Audi A6 test drive since 2011 sedan

Audi A6: Status "On the Web"

As soon as I start the engine, the screen leaves the front panel and the connection with the Internet is immediately installed. The Google satellite shooting of the Sicilian coast is displayed on the display: the blue sea is behind, green hills around. My smartphone immediately clings to the Wi-Fi network operating on board the car and displays fresh mail. But I don't look at the displays. I don’t even see how, after five and a half seconds, the inscription of 100 km/h is projected onto the windshield. At this moment, it is better to focus on the road.

In the business class, representatives of the German three raised the bar so high that no other now can reach them. Moreover, brands from Germany in recent years are not afraid to experiment, provoking each other to give out something radically new. Two years ago, Mercedes laid out his trump card on the table by releasing an E-class. Last year, BMW made a return move with a completely new five. And now it reveals its Audi cards.

The former generation of Audi A6 caused me mixed feelings. If you pick up a laptop of seven years ago, approximately the following thought will come to mind: how cool it seemed some time ago and how it does not look like the current legislators of digital mod! Prestigious sedans are, of course, a completely different matter. Nevertheless, in recent years, the interest of customers in the Audi A6 of the 2004 model was sharply declining. The rounded metal capsule with an indifferent head of the headlights and the laconic salon, which until recently perceived as the High Tech style, all this suddenly began to look no prestigious than the old Sony Vaio.

And here it is a new generation. This is a pointed, more dynamic and aggressive version of a well -known six. At first I can’t believe that the new sedan, like his close relative of the five -door A7 Sportback, is drawn and designed from scratch. And someone will probably reproach the creators of the new item that they went against the trends of the industry, not daring to such a sharp turn of the general design line, which was made by competitors. Maybe so. But the Ingolstadtsy would never have gone against the market conditions.

Access point
The Audi A6 salon is completely different. It is noticeable that the novelty is a year younger than five BMW and two years of Mercedes E-Class, and the Ingolstadtas took advantage of this handicap in full. Take at least a new MMI side system. Previously, one might think that automakers create multimedia complexes not so much for real use as like fashion gadgets. The engineers already had the opportunity to shove a bunch of functions there, but they still did not quite understand which of them would be useful in real life and which were not.

The new A6 was created already in another era: the wireless Internet access was covered by almost the entire territory of the Earth, the main news suppliers were Twitter and Facebook, Apple creates its iPad. As a result, on the A6 display in the central console, the weather forecast and fresh news, and in an unfamiliar area, you can display very detailed information on the screen that interesting things should be seen in these parts. Audi navigation system is integrated with Google services. This not only means that on the screen, instead of a traditional map, a satellite picture. The matter is different: no navigation program knows the infrastructure of cities and highways as detailed as Google. After all, this information is not stored in the womb of the MMI system, the car draws it from the network, and there it is updated daily and around the clock.


Usually, before the test drive, the organizers put a bottle of water in each machine, and sometimes lunch boxes. Audi representatives gave us the iPad tablets

A touchpade is detected next to the Audi A6 machine gun. Somewhere in the depths of the front panel, the 3G-modem and the Wi-Fi Roter are hidden. That is, the machine connects to the network wherever there is a cellular connection, and distributes the Internet laptop, a tablet computer or smartphone as an access point.

Interactive drive
A ligament of the motor, transmission, suspensions and steering is that the Germans honed for decades. Audi, as well as the closest competitors, creates very balanced cars from generation to generation. And we still have to delve into insignificant trifles, formulating the streamlined phrases, such as such: the force on the steering wheel sometimes seems a little synthetic, and the suspension is rather configured for comfort, although this does not harm the mutual understanding of the driver and the car. Or something like that. Now the Ingolstadt residents are depriving us of such an opportunity. Six, more than ever, allows the driver to vary the various parameters of the car behavior at his discretion, moving the balance in the desired direction.

You can choose one of the pre -installed modes (dynamic, comfortable, etc.), to move virtual adjustments or trust the automation that will reconfigure the car on the fly, depending on the conditions of movement. What is changing at the same time? Yes, almost everything. The pneumatic suspension varies stiffness, the rear active differential with the controlled traction vector changes the habits of the machine in corners, the steering due to the variable gear ratio can become sharper, and the robotic gearbox with double clutch is able to stick the speeds with lightning speed and strictly smoothly.

Three engines that will initially be offered for the novelty in the Russian market are three different cars. At the wheel of a 2.8-liter gasoline version (204 hp), I am mostly busy with the fact that I overwhelm the radio stations, and my gaze glides along the rocks of volcanic origin outside the window. Atmospheric six in conjunction with a variator requires a minimum concentration in the driving process: do not forget to follow the road, but do not strain. In this modification you enjoy silence: the engine never goes to sharp notes. Plus, good isolation from the rumes of tires and aerodynamic noise, and acoustic comfort is obtained, comparable to representative sedans.

