 After
2 generations of hardworking, Audi has finally established a strong
reputation
as the leader in style and quality, beating its two arch-rivals
Mercedes
and BMW in these two fields. Until now, Audi A6 is the weakest link.
During
its whole lifecycle it failed to match the great BMW 5-serie and
Mercedes
E-class. This reflected in sales chart as well as the comments by car
magazines.
Most criticisms surrounded the dynamics of the car - it felt nose
heavy,
failed to control its body movement tidily and never inspired its
driver.
In the making of the new generation A6, Audi determined to attack on
these
weaknesses.
But first of all, it has to retain its leadership in style and quality. A few years ago, Alfa Romeo design boss Walter de Silva was headhunted to Seat and then promoted to head the Audi group (which consists of Audi, Seat and Lamborghini). The A6 is the first Audi having his full influence - look at that shield-style grille ! it is controversial in the automotive styling world and led to divided opinions. Some thought it's a good idea to establish a strong brand character, some thought it simply eye sore. Its inspiration was said as came from the pre-war Auto Union GP race car. Having experimented in last year's Nuvolari concept car and the recent A8 W12, it finally integrates into a clean-sheet production design. Comparatively, the rest of the body is far more conservative. Like the last generation car, the body is smooth and the lines are simple, what a contrast to the dramatic nose. There is no much emotion in the design, just like other Audis, but again the details are great and the build quality that realizes the details is impeccable. Perfect paint finish, ultra-tight panel fittings and narrow assembly gaps work together to deliver the best visual quality in executive car segment.
Audi did a lot of things to relieve the burden at the nose. First of all, it designed the V6 and V8 engines to be as light and as short as possible. For example, the 3.2-litre V6 is weighs just 169.5kg, even lighter than BMW's 3.0-litre inline-6 (171kg); the V8 in A6 is 5cm shorter than that of the A8, and it weighs just 195kg. Secondly, the aforementioned aluminum bonnet and various suspension components reduce weight at the front further. Lastly but not least, the front axle has been moved forward by 8cm, improving weight distribution.
If the handling is close to its rivals, the ride is certainly not. The more you drive in town, the more you are likely to hate the A6, because the firm suspension setup leads to restless ride on irregularities. Audi is going to sort that out in 2005 by introducing an optional adaptive air suspensions similar to that being used by A8, but then again Mercedes is offering AIRmatic NOW. The point is, no matter with or without these expensive damping systems, E-class rides leagues smoother than A6. The same goes for 5-series, just in lesser extent.
Equally fast selling is the new 3.0 TDI V6 turbo diesel. The 24-valver pumps out 225hp and 332 lbft, thanks to Bosch’s 3rd generation common-rail injection which employs smaller and faster-injecting piezoelectric injectors. Nevertheless, it will have a hard time facing BMW’s super-powerful 535d. These engines
enable the
A6 to fly on Autobahn at amazing speed. On the smooth multi-lane
highway
it feels completely at home. Fast, smooth, refined and secured. Many
buyers
in Europe continent won’t notice the differences in dynamics between A6
and its German rivals. What distinguish them are style, quality and
space,
all favoring the Ingolstadt machine. However, evaluate it in a more
perspective
way, it still lags behind BMW 5-series and Mercedes E-class, although
the
gap is damn close. |
| The above report was last updated on 6 Aug 2004. All Rights Reserved. |
This
body grows a lot from the previous A6 - 12cm longer, 5cm wider, 1cm
taller
and 8cm longer in wheelbase. Although its wheelbase is still shorter
than
Mercedes E-class and BMW 5-series, less space is spent to the engine
compartment
because the front-drive / 4-wheel-drive A6 mounts its engine in front
of
the front axle. As a result, the cabin shares more wheelbase than its
rivals.
Open the doors and you will see the benefit: the cabin is remarkably
roomy,
easily leading its main rivals (if not some American big cars). Front
and
rear passengers have abundance of head, leg and shoulder room. At the
back,
the A6 also provides a class-leading 546 litres of luggage space. Back
to the cabin, this place looks cool and high-tech. The dashboard and
console
now orients towards the driver like BMWs used to be. The switch gears
are
arranged ergonomically. The whole architecture is impeccably built in
the
tradition of Audi, using first rate plastics and mixes tastefully with
aluminum and wood decorations. If there is anything wrong, it must be
the
ice-cool ambience, but then again Audi is not Alfa Romeo.
