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Audi attraction

Photos: Ashley Baxter

Smooth drive The car builds momentum with such pace that you must keep alert at all times

Spotting changes in the face-lifted version of Audi’s sixth-generation A6 isn’t an easy task. Like most Audi mid-life facelifts, noticeable differences are numerous but extremely subtle.

Look hard and you could spot the new front bumper, redesigned air ducts for improved engine bay cooling, new headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights, new tail-lamps and an edgier rear bumper.

As subtle as the changes to the outside are, the firecracker under the hood is anything but that. Sitting longitudinally between the front wheels is Audi’s 290bhp, 3.0-litre supercharged direct-injection TFSi engine that replaces the existing naturally aspirated 252bhp 3.2-litre V6.

Running a conservative 11psi of boost and a high (for a forced induction engine) compression ratio, it lingers near sportscar status with its power and 43kgm of torque; this in a car that’s supposed to be a premium saloon, mind you.

Superlatives fall spectacularly short in describing the ‘jaw-dropping’ speed of this car. It’s one of those cars in which any short stretch of open road becomes an opportunity to revel in the growling V6’s accelerative forces which are thrown up with all the subtlety of a Gazelle after hearing a gunshot. At the sight of a green light, the A6 gives your right foot the ability to propel you through gaps in traffic before you know it. See an amber light, the six-speed transmission will catapult you through almost as soon as you tug the Tiptronic gear lever to downshift. It’s a lively engine-and-gearbox combination, one that allows the A6 to tirelessly cover great distances in short amounts of time.

It’s effortless because most of this torque — around 30kgm — is available as soon as you get off idle, and this means it responds to every millimetre of throttle travel with the aggression of your average metal-band concert. Keep your foot down and this 2995cc, 90deg V6 catapults the A6 to 100kph in a staggering 6.6 seconds, 200kph in 25sec and gets to its top speed of 250kph in no time at all. Patient A6 owners with a light right foot on the throttle will see the car will accelerate gently all the way to 180kph — it’s that natural for this engine.

But, beyond terrorising other road users, the 3.0T can get a bit exasperating in traffic.

The ultra-quick reflex of the throttle (especially in ‘S’ mode) means your right foot is constantly tap dancing between the throttle and brake pedal to keep from charging into the car ahead. And, the six-speed auto’s jerkiness can become a pain in the neck.

The brakes are strong, but the pedal feels wooden and inconsistent at times. The car builds momentum with such pace that you must keep alert at all times so as to not misjudge stopping distances if you’re not careful enough.

This face-lifted model goes to show all the work

Audi’s chassis engineers have put into improving steering feel and body control, providing fluid and unruffled responses when pushed hard over challenging roads. For such a big car, it is impressively agile and enjoyable from behind the steering wheel.

Combine this with heady levels of grip and traction from the A6’s newly reworked quattro four-wheel-drive system, which adopts a 40:60 front-to-rear power split and you’ve got the makings of a supremely enjoyable drive.

You expect some compromise on the ride quality — safely containing all that power demands a stiffer set-up. However, the suspension does a very good job of ironing out bumps on the road.

What’s more impressive is that Audi has achieved this without resorting to adjustable dampers or air springs. Still, the occasional sharp vertical movements at low speeds over lumpy surfaces can get tiring. But as the needle climbs up the speedometer it evens out. The suspension is refined for the most part and except for the occasional thud through potholes you won’t find much to complain about.

The engine is pretty refined too, except for a very distant gruff mechanical noise from the supercharger penetrating the cabin at around 4000rpm under hard acceleration. It’s never E-class quiet, but on a constant throttle the engine remains well isolated thanks in part to the adoption of new engine mountings developed specially for the A6 3.0T.

There’s also a bit of wind and tyre noise entering the cabin at speed though — a trait that doesn’t blend well for a car of this class.

The interiors are well-designed and of high quality, the insides of the A6 reflect Audi’s forward-thinking nature. The facelift comes with improved interiors but the changes are equally subtle and nothing too significant — new instrument graphics, a redesigned armrest within the doors, some added chrome among the switches and minor tweaks to the MMI multi-media interface. There’s more than adequate amounts of space in the car, the seats are comfortable (especially at the rear), and the A6 comes well-equipped.

One detail that caught out attention was the glove box — in which most of the space is used up by the DVD player and CD changer.

If you opt for the Luxury package, a good Rs 3.6 lakh more than the Rs 55.2 lakh base price, you get the reverse camera, a 13-speaker Bose sound system, an MMI system remote for rear passengers, a 40GB on-board hard drive (to copy your CDs onto) and slots to fit DVD screens to the back of the front seats.

Efficiency you ask? While choosing the most powerful engine in the line-up, you probably won’t be too worried about fuel economy, but for the record, we expected it to be much worse. Under normal driving, the car returned 5.7kpl in the city and 8.8kpl on the highway. Only under hard driving will this 1725kg car require you to frequently visit the pump.

Technical data

ENGINE

Fuel Petrol

Installation Front, longitudinal

Type 6-cyls in vee, 2995cc, Direct injection, super charged

Bore/stroke 84.5/89mm

Power 290bhp at 4850-6800rpm

Torque 42.8kgm at 2500-4850rpm

Power to weight 168.11bhp per tonne

Torque to weight 24.81kgm per tonne

Specific output 96.8bhp per litre

transmission

aType All-wheel drive

Gearbox 6-speed auto

chassis & body

Construction Monocoque, four-door saloon

Weight 1725kg

Wheels 7.5 J x 17

Tyres 255/50 R17, Bridgestone

Potenza RE050A, tubeless

asuspension

Front independent, upper and lower wishbones, anti-roll bar rear independent, multi-link, anti-roll bar

Turning circle 11.9m

brakes

Front Ventilated discs

Rear Solid discs

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