I even after some time decided to slightly change the pose behind the wheel to more relaxed. With my left hand, I feel for the chair control unit. Engineers separately note that for the new generation they came up with a slightly different concept of this element. That is, the main adjustments are the longitudinal position of the chair, its height and the angle of inclination of the back are configured by the usual strips, resembling the shape of the seat itself. But secondary adjustments are placed on a single round yemostic with a rotary ring around. You do not have to fumble with your fingers on different keys at hand. Moreover, an image shows which element of the chair is now controlled on the display.

When I transplant behind the wheel of a more powerful 3-liter diesel version developing 245 forces, my mood is changing. While you are going into half the pedal, everything happens as smoothly as on a 2.8-liter version, but you stomp it properly and the six rushes forward. From the start of 100 km/h, she gains in just 6.1 s. This is already serious! Just a week before the trip to Sicily, I swept around Moscow on a similar five BMW with a three -liter diesel engine. Munich and Ingolstadtsy chose a very similar recipe for making machines: an excellent combination of assertive acceleration and smooth habits. True, the rear -wheel drive BMW on the snowy metropolitan streets is not able to reveal all its potential: you press on the gas a little stronger, and the craving suddenly dissolves without a trace. The stabilization system actively extinguishes a slip. The front -wheel drive Audi probably could make the same claims, but the Ingolstadt residents prevented this problem: they will supply powerful versions with all -wheel drive to us. A monotive transmission can only be obtained together with a younger 2.8-liter engine.

But after I traveled on the flagship version 3.0 TFSI with 300 horses, I no longer wanted to think about other sixes. Let your passport data do not mislead you, according to which it gains a hundred only 0.6 with faster than diesel. Somewhere in the region of five with a half six seconds there is a psychological barrier, and a 3-liter gasoline V6 with a compressor breaks it.

The highway with smooth bends suddenly begins to change. The turns are increasingly and become cooler. No, the track is the same, just A6 is gaining and gaining move. Neighbors in the stream, without slowing down, pass wide turns at a speed of about 100 km/h, and I have to actively upset the car to fit into the turn. Then I realize that on each straight I manage to accelerate to almost two hundred. And therefore, the calm Sicilian highway became like me like a picture route: a short acceleration hit on the brakes. They must be separately noted. At high speeds, you feel very confident also because under the left pedal an instant and unambiguous slowdown.

The leading a large business sedan on the mountain serpentine was surprisingly easy. In the dynamic mode of the chassis is quite dense, the rolls are very small. By the way, high -strength steel is based on the body, but aluminum is also widely used. Thanks to this, A6 is a little lighter than competitors. And this, too, probably helps to diveze into turns.

By the way, those customers who want to give a business sedan of greater sports are offered a version of S-line. Vitaly Kabyshev managed to travel to the same Audi A7, and, in his opinion, it was the Eski chassis that is optimal. In general, A6 and A7 can be considered the same model in different bodies. They have the same interior and front design, the overall base of the body, an identical chassis and the same engines. However, a five -door in comparable modifications is noticeably more expensive, and more affordable versions are not expected for it. And the six will later acquire the younger modifications of 2.0 TFSI and 2.0 TDI.

Complete automation
I remember how four years ago on the first Lexus LS 460 test this representative sedan seemed to me by a rally of technical wonders: the car itself slowed down if the car was slowing down, accelerated to the desired speed, when the path was free, kept the selected distance and even chose to keep in her own strip. Now it is the turn of business class models to receive all this filling.


The new Audi A6 can be equipped with three video cameras, as well as ultrasound sensors and radars operating in a single bunch as a system of circular control. For example, in the dark, the infrared camera displays a picture of a night vision on the front panel, noting the bright color of pedestrians appearing near the roadway.

The system constantly monitors the rear hemisphere, and as soon as another car is catching up in the left or right, a warning light lights up on the corresponding mirror (Volvo has been successfully using a similar system for more than one year). From the latest Volkswagen models, the New Business Setan has inherited the Park Assist system, thanks to which the car can park itself under the control of the autopilot.

The head optics has not only traditional operating modes (near and highlights, as well as looking into turns), but several more unusual functions. At the command of the navigation system, while the car moves in the village of the village, the beam of light does not hit far away, the road is already lit with lanterns, but the headlights illuminate the sidewalks on the left and right, helping the driver better see pedestrians. When the car leaves the settlement, the headlights go into the regime of suburban light (in principle, this is an analogue of the usual near light): the headlights beat less in the oncoming lane so as not to blind other drivers, but they shine far enough in their lane and right side of the roadside. And, finally, the third autobas -light light: headlights equally illuminate both their strip and stripes on the left and right. The length of the bundle is a little further than in the case of suburban light. That is, it is something between the traditional near and high light.