The
new A6 is 34% stiffer in torsion than its predecessor. For cost
reasons,
it continues to use steel monocoque structure rather than switching to
aluminum space-frame like A8 and A2. However, by employing aluminum
bonnet,
boot lid and firewall, weight increase is kept to a mere 50kg. As
before,
the standard A6 is front-wheel-drive while 4-wheel-drive is offered for
Quattro, the latter is compulsory on V8 version. The need for Quattro
dictates
the chassis layout - all engines are mounted longitudinally ahead of
the
front axle to leave space for the front and center differential. This
means
the new A6 retains the inherent nose-heaviness of its predecessor. This
will not allow it to challenge BMW 5-series (and Mercedes E-class in
lesser
extent) in terms of handling. 
Suspension
tuning also plays an important role. The A6 continues to employ 4-link
front suspensions and trapezoidal-link rear suspensions like the
previous
Quattro models, but the spring and damper setup is firmer in order to
reduce
lift and dive. On the road, the A6 is really transformed. It no longer
feels nose-heavy, at least in the V6 model. Now it changes direction
eagerly
and corners tidily. Stability and agility approaches the level of
Mercedes
E-class and BMW 5-series, but still not there yet. You can feel the
difference
between an inherently balanced chassis and an artificially converted
chassis.
Especially in the steering department. To eliminate torque steer, to
filter
the road harshness resulted from the very firm front suspensions, Audi
has to tune the Servotronic electro-hydraulic steering such that there
is no much feel. Therefore, while the steering is quick and accurate,
it
does not interact with the driver. Ditto the overall handling. While it
handles sporty enough, it is not as much fun to drive as BMW and
Mercedes. 
In
contrast, the powertrain is by all means impressive. The A6 not only
has
three superb gearboxes - the 6-speed manual, the ZF 6-speed automatic
and
the famous Multitronic CVT (now added with 7-speed manual override with
paddles control), but also three very good engines. Top of the range is
A8’s 4.2-litre V8, good for 335 horsepower. Then there is a new
generation
3.2-litre FSI V6, which is derived from the 90-degree V8 (not unlike
the
old V6) but switched back to 4 valves per cylinder and added with FSI
direct
fuel injection. With help of 12.5:1 compression, infinitely variable
intake
and exhaust valve timing and 2-stage variable length manifolds, it can
rev to as high as 7200rpm and produces a remarkable 255 hp at 6500rpm.
This engine is strong, willing, smooth and frugal. It is extremely
tractable
too, with a peak torque of 243 lbft at 3250rpm and 90% of which from
2400
to 5500rpm. Still want a BMW inline-6 ? 
Recently
we concluded that Audi S8 is too large and too luxurious to be a real
M5 fighter. How about putting the same Lamborghini-derived V10 into the
smaller S6 ? it is sized and priced to match the mighty BMW benchmark.
It has a similar V10 engine and even a slight, 200 cc, advantage. It
has Quattro 4-wheel-drive system to put every horsepower effectively
onto the ground. Can it excite hardcore drivers as well as the M5 ?
While
this figure is no match with BMW’s 507 hp @ 7750 rpm, the S6 is also
hampered by the lack of diet – it carries as much as 1910 kg, 155 kg
more than M5, or just 30 kg less than the S8 – and the compulsory
6-speed Tiptronic automatic gearbox. It takes 5 seconds flat to do 0-60
mph acceleration, versus the BMW’s 4.6 seconds. Basically, you can
leave the M5 in P400 mode (which limits the engine to 400 hp) when
confronting the S6.
In the
chassis side, the Quattro system has been updated to 40:60 torque split
like RS4 to reduce understeer. Massive 265/35 rubbers produce
tremendous traction and grip. Huge brakes (385mm front and 335mm rear)
provide strong stopping power. Thanks to a firm suspension setting,
there is little pitch and roll, but the negative side is a harsh ride
over uneven surfaces. Following the tradition of Audi, the car offers
excellent high-speed damping but suffers on low-speed irregularities.
This is quite understandable because it needs very stiff springs and
dampers to stabilize the nose-mounted V10. In most circumstances, the
S6 hides its nose-heaviness very well. Of course, it will never display
the same agility and keenest as BMW M5. 
