EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION

The Audi A6 has improved but not changed much - which is not necessarily a bad thing

ILEARNED to drive in an Audi, an Audi 100 to be exact. I didn’t exactly plan it that way. My dad had taught me the rudiments in our Ford Escort, but I hadn’t got a lot of road experience.

Then one weekend, I had to do a job outside Dublin, and when I told my boss I didn’t have a car, he threw me the keys and said, ‘I can use my wife’s for a few days, so take mine.’

Yikes, not just an Audi, but the boss’s car with it.

As I left the city, I was absolutely bricking it, but I soon eased into it gently. I don’t want to claim there’s a lot to be said for jumping in at the deep end, but it worked for me.

Nowadays, we rightly have laws to ensure proper instruction and, unlike back then, provisional licence holders with no qualified driver beside them are much more likely to be prosecuted.

Anyway, I loved that car, and that’s why I’ve always had a special affection, almost 40 years later, for its descendant, the A6, as the 100 was renamed in 1993.

If you put the two side by side, you would realise they are unmistakeably part of the same family, and that’s a minor niggle with me.

I’m all for resisting change just for change sake, but over the course of its life, the biggest change in the A6 really has been in the grille, while most of the other design cues, notable the shape of the glasshouse, have remained pretty constant.

My test car came in a shade called Grenadine Red (€1,606 extra), and I found it dull compared to the vibrancy of other reds out there, notably Mazda’s Soul Red Crystal, which pops and zings while the Audi looks just a little sullen.

That, of course, is a personal taste, and there no doubt are many of you who like this colour.

Part of the issue, I suspect, is that my test car also came with a black grille, so there was no real contrast to set the looks alight.

The cosmetics aside, though, the one great thing about a diesel Audi is that it is an absolute workhorse. When I slipped into the car, range on a full tank was predicted at 1,100km. When I got home, 90km later, range was still predicted at 1,100km. You start feeling like an anxious parent encouraging a child to eats his greens – ‘would ya just use even a bitta fuel, for heaven’s sake?’!

Naturally, though, this leads to incredible peace of mind on long journeys. You literally could drive half the Wild Atlantic Way without ever stopping at a garage.

The other significant plus is that, for a diesel, the A6 is remarkably quiet, at any speed, and the build quality is such that noise, vibration and harshness are imperceptible.

It handles well, too, though obviously not on par with an S6 or RS6 Avant — and the latter costs €184,665, so you’d have to expect that. It’s swift enough for a diesel car of its size, with a 0-100kph sprint of 7.9 seconds.

I was a little surprised that even in S-line, it doesn’t come with adaptive cruise control as standard, only as an option. Other options on my car included the black pack (the grille, the window frames and the B and C pillars), 21-inch 5-doublespoke wheels, Valcona leather with S embossing, and the interior ambient lighting package plus.

The fascia set-up is familiar for years now, with a double screen over the centre console, the lower one for climate control, and the irritating haptic feedback system persists.

Safety is well catered for, though, with lots of airbags, parking system plus, Audi pre-sense for collision avoidance or mitigation, enhanced pedestrian protection, and a reversing camera.

At 530 litres, boot space is ample, and rear passenger legroom is particularly generous.

As for the driver, well, there’s a lovely firmness to the seat without it ever feeling hard; certainly, if you were droving the full 1,100km, you would have great lumbar support with a deal of comfort too.

So, yes, the A6 has really been all about evolution, not revolution, and that very likely is why so many customers stay loyal to the model as well as to the brand.

For my money, the A7 fastback is the star of the range, and is still the car I would buy with my own cash if I had it to spare.

Nonetheless, safe in every way, the A6 still has a lot to offer.