The price of progress
The buyer ultimately pays for progress, and in recent years, every next business class sedan, having become more perfect, has automatically become more expensive than the closest competitors. Audi is now trying to keep a certain average price level.

The basic front -wheel drive version of A6 2.8 FSI Multitronic costs from 1,850,000 rubles. And equipped with a little richer than, for example, the most affordable five BMW. The Ingolstadt model has not only six airbags, ESP, climate control, light and rain sensors, and other equipment traditional equipment for tieses, but also parking sensors in front and back, the rear view, heating the front seats, bixenon head light and skin-decorated with skin steering wheel and checkpoint (these options at Bavarz for surcharge).

Modification 2.8 TSI with a drive for all wheels and the S-Tronic robot from 1,943,000 rubles. It is the most affordable all-wheel drive business sedan in the market. The diesel version of 3.0 TDI Quattro standing on the step costs from 2,250,000 rubles.

The price of the top -speed version A6 3.0 TFSI Quattro from 2,350,000 rubles looks relatively favorable. Other Germans with similar engines and all -wheel drive are more expensive.



 


Competitors
Lexus GS
Representatives of the Japanese brand pay attention to the fact that the main feature of GS is a sports spirit. A powerful 307-horsepower all-wheel drive modification of the GS 350AWD, which has visited our test, can really fully be called athlete, which is suitable for dynamic driving all year round. The price of such a modification is from 2,249,000 rubles. The basic rear-wheel drive version with a 3-liter engine (249 hp) from 1 947 000 rub. But the GS has two more very fast rear -wheel drive versions of the GS 450H hybrid (from 2,693,000 rubles) and the traditional GS 460 (from 2,874,000 rubles). Both of these machines are capable of typing 100 km/h in less than 6 s

Volvo S80
The basic version of the Swedish model is the cheapest offer in the business class: from 1,339,900 rubles. At the same time, the car cannot be called low-power and poorly equipped: a 2.5-liter turbine is developing 231 hp. (front wheel drive), the initial package includes bixenon headlights, climate control, seats, parking sensors. Volvo all -wheel drive modification is also the cheapest from 1,749,900 rubles. And for 2 009 900 rubles. A rather dynamic version of 3.0 T6 AWD (304 hp) is already proposed.

Infiniti m
If earlier, only powerful Infiniti sedans were offered to clients, which developed over 300 hp, now the budget version of the M25 (222 hp) with a drive to the rear wheels, for which they ask for from 1,900,000 rubles, have appeared. The new generation is almost the most spectacular sports design among competitors, and there are powerful motors to match the dynamic appearance in the Infiniti gamut. The M37 version engine develops 333 hp. Carrying for all wheels. There is such a car from 2 210,000 rubles. Well, the flagship M56 is ready to challenge the most speedy business class models, and it costs cheaper. For modification with a 408-horsepower engine, they ask for from 2,925,000 rubles. However, this super -sedan has a craving only on the rear wheels, and this is one of the reasons why, when accelerating, it loses BMW 550i similar power: 5.2 s to hundreds versus 4.8 C by Bavaria

BMW 5th series
The new generation of Bavarian sedans and station wagons, which made their debut last year, lost the controversial features in design, which distinguished the past generation without having lost the main advantages. This is still one of the most driver models in the business class, but the novelty has become more solid and comfortable. BMW offers a very wide range of engines. Opens a line of modifications version 523D (from 1,970,000 rubles). But in order to compete in speeds with competitors, you need to take at least 528i (from 2 190,000 rubles). The buyer should count on the fact that about 300,000 400,000 rubles. He will spend on options. Recently we tested the Bavarian five in the cub of the station wagon in modifications of 535i and 520d

Mercedes E-class
Prices for the Stuttgart sedan start from 1,730,000 rubles. (for the version of E 200 CGI), while already in the database there is the equipment for which BMW asks for a surcharge: automatic, leather interior, heating of the seats, metallic color (by the way, Bavarians only require 47,028 rubles). The optimal price/power ratio can be recognized E 250 CGI (from 1,930,000 rubles) and E 300 (from 2,230,000 rubles). More high-speed E-classes are offered only in all-wheel drive version: E 350 4MATIC costs from 2,550,000 rubles, and E 500 4matic from 3,250,000 rubles. The Gamma of modifications is crowned by the AMG version with a supercar heart with the same 6.2-liter engine as the SLS AMG sportkup. Such a sedan costs 5,300,000 rubles, but SLS is more than twice as much ...

Pavel Elshin
Competitors Pavel Elshin, Alexey Kovanov
Photo by the author and Audi
 

Source: Auto.mail.ru