Facelifted Audi A6

E92

Surprised that nothing has been said about it here yet, but Audi did release the official photos of the facelifted A6 yesterday.

For more, see here and here.

I think the back of it is a carbon copy of the Citroen C5, though that is IMHO no bad thing. It remains the best looking car in its class, it is an improvement in the looks department if you ask me.

There are a host of new and revised engines, but the most relevant news is that there will be a 2.0 TDI e model with 139 g/km of CO2, so no prizes for guessing what everyone in this country will be queueing up for next year when this car goes on sale.

Unfortunately, it manages to have even less power than the current entry level A6 2.0 TDI, with a piss poor 136 bhp.

It does of course mean that you now no longer have to choose the 520d if you absolutely have to an executive saloon with €150 road tax, so that will help Audi out rather nicely needless to say here.

Equally unfortunately, the 2.0 TFSI remains unchanged from the pre facelifted model. Some German car mags were reporting that we would see the new 1.8 TFSI in the A6(though with even less power than the current model's 170 bhp I'm rather glad that didn't happen needless to say), though personally I would have thought it would have made sense to change it to the brand new EA888 2.0 TFSI(AFAIK the facelifted A6 retains the older and less efficient EA111 engine) with 180 bhp.

It does get better from there though, the 2.8 V6 FSI now comes in 2 guises, 190 and 220 bhp, the former replacing the ancient 2.4 V6 with 177 bhp, and the latter replacing the 210 bhp variant of the old car's 2.8 V8.

Anyone who cares about driving will be most interested in the new 3.0 TFSI with no less than 290 bhp, I think I'm right in saying that it is the most powerful 6 pot executive saloon you can buy, and it even manages to escape 36% VRT and €2,000 road tax too:D! The V8 model remains unchanged.

There will also be a 170 bhp 2.0 TDI(though that won't be an e model so won't make it into 16% VRT, which will provide all the Irish buyers with the perfect "excuse":rolleyes: to buy the underpowered 136 bhp 2.0 TDI not that they really needed one in the first place anyway:(), and the 2.7 and 3.0 TDIs have gained a 10 and 7 bhp power hikes respectively too.

On the whole emissions thing, the petrols are still a good bit off from their BMW equivalents(precise figures available from www.audi.de for anyone who's bothered enough by the whole thing), which let's face it doesn't matter since 80% of BMWs in July were diesel and 85% of Audis in July were diesel, however the diesel models are in the same VRT bands for all models bar the 3.0 TDI manual, and that, as Jeremy Clarkson would say, makes a bit of a difference.

VH

the front/headlights of the A6 has always looked a generation older than the rest of the car - this one is a bit better - but it still looks like an old model that has had leds fitted to the headlights

mickdw

How much is the 2.0tdi 170 bhp and when are these models arriving here?

VH

mickdw wrote: »

How much is the 2.0tdi 170 bhp and when are these models arriving here?

bored of the a5 already?:)

mickdw

VH wrote: »

bored of the a5 already?:)

Sick to the teeth of it. It handles like a pig. Have had an independant engineer do an inspection. Im waiting on report but I think he is going to recommend a new steering rack. This is after dealer checked car 3 times and basically told me I was imagining it. So yep, im sick of it.

VH

mickdw wrote: »

Sick to the teeth of it. It handles like a pig. Have had an independant engineer do an inspection. Im waiting on report but I think he is going to recommend a new steering rack. This is after dealer checked car 3 times and basically told me I was imagining it. So yep, im sick of it.

fook - thats not the reply I was expecting!:eek: have you tried other ones - maybe they all handle like pigs?

E92

mickdw wrote: »

Sick to the teeth of it. It handles like a pig. Have had an independant engineer do an inspection. Im waiting on report but I think he is going to recommend a new steering rack. This is after dealer checked car 3 times and basically told me I was imagining it. So yep, im sick of it.

Surely it's time you made a change from Audi after that experience and considered a BMW or Merc, or alternatively Lexus or Volvo?

mickdw

VH wrote: »

fook - thats not the reply I was expecting!:eek: have you tried other ones - maybe they all handle like pigs?

Have driven 5 of them. They all seem to wander very slightly but I accept that the wide tyres on uneven roads will cause this. Mine is dangerous though tbh, can occasionally snap steering out of my hand if I brake hard and just happen to be on a particular ridge on the road etc.
I braked in emergency from 115km the other day driving in a straight line but it pulled so hard to the left that the back of the car stepped up and if I had not the sense to get off the brakes, I would be off the road. This is on a car with ABS and Stability control. It was as if I turned wheel sharply under braking to get the back to break away

mickdw

E92 wrote: »

Surely it's time you made a change from Audi after that experience and considered a BMW or Merc, or alternatively Lexus or Volvo?

