Meet Audi’s best
Recently I entertained a bunch of nephews and nieces for the weekend – a long one – and it took a moment until it dawned that ‘awesome’ is their favourite word.
Awesome this and awesome that. The Olympics – awesome; Katie Taylor –awesome; McDonalds – awesome; bats in the dusk, awesome.
A hedgehog scurrying in the dark. Awesome. Hedgehog chewing a slug like a Wrigley. Awesome
Awesome, as it turns out, is contagious. Escaping the bolt hole to take in this week’s test drive, the sleek metallic black Audi A6 (S line) and I thought, awesome.
Inside, outside, on top, underneath, in the boot, under the bonnet: awesome.
Sound system: 30th anniversary edition of Rattus Norvegicus. Awesome. 0 to 100 in about seven seconds. Awesome. Rear space for a chest of drawers. Awesome.
Having being underwhelmed by a few under powered TT’s back in the day, a sheep in a wolf’s clothing syndrome, I approached the A6 cautiously because feedback suggested anything but a slouch, and there are few things worse than a slouch potato.
I fell in love after a minute, an experience that has eluded me since ogling my physics teacher’s daughter at my debs.
The explanation for the combustive rapport, the instantaneous meeting of two minds (the Audi, not the teacher’s daughter), I attach to a multitude of factors which can be dovetailed into one word – performance.
Or perhaps strength. Or response. Or torque. Or flawless. Our short time together was a marriage in heaven, divorced only by the A6’s impending return to Slaney View Motors, where it is on sale for E22,750.
What to expect: the A6 is as capacious inside as it looks ten feet way, a car that will swallow a family, a cat, a dog and half a canoe (530 litre boot) and, get this, it takes off like there’s no weight whatsoever in the car.
Maybe that’s another understated feature of Audi’s big boys that needs to be underscored: endurance. The A6 was aiming for the top of the executive class and it had in its sights, beside the obvious Jaguar XF and BMW candidates, the Mercedes E-Class.
Surviving in the rarefied atmosphere of the super league of business refinement requires a serrated edge to the driving experience. The small things matter.
For example: I have an acquaintance who swears by the A6 SE. I drove it, then the S line, then the SE and then the S line to discern, beside the immediate difference in power, what was the difference. Not much.
Mm in fact.
The SE is 20 mm higher than the S Line. Would you notice? Nope. But Audi did, and added beefier bumpers and added an inch to the standard alloys.
The S line is quicker off the mark than its petrol brethren, with the three litre diesel 309 bhp naturally outmuscling the two litre diesel 177 bhp, and both are far more economical than the petrol A6, with Audi boasting returns of 45-50 mpg – so get used to giving the filling station a miss.
That’s a lot of figures and may not mean much of anything to a lot of people, and that’s understandable. What it translates into is as follows: the Audi A6 S line is close to as good as it gets in this class.
And because there is considerable power at the disposal of your fingertips, the A6 ought not to be treated lightly, even if the electric power steering could be described accordingly. It is as not as communicative as you might initially expect from such a big car.
From the off you will notice that, thanks to its aluminum construction, the S – Line is astonishingly nimble, and the combination of acceleration and light steering comes initially as a surprise. This, however, passes.
The performance then just unveils itself, like a rose at dawn, and on a road like the N11 you will get the full A6 experience, maintaining momentum without seemingly having to work the revs. Wind noise is not a consideration.
The TDi engines have common rail and piezo injectors which achieve a quiet combustion: the turbocharger in both the 2.0 and 3.0 diesel engines have variable turbine vane geometry to produce higher torque and better power for the cubic capacity of the engine.
It is while working the revs without difficulty that you notice how the car is communicating through your feet: this is the essence of the full S line experience, which also explains why the dashboard is clutter free so as not to compromise your focus. Even the CD player is tucked into the glove compartment.
The S Line versions come with 18 inch alloy wheels (and lower suspension) and offers a taut and firm ride, but supple is how I would describe the suspension when it matters, so when you factor in the lightness of the car, the suspension, the outstanding Audi build quality, the 2.0 diesel engine, you will hear nothing but a delicious hum at 2,000 rpm.
(A6 2.0 Tdi S-Line, E22,750 at Slaney View Motors, Tel 053 91 23174)
