The Crittenden Automotive Library

Big Brother - The Audi A6 Bi-Turbo Allroad

Topics: Audi A6

Big Brother - The Audi A6 Bi-Turbo Allroad

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
January 3, 2014

The trouble with shiny black cars is that they reflect the unwary photographer in the paintwork. Obviously had I used my proper photography skills these unwanted appearances could have been avoided but when there’s so many cars and so little time, something’s got to give. So just ignore me in the images and instead concentrate your attention on the featured Audi A6 Allroad Bi-Turbo Diesel.

Now, the regular A6 Bi-T is quite a car so it would not be unreasonable to wonder why anyone would pay more for an Allroad version. The answer is that it comes down to all-round ability. The similarly specified A6 is superb for wafting off to Glyndebourne in your tux but when the going gets a bit rougher the tougher brother comes more into focus.

Most enthusiastic drivers desire a supercar but the realities of life mean that most of our motors have to be up for most jobs. The Allroad fits the bill in this regard. This is a proper estate car rather than some 4x4 wannabe yet it will still laugh in the face of foul weather or muddy terrain.

Thanks to Quattro technology and adaptive air suspension, the Audi A6 Allroad can go where other estate cars fear to tread. Further enhancing its ability to venture off-road are generous approach and departure angles of18.3 and 21.5 degrees respectively and it will even be prepared to wade across fords up to a depth of 30cm (that’s about a foot in English). In addition, the underside of the car is protected by a stainless steel guard, further enhancing the off-road potential to a degree that all but the most serious mud-pluggers would probably want or need.

This rough terrain ability would, you might think, affect the on-road ride comfort but I drove both versions and the difference is marginal. It remains resolutely Audi-like in the comfort stakes and is sumptuous on the inside with attractive styling and sports seats. The test car was, as you might expect, well kitted out with options like 19” alloys, Bi-Xenon lights, reversing camera and a fully featured but rather expensive technology pack. There's a 4 zone climate system, excellent Bose surround-sound audio and even the wing mirrors had a ‘kerb view’ function. All of which totted up to just shy of a healthy £50,000 OTR. That’s a lot of money but this is a lot of car.

The cost is enhanced because this particular A6 Allroad had the most powerful engine, a Bi-Turbo V6 diesel, pushing out a commanding 309bhp through an auto ‘box and that showed in the performance. Here’s a car that can go happily onto the gnarly stuff yet still whisk you up the road to 62mph in a scant 5.6 seconds and on to a governed 155mph to the accompaniment of an addictive sporty exhaust note. A resolutely stingy driver could get over 40mpg on a run but, given the performance available, the mid-thirties seems more likely. Nevertheless, for a big hefty performance car that’s pretty damn good.

The Allroad is the perfect family size. It’s got a capacious boot as can be seen in my snaps which comes with a divider system so that on those days when there’s just a couple of bags of groceries you won’t arrive home to find the veg strewn to the far reaches of the luggage area. The outside is smart and embellished with it’s own designer front grill. Without the shiny detailing I imagine it could look a bit austere but as it stands I’d call it handsome.

So, it’s a classy, fast, useful mile-muncher that will take on our variable weather conditions with ease. It will go about its business in a quietly purposeful way and the lucky driver will be pleased to know that beneath the shine the ESP system is beavering away keeping the family safe. Why, it will even dry the brake discs off - useful during the current waterlogged weather. These days the choice of which Audi to buy just keeps on getting harder. Highly recommended.