Audi A6 Avant Review

If you like standing out in a crowd, the Audi A6 Avant could be for you. Audi has eschewed its previously understated style for a much more avant-garde look, and the A6 Avant is a fine example of that. It has bulging wheelarches, bold strakes and a really distinctive profile that easily stands out alongside its rivals.

It’s not the most commodious load-lugger, so don’t expect class-leading space in the boot. And the interior is a real tech-fest, which can be a bit much for some. But as an example of a modern, contemporary Audi, with the added bonus of low running costs for the best-selling 40 TDI version, it’s a more exciting option than anything Audi has offered in this sector for some time.   

If you want a more rugged version there's the Audi A6 Allroad.

Our pick is the 40 TDI. In prime spec, this version emits less than 120g/km of CO2 and can average well over 60mpg. It’s the fleet favourite and it’s easy to see why. You don’t get the purr of a six-cylinder engine, and it is ever so slightly uncouth when driven hard – but most of the time, it’s perfectly fine.

Audi doesn’t bother with an entry-level SE grade these days. People want cars to look sporty, and it has responded with a choice of two model variants – Sport and S Line. Sport looks fine, and has a bit of attitude lacking in the older, more prosaic SE line. But once you’ve seen S Line, you’ll do anything to get one – that’s how appealing it is.

The two direct rivals to the Audi A6 Avant are the BMW 5 Series Touring and Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate. The BMW is the driver-focused one, while the Mercedes-Benz is the real load-lugger, with the biggest boot and most practical layout. All three are extremely appealing.

Volvo’s latest V90 is a very able and desirable car, though, with svelte good looks of its own. It’s a prettier car than the slightly awkward-looking Jaguar XF Sportbrake, which also doesn’t have the most appealing interior – despite being a great car to drive.

It’s an Audi, so of course it’s well finished. Plastics are all very high quality and the A6 Avant has all the familiar solidity the brand is well known for. The few buttons there seem nice to the touch and the metal frames and varied array of trim finishers feel built to last.

There are no muddy, poor-resolution displays here, just HD-style panels that look upmarket and modern. You won’t be thinking ‘three-generation-old mobile phone’, but ‘iPhone 11’. The screens also respond smartly to the touch, which isn’t always a given in automotive applications.

In other areas though, it’s surprisingly un-Audi. The strip of air vents at the top of the dash looks ugly and doesn’t have the quality appearance the brand was once known for. Some of the plastics on the lower part of the dashboard also feel a bit built-to-a-price. There was a time where everything inside an Audi was over-engineered. It seems the firm’s being a bit more selective these days.  

It dominates the interior, so let’s dive into what Audi’s bold new infotainment system includes. For starters, all cars get the dual-screen display in the centre console. Audi calls it MMI Touch, and regular models get an 8.8-inch top screen for infotainment and navigation (and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, if you prefer), plus an 8.6-inch lower screen for climate control, convenience functions and any text entry requirements.

As an option, MMI Navigation Plus (it’s included as part of the Technology Pack) sees the top screen grow to a full panoramic-style 10.1-inch display, and if you like the sound of that, you may also complete the digital onslaught with a 12.3-inch HD LCD screen instead of the traditional analogue dials. 

However, even cars without the full-width digital instruments get a 7.0-inch information display positioned in between the dials.

MMI navigation plus includes Audi Connect, which builds in a wi-fi hotspot and fast 4G connection. It offers a broad range of online services including, for Android smartphone users, a virtual Audi key that allows owners to lock and unlock the car by waving their phone. Even the navigation system is personalised, using driver preferences stored in the cloud to create intelligent suggestions and optimise the route just how they like it.

This is a huge car, almost five metres long, so it won’t be any surprise to learn the A6 Avant is extremely spacious inside. Roominess has for some time now been an Audi trademark in this sector, particularly when compared to the more cramped BMW 5 Series, and the German firm hasn’t let that crown slip with the latest model.

If drivers want to explore the full range of seat adjustment, they’d better hold on. It’s possible to slide it so far back, you won’t actually be able to touch the pedals or steering wheel anymore (electric seats are standard only on S Line, not Sport). Smaller drivers can feel a bit overwhelmed, to be honest, but we can’t imagine even a 99th percentile adult will feel cramped inside an A6 Avant.

It feels more like an Audi A8 luxury car than a regular executive car, to be honest – such is the impression of space you get behind the wheel. If this means you’ll be breathing in a bit when threading it down winding roads, so be it.

Rear-seat space is vast too. To the uninitiated, it may well be confused for an A8, as the amount of legroom on offer seems limo-like. The A6 Avant also has better headroom than the A6 saloon too: the four-door is hardly short on space here, which makes its estate sibling seem genuinely cavernous. Audi calls it class-leading and we don’t doubt it.

With the seats up, the 565-litre boot capacity is bettered by the nearly 650 litres you get with a Mercedes-Benz E-Class (although it’s still equal to 14 carry-on cases, reckons Audi). Blame the stylish rake to the rear screen. Fold the seats – via standard 40/20/40 folding backrests – and it grows to 1680 litres, again a few hundred litres shy of the best. It’s practical, though, with a loading-friendly shape and total bay width of over one metre. Both tailgate and tonneau cover operate electrically as standard.

