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Wedding cars are all about glitz and glamour - so why did Matt have a diesel A6 for his big day?

There’s a kind of unwritten rule in car journalism that, should you be lucky enough to find another human wishing to spend their life with you, you can borrow something suitably glossy from a UK press fleet for your wedding day. Assuming you aren’t a total berk, of course. Looks nice in the photos, y’see, and it’s a great chance to show off to family and friends what a roaring success your career is. Or something like that.

For the day of my nuptials, there wasn’t anything flashy in the car park. Very deliberately, too, before any rumours spread of a blacklisting. It would have been one more thing to stress about in the lead-up (and there was more than sufficient anxiety already), plus the entire day took place in one location - there was no need to drive even a single yard. (Though surely a great desire to, rather than catch up with old aunties, if something fast and loud was parked outside.)

So my wedding car, if it can even be called that, was an Audi A6 2.0 TDI. And for what it was required to do, it was absolutely brilliant. Tying the knot in your mid-30s is a different prospect to getting hitched in your early 20s: the dog had to go somewhere, our son was coming with us, family and friends were staying rather than us hot-footing it to the nearest airport for a fortnight away once the confetti was thrown. So something that could get the click and collect groceries, take the cases of wine and house everything a three-year-old needs was going to be very handy. 911s can’t do that.

Our Jaguar I-Pace could have done it, of course, and did so recently for a venue visit and final check-in. But hand on heart, the thought of having to charge on the day after our wedding, of our first fight as a married couple being about which services to stop at, wasn’t a fun one. There would have been tears before even attempting to plug in. For 95 per cent of the time, it’s the ideal family car - but having the Audi available was a huge blessing.

There was also a proper reason for having it around; with the hoo-hah around Audi’s naming change, the wealth of powertrain options available for the A6 and the muted reception to the flagship e-trons, it seemed an ideal opportunity to see what the most 'normal' car is like. Not so very long ago, the 2.0-litre TDI would have been the big seller - so is it still valid in 2025? Or is it hanging around for old times’ sake? BMW, after all, doesn’t offer a diesel 5 Series at all, while Mercedes will sell you everything from an E220d to an E450d continent crusher, with a plug-in hybrid E300de as well. Is the middle ground, with just one 204hp four-cylinder, the right place for Audi to be?

Nothing eases pre-wedding angst like a range readout of 565 miles. That’s from a fairly normal 60-litre tank, too, so even a 400-mile weekend wouldn’t need a stop. Nothing exceptional for a four-pot diesel, of course, yet almost revelatory in 2025. Alongside the range, notable interior highlights include cloth upholstery instead of leather on a flagship model (very nice it is, too - ignore the S-Line trim pictured), a pretty good screen-to-button compromise (there’s a physical ADAS shortcut, a volume knob and wheel controls with some resistance, so that’ll do), and loads of room. It means the boot isn’t the largest (466 litres seats up, 1,497 with the seats down), but nobody will be complaining once their luggage is in thanks to a 2.93m wheelbase.

Once upon a time, a 50mpg average from a 2.0 TDI A6 was about par for the course. But once upon a time, A6s weren’t five metres long and two tonnes on the scales, either, so it counts as a bit of a result. The mild hybrid tech helps, allowing the Audi to coast at points, then mooch on electric in traffic and smooth out the stop-start. While striking up the diesel can still cause some commotion, broadly speaking it's a model of civility and muted effectiveness. That electrified boost means you really don’t need many revs at all, sort of ever. While it can never quite match the effortlessness of a larger capacity engine, the 2.0 TDI is fast enough; overtakes were possible long before the end of Norfolk’s interminable straights, and without too much unwanted din

Indeed, the whole A6 experience is one of calm and collected cool, which was more than welcome. You can (rightly) quibble that a car that costs this much should feel more expensive inside, but as something to cover the miles, loaded to the gunwales, the Audi was supreme. The ride on the 21s was endlessly accommodating, no doubt helped by the air suspension, with sufficient travel to keep certain occupants asleep and ample control to ensure the kerbweight never really made its presence felt. The gearbox wouldn’t be wrongfooted, refinement was great, the adjustments you need to make on a long journey less annoying than in some other cars. Never was there a need or a want for an A6 more powerful or more expensive than the humble 2.0 TDI, basically. It simply got the job done, easily and effortlessly, much as diesel estates always have.

Only now in some style, too. Given my tie for the big day was orange and I chose to drive a 3 Series Compact, my opinions on matters of taste probably shouldn’t be heeded, but this latest A6 really does cut a dash. As the wagons so often have in the past (to give Audi credit where it’s due), and now it makes for confident, handsome estate that surely has more aesthetic appeal than an E-Class or 5 Series. But I’ll let someone better qualified have the definitive say on that.

All of which means that the least memorable wedding press car in history will be very fondly recalled. Granted, there's a tendency to look at everything about your big day fondly, but when you factor in the idea that Audi's original strategy dictated that there would never be an A6 with an engine again (combustion being limited to only less famous, odd-numbered models), it doesn't seem redundant to point out that a four-cylinder oil burner remains just about as good as it's ever been. Arguably better now it has arrived at curio status.

For all its enduring appeal as a convenient solution to real-world motoring, that status is terminally unlikely to change. Much more so than petrol, the sociopolitical direction of travel means the odds of compression ignition surviving many more life cycles in any Audi A-range are not particularly great. Even now, given the rogue's gallery of SUVs you must ignore to even arrive at the A6 wagon, the diesel version looks set to be a rare sight. Expect those plucky owners, however, to be very content indeed - even without any call-ups as wedding transport.

SPECIFICATION | AUDI A6 TDI LAUNCH EDITION PLUS

Engine: 1,968cc, four-cyl diesel
Transmission: 7-speed S Tronic dual-clutch auto, quattro all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 204@3,800-4,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 295@1,750-3,250rpm
0-62mph: 7.0 seconds
Top speed: 147mph
Weight: 2,075kg (with driver)
MPG: 52.3
CO2: 150g/km
Price: £68,555 (A6 TDI Avant range from £58,230, all quattro)

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Joeogilvie

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