Yes considering a 520d msport a few months old from the uk. trying to claw back some of the loss i will take on the A5.
Lexus IS has too much avensis type materials inside for me.
Dont like Volvo.
Merc E220cdi is well priced now but its an oldish model at this stage as is the 5 series of course.
It really depends on how things work out with repairs etc. Dealer/audi might do a deal if im not happy with it

Henry Ford III

I drove a 2007 4.2 V8 Quattro A6 in the USA recently. Very impressive. Engine has a lot of grunt.

Biro

E92 wrote: »

It does get better from there though, the 2.8 V6 FSI now comes in 2 guises, 190 and 220 bhp, the former replacing the ancient 2.4 V6 with 177 bhp, and the latter replacing the 210 bhp variant of the old car's 2.8 V8.

You mean V6...?

E92 wrote: »

Anyone who cares about driving will be most interested in the new 3.0 TFSI with no less than 290 bhp, I think I'm right in saying that it is the most powerful 6 pot executive saloon you can buy, and it even manages to escape 36% VRT and €2,000 road tax too:D! The V8 model remains unchanged.

That's the machine I'd be interested in in a few years... 0-60 in 5.9 seconds, that makes it quicker than a 535d and you can bet it'll depreciate a lot quicker making it a better bargain! An unsuspecting tool to own!

C_Breeze

Biro wrote: »

That's the machine I'd be interested in in a few years... 0-60 in 5.9 seconds, that makes it quicker than a 535d and you can bet it'll depreciate a lot quicker making it a better bargain! An unsuspecting tool to own!

Yeah well if your really want to compare the 2, how about comapring the mid-range grunt?
Also what about the fuel consumption?
road tax category?

Biro

C_Breeze wrote: »

Yeah well if your really want to compare the 2, how about comapring the mid-range grunt?
Also what about the fuel consumption?
road tax category?

mid-range shmid-schmange. I'd say the A6 comes with a gearbox, so that should be OK. If you save €5k on the cost of the car then the extra few hundred tax a year means feck all, and at 29mpg compared to maybe 35mpg, it's not vast if you're not doing the mileage. And you'll have something different!
Brand new, if they're similarly priced I'd go for the 535d every time. In 5 years time looking at 2008 models of each, chances are the demand on the 535d will have it dear, it'll be high mileaged or clocked, and hard to get a good one. The A6 supercharged (which actually will give it good mid-range if you like that sort of thing) will tend to be cleaner, lower mileaged and because of the common man's thinking will have depreciated heavily. Making it a nice buy!
Look at BMW 530d's now and compare them to 530i's or 540i's... any 540 tends to be a bit lower milage and cleaner.

C_Breeze

Fair points I suppose,

Im not one for Dayzul torque and low consmption propaganda (I drive an RX-8 which is exactly the opposite in both respects) - I was just commenting that if you were comparing those 2 cars specifically, you should compare them fairly.

Theres more to a car than 0-60 time!! ... and with our lovely wet climate youd get more wheel spin than anything else turning your 5.9 secs into more like 9-10 secs!

Personally, i'd also have the 3.0 A6 ... or a 540i over a 535d

Ps. you mention this audi is supercharged? .. i thought it was a turbo?

Biro

C_Breeze wrote: »

Fair points I suppose,

Im not one for Dayzul torque and low consmption propaganda (I drive an RX-8 which is exactly the opposite in both respects) - I was just commenting that if you were comparing those 2 cars specifically, you should compare them fairly.

Theres more to a car than 0-60 time!! ... and with our lovely wet climate youd get more wheel spin than anything else turning your 5.9 secs into more like 9-10 secs!

Personally, i'd also have the 3.0 A6 ... or a 540i over a 535d

Ps. you mention this audi is supercharged? .. i thought it was a turbo?

The 2nd link above states that it's supercharged. Don't know if they're right or wrong, I'm just going by them!
Also, don't worry about wheel spin - it being a more up market A6 it'll probably come with quattro.

VH

E92 wrote: »

Anyone who cares about driving will be most interested in the new 3.0 TFSI with no less than 290 bhp, I think I'm right in saying that it is the most powerful 6 pot executive saloon you can buy

i think that honour goes to the oddball depreciation disaster that is otherwise known as the honda legend - 3.5 litre V6 at 295 bhp - the 4 wheel drive system has won awards too - although the co2 is a wallet busting 282. still theyd prob make a good buy after 3 years when theyre worth 6 or 7 grand:)