There are standard rails in the side of the boot floor for lashing down objects, and Audi includes a tensioning strap, net and two hooks as standard. An optional load securing kit with telescopic bar is also available.

The enormous rear cabin is perfect for slotting children into Isofix secured seats – the extra headroom over the saloon makes it just that bit easier, which might be useful for some. 

The number of engines available in the latest Audi A6 Avant is surprisingly limited. This is most un-Audi: in years gone by, it was happy to offer endless variations of the same engine, and almost a dozen different types of power plant overall. Those days are gone. So too is any sort of obvious engine identifier in the model branding.

So the range opens with the 40 TDI, which is a 2.0-litre turbodiesel producing 204PS. Like all A6 Avants, it’s fitted with an automatic gearbox, in this case the seven-speed S tronic. It drives the front wheels - Audi also offers an all-wheel drive 40 TDI Quattro. The other diesel option is the 50 TDI Quattro, which is a 3.0-litre V6 producing 286PS. This is the only A6 Avant to have an eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox.

If you prefer petrol, the 45 TFSI Quattro has a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder putting out 245PS, while the 55 TFSI Quattro is a 3.0-litre V6 with 340hp. Coming soon is a plug-in hybrid, although all regular A6 Avant models have a mild hybrid system that allows extended stop-start running and also provides a bit of electric support to the engine during acceleration.

The plug-in hybrid is called 50 TFSI e and has a more powerful electric motor coupled with the 2.0-litre petrol engine, for total system power of 299PS. It will do around 34 miles as a pure EV and offers preferential company car tax rates for fleet drivers.

With superb engineering, distant and quiet engines, plus extremely slippery aerodynamics that help keep wind noise to a whisper, the Audi A6 Avant is a very refined car indeed. It fully delivers the premium car experience and, again, does more than a passing impression of the luxurious A8 limo.

Such exceptionally low interior noise levels can be disturbed if you, say, try to drive the 40 TDI like a sports car. The 45 TFSI will also betray its revvy Volkswagen Golf GTI roots if you drive it like the hot hatch it came from. But such moments are exceptions, and in the car’s natural element – the motorway – it’s superb.

Make the most of such excellent refinement with the optional Comfort and Sound pack, which includes a storming Bang & Olufsen 16-speaker premium sound system with no fewer than 16 speakers. It even has a 3D sound function for the front seats, which is not unlike being in a concert hall (an impression further reinforced by the fact it’s so big inside).

All the standard safety features come as standard on the A6 Avant, including automotive emergency braking (which Audi calls Pre-Sense). It’s high-tech active safety features where car companies make the difference these days. For example, there is a choice of three different types of high-intensity headlights, including Audi’s famous HD Matrix LED headlights. These throw out as much ultra-intense light as possible, where you need it, without blinding oncoming drivers.

Two advanced assistance packs are offered. City Assist has a lane-change function and the rather spooky-sounding Pre-Sense Rear, which warns the driver to brace themselves when it detects something coming up quickly from behind. Cross-Traffic Assist Front will also stop the driver pulling out into crossing traffic, which is a boon at busy junctions.

The Tour pack has an advanced active cruise control system that will not only keep the vehicle a set distance behind the car in front, but also centre it within a lane. It’s about as autonomous as is legally allowed right now.

The latest A6 has been awarded a full five-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests. Adult occupant protection is rated 93 percent, with 85 percent for child occupant protection and 81 percent for vulnerable road users (such as pedestrians). Safety assist features scored 76 percent (the rating would have been higher if more features were available as standard, rather than optional). 

Insurance groupings range from reasonable to rather high. Basic 40 TDI Sport A6 Avants start from group 33, which is a good way to keep insurance costs fairly reasonable. Adding on the technology and spec does edge them upwards, though, meaning a Quattro-equipped Vorsprung will be rather more expensive to insure each year than a regular 40 TDI Sport.

With more power, so the insurance costs go up. The 45 TFSI begins at group 35, and a 50 TDI quickly rises upwards from group 40. It all stands to reason: the flashier your A6 Avant, the more you’ll spend each year to insure it.

VED (road tax) bands can again surprise. Emissions of 124g/km CO2 for the 40 TDI, for example, mean a first-year rate of £215, which isn’t too bad at all. Then it’s the standard rate of £150 a year.

The trouble is, all A6 Avants currently cost more than £40,000, and this means owners are obliged to pay an extra £325 per year for years two to six. On top of that, models with higher CO2 emissions pay more for the first year of tax too: £870 for the 50 TDI Quattro. Not for nothing do so many people prefer the standard engines unless they really need the extra power.

At launch, the A6 Avant was offered in Sport and S Line grades. Either is extremely well specified, with all getting at least 18-inch alloys, LED front and rear lights, a power tailgate, MMI navigation with dual screens in the centre console, lane-departure warning, front and rear parking sensors, rear-view camera and cruise control with speed limiter.

S Line adds 19-inch alloys and sports suspension, more vivid Audi Matrix LED headlights, a full S Line styling makeover outside and in, electric front seats and a perforated leather steering wheel. Even the door mirrors fold automatically.

The Black edition builds on S Line with more moodily-themed trims, while Vorsprung (Audi’s new range-topping grade) adds a plethora of extras as standard for a considerable price increase over regular models.