Audi A6 Avant review

Neither driver or front passenger will have much reason to complain about the amount of head, leg or shoulder room on offer in the front of the A6.

Unfortunately, storage is less impressive; the door pockets and glovebox are on the small side and, while it’s a nice touch, the lidded storage bin between the front seats is rather shallow.

Unlike the Mercedes E-Class Estate and Volvo V90, the A6 Avant doesn’t have an additional cubby at the base of its centre console.

As in rival luxury estates, a couple of six-footers can comfortble sit behind similar-sized adults without their knees pressing into the seatbacks or their heads touching the rooflining.

However, also like those rivals, the A6 Avant is plagued by a bulky transmission tunnel that runs down the spine of the car and robs the middle rear-seat passenger of foot space.

Handy buttons just inside the tailgate allow you to fold down the rear seats without having to walk around to open a rear door and haul the seatback down manually.

The seats fold in a 40/20/40 split, meaning you can run long, thin items between two rear passengers. The BMW 5 Series Touring has a similar arrangement, but the V90 has a less useful 60/40 split.

The seatbacks do lie at a slight angle when folded, but at least there's no annoying step in the floor of the extended load bay.

The A6 Avant has a slightly smaller boot than the 5 Series Touring and Mercedes E Class Estate. However, the differences are small; the A6's boot is still huge and is usefully square in shape, making it easy to pack.

You can also position four lashing points where you want them, thanks to rails in the floor, while a tensioning strap, a net and two hooks are included so you can secure smaller items.

The tailgate and luggage cover open electrically on all models.