Test drive Audi A6 2005 - 2008 sedan

A6 AVANT

The Audi A6 family has long -awaited replenishment of the AVANT station wagon
Class E modern cars are practically no different from representative, except for more modest sizes. But in a car business class there is a sector of station wagons that combine both practicality and luxury. They are already unlikely to be suitable for transporting the inventory necessary when mastering the garden plot, or refrigerators, but several bags for golf or their favorite Blagounds will feel excellent in them. Audi A6 Avant is an attempt to combine the luggage compartment with velor and the ability to make bicycle walks, not afraid to spoil expensive finishing materials. But first we will pay attention to the appearance of a new car, the story of which is rooted in the 70s of the last century.
 
The Single-Frame radiator grille has already become the same integral part of the image of the brand as the famous four rings, and, of course, it is the main element of the design of the car, which, by the way, is no different from the face of the sedan. The main changes affected the profile and, of course, the back of the car. Designers not in vain receive their salary: the car came out elegant and strict, and its profile even slightly resembles the outlines of a large compartment. The luggage compartment is sewn to the body of the car with maximum accuracy, because the artists perfectly understood that excessive courage in the expression of plans could lead to undesirable consequences. It seems that Avant is not the flesh from the flesh of the sedan, but the car created from the clean sheet. At the back of the large station wagon is a bit like A4 station wagon, especially the shape of the rear lights, but, of course, the size of both the car itself and the rear lighting equipment are much larger. It was in the bowels of lighting equipment that the first innovation of the LEDs, which work part-time, also hidden by the overall lights and the stop-signals. In the darkness of feed, A6 Avant looks very impressive thanks to the wrong rectangles of small red lights flickering in the night.
Excellent degrees when talking about the quality of the Audi salon finishing materials also became a good tradition, especially if it concerns expensive versions. And Avant is no exception. This time, an Exclusive car fell into our hands, which means that not only seats and door panels, but also a visor of the device combinations are trimmed with thick beige skin with large stitches. Naturally, there were no elegant wood inserts that complemented the already luxurious salon.
 
With ergonomics, Audi is all right. Well -readable devices, a convenient location of the tool set and, as befits an expensive car, a large number of electric drives. The front seats quite unequivocally hint at a sports orientation and clearly resemble the chairs of versions of the RS of the previous modification. Sitting is really convenient: there is an adjustable lumbar back and side support, and plus to this, a regiment adjustable in length for the hips. The concept of the salon is such that each of the passengers has an individual habitat, as if in a monocoque of a racing car. Moreover, this also applies to the rear passengers, the comfort of which is provided by a convenient sofa and cute trinkets in the form of curtains on windows or heater deflectors. But let's not forget that we get acquainted with the station wagon, and therefore we open the trunk.
 
The Avant trunk is equipped with an optional electric drive, which is no longer perceived as a toy, but rather as a purely functional thing. Opens the door from the remote control, and the driver can set the angle of its opening by pressing the button. This is very convenient if you have a low garage, and there is no money for the periodic coloring of the car in the family budget. Inside, the luggage compartment is finished with dense villous material, and from one thought that boxes with seedlings and canists can lie here, goosebumps run through the body. There are two rails on the trunk floor, with which the compartment can be divided into zones. According to the guides, an aluminum partition, which is placed even diagonally, can move. Thus, in one half of the trunk you can transport bags from the supermarket, and in the other something else, and you do not need to be afraid that the bags will fall and their contents will need to be collected throughout the compartment. A large mesh is also intended to fix the cargo, and suitcases and large luggage are fastened to the walls using a special belt. In addition to this set, you can buy a plastic box that can be turned face to the back of the rear seat, and access to it will be open only through a slot slot. A kind of improvised safe.
 
The trunk rug is two -sided: on the back of the way it is rubberized and is also equipped with a lapel that descends to the bumper. Now you can not be afraid to stain expensive upholstery. In addition, in the floor, instead of a spare wheel, there is a small niche, as the developers say, for dirty shoes. And to top it off, a set of fasteners is offered, with which two bicycles can be transported in the Avant salon. Naturally, the rear seat is formed in unequal proportions.
 
Movement in space
On the test route in the vicinity of the Spanish Tarragona, we went by car equipped with a powerful 4.2-liter V8 V8 engine with a capacity of 335 hp. A 6-band Tiptronic automatic machine operates with it, and the full-drive transmission of QUATTRO seems to be the same integral element of this car, like 18-inch wheels. The motor, as befits it in status, bans under the hood, ahead of 150 km of tracks and mountain roads. It remains to turn off the electromechanical handbrake and go!
 
The engine with a volume of 4.2 liters, with all its power and a huge spinning moment, accelerates the car very intelligently: no sharp movements, no nervous reactions to press the gas pedal. Everything is different here: somewhere under the hood, a low-frequency rumble is growing, and pictures outside the window begin to change faster, but at the same time, those sitting in the cabin do not feel overloads that are characteristic of cars with Litera S in the name of the model. Only when cars traveling to the right turn into one multi -colored strip, do you begin to understand that the speed limit is already doubled. This resembles a flight in a large plane: it seems that we are not flying so fast, but in fact the speed is already decent. Everything for comfort! The reactions on the steering wheel are also far from sports, but rather high -quality cruise, that is, there is no need to wait for a sharp response to turn the steering wheel, but the steering wheel is not overlapped with cotton.
 
The suspension on our car is the same as the same as set as an option on the A6 sedan. She has four modes of operation: conditionally sports, comfortable, automatic and mode, in which the machine rises by 15 mm for driving, for example, along a dirt road. We did not have the opportunity to explore the last mode due to the features of the route. In Dynamic mode, the clearance is reduced by 15 mm, respectively, the center of mass decreases and the controllability at high speeds improves. True, the payment for this is complete information about road irregularities transmitted to the salon. In comfortable mode, everything happens exactly the opposite, which is soft and tireless, which is very suitable for long trips at low speeds. In automatic mode, the computer selects the principle of the suspension. When driving at a speed of more than 120 km/h, the car is transferred to a dynamic mode, and at a speed of less than 70 km/h it rises to the set 15 mm and becomes comfortable. All manipulations with suspension modes are carried out from the MMI system control unit, familiar to us from the previous news of the company.
 
German engineers did not ignore both aspects of security, and one of the most interesting innovations in this regard can be considered a device that controls the stability of the trailer. An ESP algorithm has a number of changes, and if the trailer begins to wind along the road, the system individually affects each of the four wheels of the car, slowing down the road.
The final
The start of sales of a new car is scheduled for the II quarter of this year, and nothing was known about prices at the time of the test, although it is clear that the new car would be more expensive than the predecessor. The same line of engines and transmission will be available for the station wagon as for the sedan.
In our market, the appearance of the model, we hope, will revive the premium universal sector. Of course, they are unlikely to use them as household bags too expensive and luxurious. But for the soul
Some technical characteristics Audi A6 Avant 4.2 Quattro
(manufacturer data)
Dimensions, mm 4933x1855x1463
Base, mm 2843
Front/behind, mm 1612/1618
Diameter of the turn, m 11.9
Type of engine gasoline V6 40-valve
Working volume, cubic meter. cm 4136
Max. Power, L.S./rpm 335/6600
Max. moment, nm/rpm 420/3500
The transmission is automatic 6-band
Tires 225/50 R17
Max. speed, km/h 250*
Acceleration time 0-100 km, with 6.2
Fuel consumption (EU), l/100 km 16.6/8.9/11.7
Tank volume, l 80
* Limited by electronics.
Maxim Rakitin
Photo by the author
and manufacturer firms
 
 
 

Source: Avtopanorama magazine