New Audi A6 allroad gets on the road this spring

It’s an Audi A6 Avant (estate), but potentially rougher and tougher. The new, third-generation allroad sits 60mm higher than the standard Avant on four-level adaptive air suspension, features all-wheel drive, gets front and rear stainless steel under-body bash-plates and wider wheel arches. All in the name of “go-anywhere” appeal.

Available to order in the UK in February, with the first customer deliveries in the spring, the entry-level allroad will cost £43,145 OTR, and while it shares the same basic dimensions as the A6 - a boot a capacity of 565 litres, increasing to 1,680 with rear seats folded, for example - both new A6 cars bring decent eco-improvements to the table - of up to 20% in fuel efficiency - helped by a weight saving of around 70kg over the previous allroad. Plenty of aluminium sprinkled throughout the body is a favourite Audi trick.

Marking the allroad out from the A6 crowd are several off-road-styled features including extended side skirts, flared wheel arches, vertical slats within the single-frame front grille, those stainless steel under-guards, an exhaust system ending in two large, flattened tailpipes, and roof rails mounted on double bars. The allroad’s wheel arches, bumpers and sills are painted in a contrasting colour, but can be body-coloured if the optional aluminium exterior package is purchased. The colour Java Brown is available only on the A6 allroad quattro. That’ll look exclusively cool parked outside Costa Coffee!

Initially, the new A6 allroad will be offered with a choice of three V6 engines - one TFSI petrol and two TDIs - all three are 3-litres in size, turbocharged or supercharged, direct injected, and utilise start-stop systems.

The 3-litre TFSI petrol motor features the supercharger, and puts it to potent use, making 306bhp and 440Nm of torque and is said to punt the allroad to 62mph in a mud-flinging 5.9secs, and on to 155mph. Quoted combined economy for the most peppy allroad is 31.7mpg.

The two turbodiesel engines make 201bhp and 241bhp, and 450Nm and 580Nm of torque. The 201bhp motor delivers the best combined economy figure of 46.3mpg, and 159g/km of CO2 on the way. All three engines drive frugal-focused 7-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic transmissions, which can also be human-flicked through the cogs for faster fun.

But, allroad’s most name-affirming claim to more rugged fame is its adjustable air suspension, that comes as standard. The system lowers the body by 15mm at high speed to aid aero and stability, and raises it by 35mm, should the approaching pothole appear bottomless. And there's a further 10mm of extra lift available for anything with a Mt. prefix! 

www.audi.co.uk

















By Daniel Anslow

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