They used to call them station wagons, familiars, or simply stations. Words from another era, when the trunk was used to carry something and not to show that you could, in theory, carry it. When space was really needed. Then Audi arrived, caught the change of times, and proposed its “Avant” launching the concept of a sporty almost coupe-like five-door, spacious but sleek, familiar but not too much. It was a revolution.
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A revolution that continues to this day with the latest and brand new A6 Avant, stretched over five meters of car. Sporty in appearance despite its significant size.
Here the aerodynamic coefficient is 0.25: a number that engineers pronounce with the same devotion as Latin was once quoted. Because – until recently – only a few research prototypes could reach that. Today, however, technology – we are still within a brand whose claim is “at the forefront of technology,” it should be remembered – makes the craziest things possible and this A6 cuts through the air as if the air were an imperfection to be corrected. The front is low, the grille large, the headlights thin: a concentrated expression, almost supercar-like. At the back, the slanted rear window and a large spoiler give a coupe-like scent.
The design
The style is bold and at the same time elegant, and it does not go unnoticed. It is the combination that most reassures the European bourgeoisie: seeming determined without seeming vulgar. Something the Japanese – for now – still do not know how to do. Flush handles, clean side, nothing superfluous in sight. Everything has been thought out. Everything has been measured.
Inside, the analog world has packed its bags. Two large screens, curved into a single panel, like an altar, or rather like a “digital stage” as they call it at Audi: 11.9 inches for the dashboard, 14.5 for the rest of life. If desired, a third 10.9-inch display for the passenger, invisible to the driver: a small, civil domestic conspiracy. She can watch a movie; he must watch the road. Civilization, sometimes, is exactly this: an opaque glass between desires.
The controls
Physical controls are reduced to the bone. But there are those that count, namely the one that takes you straight to the management of the Adas and the one for driving modes, for the gearbox and the stereo. A small digression – thank goodness – from the modern madness of doing everything by touch, of “If you touch, therefore you exist.” Of the planet where you stop pressing a real button, with its little click of confirmation, and start scrolling smooth surfaces that respond only when they want to. It is progress: increasingly intimate and less tactile. Fortunately, someone – like Audi – still leaves physical buttons even on the most modern cars.
The finishes and space
The finishes are high-level, as on Audis, while space is not lacking, even for those sitting in the middle at the back, hindered but not too much by the classic central tunnel and the small cabinet: a monument to the comfort of the two and the patience of the third. The trunk, then, is 466 liters with the seat up. Little, for such a bulky family car, a lot for a sporty five-door like this. Your choice. In the plug-in hybrid it drops to 401: the battery has its rights, and the rights of the battery, today, weigh more than the suitcases.
The technology
Under the hood, the German-exported energy transition: fire is not given up, it is accompanied. Mild hybrid, 48 volts, 24 horsepower and 230 newton meters lent to the engine as a discreet helper. The 2.0 TDI or the 3.0 V6 gasoline. Or the plug-in, 299 or 367 total horsepower, depending on how virtuous you want to be without giving up acceleration. In any case, the gearbox is a seven-speed dual-clutch: smooth, fast, and smart when the road gets winding and uphill.
Front-wheel or all-wheel drive. Pneumatic suspension on request, rear steering on request. Standard driver aids, because the era no longer trusts people and has started to get assistance. Adaptive cruise control follows the traffic flow with great precision. For the rest, another small revolution: the price list starts from 69 thousand euros upwards, a lot of money in absolute terms, but little considering that now the A6 is bigger than the old A8, the flagship from a few years ago. And, above all, that the standard equipment is already rich in all trims. At the forefront of technology yes, but also of cleverness.
