New Audi A6 review

In an increasingly homogenised world, the biggest difference between rival products is often how they're marketed – but that's not the case for the Audi A6 and the other luxury cars it competes with.

The A6 sits at the more affordable end of a class full of genuinely accomplished models including the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class. All are quite different, and have their own unique selling points, but the A6 will need to be pretty special if Audi is going to convince you to buy one. 

Fortunately, the German car maker has handed the A6 plenty of ammunition, including the choice of a petrol, diesel or petrol plug-in hybrid engine, lots of clever technology and loads of standard equipment.

But has Audi done enough for the A6 to take down the best luxury cars? Let's find out...

The Audi A6’s non-PHEV petrol or diesel engines both have 201bhp but the diesel is the quickest of the two, managing 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds. That's faster than the Mercedes E220d. The key to its pace is that it has four-wheel drive and a mild-hybrid system, which gives it plenty of power low down in the rev range.

We’ve yet to try the petrol engine in the A6 saloon, but we have tried it in the Audi A6 Avant estate version. Unlike the diesel, it has front-wheel drive and lacks a mild-hybrid system, so it requires you to work it much harder to make progress. 

The e-Hybrid quattro plug-in hybrid (PHEV) combines a petrol engine with an electric motor and a 20.7kWh (usable) battery capacity. That gives you a total of 295bhp and a 0-62mph sprint of six seconds – faster than a BMW 530e or Mercedes E300e. Thanks to its electric battery, the e-Hybrid can officially travel up to 65 miles on electricity alone, matching the 530e.

Every A6 has a seven-speed automatic gearbox that flicks through the gears smoothly during normal driving. The problem is that it’s really hesitant to drop down a gear when you need a sudden burst of power – that is, except in the e-Hybrid, which uses its electric motor to fill the gap.

There are three suspension options for the A6. The entry-level Sport trim comes with conventional steel springs and dampers regardless of which engine you go for. It’s smooth and supple at all speeds, but its softness makes for lots of body lean through corners. 

Meanwhile, S Line and Edition 1 models get the same set-up but stiffened and lowered by 20mm to improve handling. As you might expect, the sportiness comes at the cost of comfort, with the stiff suspension causing you to move in your seat quite a lot at slow speeds. Things improve at higher speeds, and the A6 settles down and becomes a great cruiser.

If you choose the diesel or PHEV engine with Edition 1 trim, you can have optional adaptive air suspension, which allows you to firm up or soften the ride by pressing a button. It’s softer than the sport suspension and generally comfortable, but still quite firm compared with the E-Class, struggling more over smaller potholes and drain covers.

No matter which version you go for, the A6 offers plenty of grip and can be hustled down a country road at a respectable pace. The steering is good too, with enough weight and accuracy to make the A6 easy to place on the road. 

With air suspension fitted there’s quite a lot of body lean, even in its sportiest mode. Versions with sport suspension are much better, with superior body control, although the 5 Series still feels sportier and more capable.

For extra manoeuvrability, top-spec Edition 1 trim comes with rear-wheel steering, reducing its turning circle and increasing stability at higher speeds.

When you put your foot down in the A6 diesel you notice that it’s a little gruffer and louder than the petrol at slow speeds, but both fade into the background once you’re up to motorway speeds.

The e-Hybrid models are almost silent when you’re driving around on electricity-alone, making only the slightest motor whine.

Wind and road noise are kept to a minimum, helping to make the A6 a great long-distance cruiser. It’s pretty much on a par with the 5 Series and ever so slightly louder than the E-Class, which has acoustic windows to reduce noise if you go for the higher trim levels.

"I found the slow gearbox quite frustrating when trying to overtake or suddenly gain speed on the motorway. True, the mild-hybrid system in the diesel picks up the slack a little, but it still takes ages before you get any decent pace." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Every Audi A6 comes with plenty of manual steering-wheel adjustment and electrically adjustable seats (including lumbar support), making it really easy to get comfortable behind the wheel.

As standard, you get Audi’s Virtual Cockpit driver's display – an 11.9in screen showing loads of information. It's very high resolution, making it easy to read but you can't customise it or show a full-size map, as you can in the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class. 

You won’t find many physical controls in the A6 so you have to adjust the air-con and other functions using the infotainment touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard. Plus, the buttons on the steering wheel are touch-sensitive and it’s far too easy to accidentally operate them.

You won’t struggle to see out of the A6. Its front pillars are narrow, for a great view out at junctions, and the large rear side windows and cut-outs in the rear pillars really open up your over-the-shoulder vision. The 5 Series is pretty good in that respect too, but the E-Class has wider rear pillars that spoil your view a bit.

To make matters even easier, all A6s come with front and rear parking sensors, as well as a 360-degree camera. There’s also a system that allows the A6 to park itself in certain conditions.

Visibility at night is helped by standard-fit matrix LED headlights, which allow you to always keep the main beams on but without blinding other road users.

The A6’s touchscreen measures 14.5in and sits in the same curved piece of glass as the driver's display and is within easy reach of the driver. It’s one of the best car infotainment systems out there, with sharp graphics, near instant responses to all of your prods and simpler menus than in its rivals.

