at speeds over 100km/h. Surface areas are soft to the touch with switch gear operating with Teutonic precision. Visually your eye pans the interior, noting the balance of geometric shapes and high quality materials and detail enhancements, like the S line detailing embossed in the seats back rest. As delicious as the driver’s experience is - I can’t say I tasted it.

The overall sensation oozes quality.

Most surprising is the performance of the engine, considering the A6 is a large and heavy car by anyone’s standards and a 1.8l engine is modest - I didn’t expect much. German engineering and weight saving measures means the A6 is capable of daring from 0 to 100km/h in 7.9 sec. Though the 1.8 does a great job of masking its dainty size on brisk highway takeovers you do realise its working for its pace. Handling is on point, as is the light but accurate steering.

What I liked

• The simplistic handsome looks of the A6
• Quality of all materials
• Silent drive
• Good performance for meagre 1.8 TFSI engine
• Light weight feel of the car. It is actually 150 kg's lighter than its lightest rival
• Glorious 7-speed S-tronic gearbox

What I’m not mad about

• Generic Audi DNA looks may appear bland to some
• Expensive optional extra’s

The figures

The extra stuff

The A6 comes standard with a 5-year/100 000 km (Freeway) maintenance plan and a 1-year unlimited warranty. As far as safety goes, it’s a priority for Audi, the A6 scored 5 stars in the EURO NCAP  

The verdict

It is a dog eat dog world out there – cut throat at its best. Mergers, acquisitions and hostile takeovers. At the end of a long day of playing tug of war with your other corporate pinstriped clad brothers and sister, you need to relax and unwind.

Getting into a large prestigious sedan has for many years been a great place to be after work. Now and as far back as up to as a decade ago so too has a large SUV. These two titans go head to head in battle for executive management attention – will it be the luxury sedan or the multi-functional SUV?

To add to the equation we have a variety of contenders for the position of head honcho. The Mercedes-Benz is the king of supple luxury, the BMW and Jaguar tussle it out for most agile sports sedan while the Audi A6 is good at both.

The problem is there’s a bunch of very cool SUVs on offer and they are all the rage at the moment. I’m not one who conforms and follows trends easily, so I’d probably buck the movement and invest in a mid-sized sedan over the SUV. But would I buy the A6? Hmm…

www.audi.co.za