When driven in a less stately manner, there’s not much in this A6 that might alert the driver to its diminished capacity.
While the Bureau of Internal Revenue has been relentless of late going after alleged tax evaders, it has been good to see that more and more juicy, tasty and interesting cars are now becoming more visible on our roads. With a plethora of sports cars and luxury rides congregating on weekends at the spacious parking areas of Alabang, Bonifacio Global City, Greenhills and other affluent neighborhoods, you’d think the Philippines isn’t a Third World country.
But these high-end car owners (usually captains of industry) also need a daily driver. Many of them often are chauffeur-driven during weekdays, and focus more on a cosseting, comfortable ride to preserve their energy for the long, 12- to 16-hour workday ahead and letting their inner (speed) demons run amok on weekends and holidays exclusively.
Oftentimes, they’ll get a large executive sedan. And that segment has been booming as well, but in a totally different direction. In the past, we’ve checked out Jaguar’s 2.2-liter, four-cylinder diesel-powered XF and BMW’s 528i that is actually a 2-liter twin-scroll-turbo-equipped four-cylinder engine. Both cars masked their respective engine displacements (or lack thereof) thanks to unique engineering. Both cars impressed and amazed family and friends who got to ride them, particularly when I told them they didn’t pack the usual six-cylinders.
Award-winning car
The Audi A6 is an impressively well-rounded executive saloon with luxurious, spacious interior.
Audi’s current-generation C7 A6, which has won almost every possible award given out by various media in Europe, was actually the first to introduce a four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline in the midsized luxury sedan segment here in the Philippines with the previous A6 2.0 TFSI in 2008 but didn’t gain as much popularity. Now though, the conditions are different and the current A6, which is much lighter, more nimble and more compact but with greater interior room, packs diesel power, an option that is becoming more and more popular thanks to better fuel efficiency, cheaper running cost and, crucially for enthusiasts like me and you, impressive torque figures.
I’ve driven the A6 3.0 TDI (CRDi turbo diesel) and 3.0 TFSI (supercharged-gasoline and direct injection) with the Quattro AWD transmission and seven-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission. Both were as much as 100 kilograms lighter than their predecessors, and came equipped with faster, more powerful and more efficient engines of the same displacement.
So what happens when the A6 loses two-drive wheels and the dual-clutch tranny is replaced with a CVT? The result is still remarkable. The A6 2.0 TDI also ditches the 19-inch wheels with smaller and fatter 17-inch rolling stock and the Drive Select Mode which alters the steering feel, shift speed of the S-Tronic tranny and the adaptive air suspension. It is a far less intense, far less aggressive yet equally satisfying driving experience.
Just over P4 million
The loss is your pocket’s gain as the A6 tips in at just over P4 million and loses more weight to the tune of a further 100 kg, a nod to Audi’s continuing pursuit of lightness. The weight loss helps improve acceleration and fuel efficiency, so with the ultralow cd of 0.026, the A6 is as slippery and as miserly as they get.
Inside, the A6 still retains the excellent seats, albeit with less adjustments available (8-way versus the 14-way of higher models). You’ll also still find Audi’s highly intuitive MMI media interface system, and at the back, where powerful executives will most likely be seated, acres of legroom, Audi claiming a best-in-class rear space.
Steering is on the light side; it’s definitely not the last word on feel, purity and feedback, but the lighter chassis helps the A6’s traditional coil-on-spring suspension gain much more feel and feedback, you can happily skip and hop across broken tarmac. The all-aluminum chassis, built in Audi’s ASF facility in Neckarsulm, Germany, is plenty stiff: the suspension does a fantastic job of cushioning the blows from potholes, manhole covers and debris on the road which the chassis just shrugs away. It’s a car you can literally fall asleep in and then wake up 4-5 hours after.
Technological marvel
The engine is also another technological marvel, a German Pac-Man if you will, hitting far above its weight. The older 2.0 TDI made do with 148 horsepower, while the new revised 2.0 TDI, mechanically still the same but in a far higher state of tune pumps out 175 HP and 380 Newton-meters of torque as found in Audi’s A4 sedan, Q3 and Q5 SUVs. Mated to the CVT, the A6 doesn’t exactly accelerate at warp-speed, but provides a truly amazing 10- to 12-kilometer-per-liter fuel consumption in the city, and on a long drive, has broken past 20 kpl with a steady right foot. The increased efficiency compared to the other cars is all thanks to the CVT doing its fair share of minimizing fuel consumption. Let’s see you get that on your B-segment car.
The smooth suspension, the muted engine, the airy cabin, all these make for the perfect everyday antithesis for the hard-charging weekend warrior/speed demon’s exotic sports car. And yes, it will help pay for the gas and maintenance bills on your exotic thanks to being really, really miserly to run.
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