It does, though, lack the dial controller you get in a 5 Series (and earlier A6s). That would make using the system a bit less distracting to use as you drive along. 

If you go for the top-spec Edition 1 trim you get a second, 10.9in touchscreen in front of the front seat passenger. That can be used to control the stereo, the sat-nav, parts of Apple CarPlay and other functions.

Interior quality in the A6 is largely good, with soft-touch materials on top of the dashboard and splashes of faux-suede and Alcantara throughout, depending on which trim you go for.

It’s certainly more impressive than the E-Class but falls short of the 5 Series because of the cheaper-feeling plastics around the air vents and central armrest.

"The A6's touch-sensitive steering wheel controls work fairly well when you want them to but I found it really annoying that I kept accidentally changing songs or turning the volume up and down." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Although the Audi A6 has slightly less front leg room than the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class that's a bit like saying that one species of elephant is smaller than another – the point is that they're all big beasts. Besides, when it comes to head room, the A6 is one of the biggest beasts out there.

There's plenty of width for your elbows, although tall drivers who slide the seat right back will run out of armrest on the door as it’s not quite long enough.

There are some storage compartments dotted around, including door bins that’ll swallow a mid-sized water bottle, a decent glovebox, two cupholders and a cubby within the central armrest.

The luxury car class encompasses some really palatial vehicles – including the long-wheelbase Mercedes S-Class – the A6 was never going to out-lavish its costlier counterparts.

Compared with its immediate price peers, though, it's rather spacious in the back, with plenty of head and leg room for a six-footer to get comfortable.

Accommodation for three adults side by side is generous, but much like in the 5 Series and E-Class, the middle-seat passenger has to straddle a tall hump in the floor that restricts foot space.

There’s nothing of great consequence to report here – you don't get anything fancy like the multi-adjustable electric rear seats that are available in the bigger Audi A8. You do get versatile 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats as standard though, making it possible to load long items through from the boot without sacrificing one of the outer rear seats.

It's a shame you don't get levers in the boot to drop the rear seats because they would make the job more convenient. Instead, you have to walk round the car and open its rear doors to pop the levers at the top of its rear seatbacks.

The amount of boot space you have in the A6 depends on the engine you go for. The biggest boot is in the regular petrol version (492 litres), followed by the diesel (452 litres) then the PHEV (354 litres). 

Both non-PHEV version have boots large enough to swallow lots of shopping or your golf clubs, but fall behind the equivalent 5 Series and E-Class. The Audi A6 Avant estate car has a bit more boot space, but still not as much as those rivals.

Similarly, PHEV versions of the 5 Series and E-Class have bigger boots than the A6 E-Hybrid.

"Like the 5 Series and E-Class, the A6 has quite a narrow boot opening. Even so I found it easy enough to load most things into the boot so it shouldn’t be an issue unless you want to put really tall items in." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

As a cash purchase, the entry-level Audi A6 will cost you less than both the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class. Better still, the A6 is predicted to hold its value better over three years than the 5 Series, helping to keep PCP finance rates down and potentially meaning you’ll get more of your investment back if you decide to sell.

Low CO2 emissions and a decent electric range will make the e-Hybrid plug-in hybrid the choice for company car drivers wanting to keep their BIK tax payments down. It’s worth noting that the E300e’s even longer electric range will make it even cheaper, though. To pay even less than either, you’ll want to look at electric cars – such as the Audi A6 e-tron.

On paper, the e-Hybrid PHEV can manage up to 129mpg but you’ll need to keep the battery fully charged if you want to get anywhere near that figure. With a maximum charging rate of just 11kW, the e-Hybrid should get from 0-100% charge in two and a half hours. That's much slower than the Mercedes E300e, which can fast charge from 10-80% in 20 minutes.

Standard equipment is pretty generous regardless of which A6 trim you go for, with even the entry-level Sport getting 18in alloy wheels, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, four-zone climate control and adaptive cruise control.

We’d stick with Sport instead of upgrading to S Line, which gets sportier styling, lower suspension, 19in wheels and some tweaks to the interior style.

Top-spec Edition 1 is the one to go for if you want all the bells and whistles – although it's a big jump up in price. Along with some additional styling upgrades, it has 20in wheels, plusher front seats, a second infotainment screen in front of the passenger and a more advanced adaptive cruise control system.

The latest A6 was too new to feature in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey but Audi as a brand didn’t fare well. Indeed, it claimed 24th place out of the 31 manufacturers, two spots below Mercedes and well below BMW. 

The A6 comes with a three-year or 60,000-mile warranty (whichever you reach first), and you can extend that for up to five years or 90,000 miles for a reasonable additional cost.

The A6 was given a maximum five-star safety rating by the experts at Euro NCAP. That matches the E-Class overall, but it’s worth noting that the Mercedes scored better for both protecting adults in the front and children in the rear.

No matter which A6 you go for, you get plenty of standard safety equipment, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, front cross-traffic assist, driver attention monitoring and traffic-sign recognition. 

"Adding the optional Sound and Vision pack gives you a brilliant Bang and Olufsen sound system. It's quite an expensive option but I really enjoyed the punchy sound during my long drives." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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