Need an off-road estate car?

Then you need the Audi A6 allroad quattro

By PH Staff / Tuesday, 4 April 2006 / Loading comments

Audi A6 Avant allroad quattro

Audi released a new "sport utility" version of the Audi A6 Avant this week priced from £33,530 OTR. The A6 allroad quattro will initially be powered by 2.7-litre TDI and 3.0-litre TDI engines, and will reach its first UK customers in July.

The new A6 gets either a 2.7 TDI engine with 178bhp and 280lb-ft of torque or a more useful 3.0 TDI with 230bhp and 332lb-ft, both of which will initially be available only with six-speed tiptronic automatic 'boxes. These engines feature common rail fuel injection system with piezo injectors, and minimise pollution through the use of diesel particulate filters.

A six-speed manual version of the A6 allroad 3.0 TDI quattro is expected to become available in late summer 2006, followed in early 2007 by new petrol derivatives.

The 2.7 heaves itself from rest to 62mph in 9.3 seconds, can reach a 134mph maximum speed and offers 32.5mpg (combined cycle). The 3-litre reduces the 0-62mph time to a more creditable 7.8 seconds and increases the maximum speed to 143mph, yet almost matches the 2.7 TDI for fuel economy, offering the potential for up to 32.1mpg.

Design

The A6 allroad quattro gets an exclusive grille and front and rear bumper design, flared wheel arches, extended sills and stainless steel under-body protection panels. The wheel arches and sills are prominent in contrasting colour, but can be painted to match the body if preferred.

According to Audi, the go-anywhere appearance is justified by the machine's capabilities: diesel torque coupled with four-wheel-drive, a mechanical self-locking centre differential, plus five-level height adjustable air suspension giving maximum ground clearance of up to 185mm for negotiation of difficult gradients.

Air suspension

Off-road, the lightweight four-link front and trapezoidal link rear suspension is said to offers agility and refinement maximised by the addition of electronically controlled adaptive air springs.

The adaptive system offers five modes, the on-road options ranging from Dynamic, which lowers the body to a ground clearance of 125mm for minimal drag at motorway speeds, to Comfort, which positions the car 140mm above ground level for optimum cruising refinement. The allroad mode for off-road use increases ground clearance to 175mm, and for particularly tricky manoeuvres at speeds of up to 22mph a Lift mode is also available giving total clearance of 185mm.

To achieve the best off-road performance, the quattro features a specially revised version of the Audi Electronic Stabilisation Programme (ESP) with off-road settings. Pressing the ESP button once activates an off-road mode that primes the system to intervene in a manner which better suits the lower speeds and the different hazards this kind of driving generally entails.

Customers wanting to take the off-road capabilities of the new A6 allroad quattro to even greater extremes can opt at extra cost for purpose-built all-terrain tyres and a reinforced engine under-guard.

Interior

Audi reckons that comfort and durability have been combined. Special monoPur upholstery combining cloth with a hard-wearing man-made fibre has been designed to look good without tarnishing for years to come. It also gets Audi's Multi Media Interface (MMI) system that centrally controls many of the car’s functions, plus a 1,660-litre load bay.