KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — Here is something to drool for — a 3.0 litre Supercharged V6, with 333 horsepower, 440Nm of torque, a 7-speed Direct Clutch Transmission, Zero to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds, a top speed of 250 km/h (electronically limited) and AWD (All-wheel Drive). These would be typical specifications of a highly tuned and seemingly exotic car, except that this set belongs to an outwardly sedate-looking family car, the all-familiar Audi A6, which is also available currently from Audi with a 1.8 litre engine. The 1.8 litre A6 was what was originally allocated to me, but I ended up with the 3.0 litre model instead, which was perfectly okay with me.
The A6 3.0 quattro, (quattro being the Audi term for all-wheel-drive) is a no brainer if you need a classy executive four-door sedan that you can show up in at any official function, more so if you are a true-blue driver who likes to let it all hang loose every once in a while. While looking steadfast and elegant on the outside, it sports a classy interior with high quality leathers all round, and the legendary Audi interior ambiance to please even the fussiest of the fussy car owners.
Quattro drive, delivered to all four wheels through a seven-speed direct clutch transmission and all-wheel independent suspension with 19-inch alloys and 255/40 series tyres provides almost limitless grip insofar as the average driver is concerned. In actuality, the average driver is likely to use the brakes to slow down the car way before the car even reaches its cornering limit, yours truly included. My drive partner and I drove it up and down one of our favourite hill-climb roads, a rather perilous route as some of my colleagues might say, because of the high attrition rate for media test cars.
Anyway, the A6 quattro corners quite ‘flat’, thanks to some great suspension work, the wide 19-inch rubbers, helped of course by the quattro drive train and rather large diameter stabiliser bars. (The stabiliser bars or sway bars as they are sometimes called, do nothing when the car is on a level plane, but act to minimise ‘roll’ when the car is subject to cornering forces). I did not push the A6 all the way, considering that there was other traffic, but we did go at a pretty good clip – suffice to say that save for one or two corners where there was just a little protest from the tyres, the rest of the hilly part was just plain sailing, at speed. In fact, if one just maintains a steady speed, one can just ‘flow’ the A6 very smoothly through the bends without any problems at all.
Besides, before you can ‘lose’ it, the Electronic Stabilisation Control (ESC) which has Traction Control (TC), Electronic Differential Lock (EDL) (EDL is a great help in helping your tyres maintain grip around corners, and also when you are accelerating, preventing wheel slip on slippery surfaces, on the straights and also into and out of bends), plus the regular given stuff like ABS, EBD, and BA.
Despite the 19-inch tyres and the low profile tyres, the ride is surprisingly good — Audi Drive Select allows five driving modes, Auto / Comfort / Dynamic / Efficiency and Individual mode. Thanks to the Electro-mechanical Power Steering (EPS), the Drive Select is able to influence engine performance, transmission shift points, and fuel consumption. Suspension is not adjustable, but the Audi engineers have done a great job. If you look underneath the car, you will find many aluminium parts used to minimise ‘un-sprung weight’ which contributes greatly to vehicle driving dynamics.
Brakes are of course one of the best in the business. The goo thing about these high powered cars, especially German-made ones like the Audi, is that the brakes are usually the last things to worry about. The A6 will stop anytime and every time – just take a look at those huge ventilated discs and the monster callipers.
The best fuel consumption is when you engage ‘Efficiency’ mode, which limits the acceleration rate, and lowers the transmission shift points — under NEDC (new European Driving Cycle) tests, the A6 quattro is rated at 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres — but if you drive it under Auto mode or Dynamic, and in Malaysia, a consumption of around 10 to 12 litres per 100 kilometres is very likely. As for us, we were pushing it quite a bit, especially on the hilly part, and using the paddle shifters, not to mention that we stopped quite a few times with the engine and air-conditioner running so it was high. With this car, you have a choice – go have fun, or drive sedately to save fuel – we chose the high road.
We will not go into the intricate details of the comfort features and the little nice touches Audi has put into make this a really premium car — that you can do when you visit the showroom to buy the car, but in a nutshell, you might say that all the bells and whistles you might want are present.
Overall, if you are the type that loves to drive, and you are looking for an executive car, the A6 is something you might want to check out before putting your money down on any one of the top brands. Better still, you should take a drive in it — the quattro will speak for itself. Once you have done that, then check your bank account to see if you have RM491,555.00, which is the price on-the-road in P Malaysia without insurance. If you do, go for it!
