The new Audi A6 Allroad - A car for all seasons

Renowned for their reliability, practicality and smooth ride, Angus Davies (a self-confessed Audi admirer) jumped at the chance to drive its latest A6 Allroad Quattro…

The weather is a fickle soul. I live in Lancashire where the sun often chooses to bashfully hide behind glum, grey-coloured skies. Flooding, snow and ice all cause problems on the roads and Britain’s challenging array of weather variables perfectly illustrates the raison d'être for owning a four-wheel drive car.    One must be able to cope with an array of treacherous road conditions, irrespective of the prevailing weather. Winter months can prove especially onerous, with drifting snow decorating hilly A-roads. The ubiquitous SUV (sports utility vehicle) has been de rigueur on rural roads for decades, but is now a common sight on suburban roads and for good reason.    The SUV grants the facility to go anywhere, within reason, in all weathers, carry a large brood of lively children and accommodate vast quantities of luggage. I still remain a huge fan of this genre of vehicle. However, there is a cost both in terms of capital outlay, on-going operating expense and, most pertinently in today’s green-conscious world, the environment.

A third way. The Audi A6 Allroad appears to offer a third way. It has the convenience of four-wheel drive, a roomy passenger cockpit and a generously sized luggage compartment. Could this be the ideal vehicle for a middle-aged Lancastrian? I spent a week selflessly sampling each item declared on its lengthy specification for the delectation of GGM readers and was impressed by its breadth of talents. Allow me to elaborate further.    I confess this is not the first time I have driven an Audi. I have owned many cars sporting the brand’s four-ring logo. In 1998, I fondly remember owning an Audi A6 2.4 SE Avant in blue and driving to Holland with my wife and our two-year-old daughter. The car was comfortable and in the three years I owned it from new, it covered 145,000 miles without any lapses in reliability. In many respects, I still consider this to be the best car I have ever owned, only visiting the garage for routine servicing.    The 2015 Audi A6 Allroad represents a quantum leap in motoring terms when contrasted with my faithful 2.4SE of yesteryear. This state-of-the-art German autobahn express brims with high-tech gadgetry, is twice as powerful as my former love and sips fewer litres of fuel. However, despite the obvious advances with this new car, there is a welcome sense of familiarity and the same impression of quality I enjoyed in 1998.

Fine features. The base cost of my press car at the time of writing was £51,145. However, there was nothing basic about the trim. The standard car is well appointed, but Audi had ticked the option list with wild abandon when specifying this particular car, indulging every whim with an array of features.    The head-up display (HUD), Bang and Olufsen Advanced Sound System and advanced parking package were just a few of the highlights which, together with the ‘on the road costs’, increased the price to a hefty £82,650.    I would struggle to be quite as profligate when choosing my own car’s specification, but the test car did provide an opportunity to accustom myself with the many creature comforts now available in the marketplace.

Comfortable ride. Comfort is a fitting term when discussing the A6 Allroad. My test car was equipped with upgraded comfort seats, including an optional massage function, together with the facility to chill or heat the front seats, as required. They proved incredibly commodious, perfectly accommodating my oversized physique, bestowing sublime levels of comfort whilst supporting the body when negotiating twisty country roads.    Looking over my left shoulder, I was able to discern that rear-seat passengers have not been overlooked and are also able to stretch out and luxuriate. The luggage compartment is generously proportioned with a capacity of 565 litres, with the seats in place, and 1680 litres when the rear seats are folded.

Floating on air. One feature that provided high degree of passenger comfort was the adaptive air suspension. Often a car that proffers a soothing ride does so at the expense of controlled handling and vice-versa. With the A6 Allroad the driver is able to select one of several modes to soften or stiffen the suspension settings and, in so doing, exhibit differing characteristics. The default mode is automatic, but choosing ‘dynamic’ stiffens the ride, providing taut handling when enthusiastically tackling twisty country roads. Conversely, the ‘comfort’ mode rewards the driver and passengers alike with limousine-levels of smoothness, proving ideal on long stretches of motorway.    Whilst the car was in my possession I did not venture off-piste through fields or muddy off-road tracks. However, I did take my teenage son to his friend’s home, located down a country lane, punctuated with treacherous potholes. By raising the suspension with a mere twist of the Multi Media Interface Controller (MMI), a rotary knob mounted upon the central console, so that the ground clearance was dramatically increased. The car was cleverly raised car above any potential obstacles that may have otherwise scraped its underside.     One aspect of the A6 Allroad’s specification surprised me. The vehicle was equipped with 20-inch x 8.5J 5-twin spoke design alloy wheels in matt titanium look, costing an additional £2,500. Whilst the wheels looked superb and filled the wheel arches magnificently, experience with other cars has always taught me to avoid fitting bigger wheels as the ride comfort invariably suffers. The revelation in this instance is that the ride remained incredibly smooth, vindicating the decision to go large.

The Ingolstadt express. Engine technology has come a long way since 1998 and my faithful blue A6 Avant. I decided to look up some of the figures relating to my 2.4 SE, with its petrol engine, equipped with automatic gearbox. The car produced 165bhp, had a top speed of 134mph, reached 60mph from rest in 10.6 seconds, consumed on average 26mpg and produced 257g/km of CO2.    The 3.0 BiTDI 320PS is currently the most powerful variant of the A6 Allroad on offer and pairs a six-cylinder diesel engine with two turbochargers to deliver, as the nomenclature implies, 320PS, circa 315.6bhp. This is virtually twice the power of my 1998 car.    The other headline figures are equally impressive. The car has a top speed which is governed to 155mph, it reaches 60mph from rest in 5.5 seconds, consumes 43.5mpg on the combined cycle and produces just 172g/km of CO2, courtesy of its EU6 compliant engine.    The headline figures are impressive, but it is how this car covers miles with consummate ease that is truly remarkable. The A6 Allroad Quattro 3.0 BiTDI 320PS devours the road ahead with a voracious appetite. Most notably, the torque produced by the engine is colossal with 650nm available between 1400-2800rpm. This pulling power is particularly noticeable when accelerating between 30 and 70mph, providing a safe means of overtaking.

Something old, something new. My temporary stewardship of the A6 Allroad Quattro 3.0 BiTDI 320PS unfortunately came to an end. I use the word unfortunately as parting with this German autobahn express was tinged with a note of melancholy.    This car reminded me why I have always had a penchant for Audi’s products. My A6 Avant of 1998 will remain a firm favourite of the Davies household. Its numerous qualities of comfort, spaciousness and reliability clearly have relevance today.    However, this new derivative of the A6 Avant delivers more, much more in fact. Its performance is incredible, the load-carrying capacity is colossal and the creature comforts sate every requirement. The low-centre of gravity confers superb on-road handling and yet the adaptive air suspension allows the driver to venture off A roads with added confidence. The rationale for selecting an SUV, based on this experience, now has to be questioned.    Perhaps the single most impressive aspect of the A6 Allroad is its all-round versatility; a trait most useful when one lives in Lancashire with its unpredictable weather.