chewym

Car and Driver is known for being called a bunch of BMW fanboybs, but this time the Audi won. More impressive is that the pre-face lift A6 with the V8 finished mid pack in a previous comparison test. C/D was impressed by the supercharged V6 and found the steering to be better than the BMW's. The auto 3.0T was only a little slower than the manual 535i and quite a bit quicker than the E 350. The final order:

A6
535i
Infiniti M45
Jaguar Xf (4.2 V8)
MB E350

The article isn't online yet, but here is a quick summary.

http://killwithfire.blogspot.com/200...t-audi-a6.html

am_ver

Interesting - I'd be very interested to know how they improved the handling of the A6. If it beat the 535i with Sports package, it better handle well. Plus if C & D, who are absolutely biased towards the BMW's, think it is better than the bimmer, that is impressive!!

Ynnekdude

Glad I got my 3.0T

vhtran

^ Good to know but not sure when will I be able to afford a new A6 =)

schwetysteve

Time to save up for that A6 myself.
Have you thought about doing the lease? Summer lease is $599/month on premium package A6.

BlueSander

yea yea for another few months or so and they will come out with their new products and we will be one of the last few places again. lol

cynerjist

LOL exactly. and the Audi review will be on the opposite page of some expensive BMW advertising.

What amazes me is how well Audi achieves their goal with the A6 yet gets little credit. "Not as luxurious as the Mercedes, not as sporting as the BMW" And the online reviews say things like "The interior hasn't changed in 4 years, etc" "The MMI is difficult to use"

It really boggles the mind. Audi is approaching BMW 535 performance w/o the AWD surcharge in the 3.0T. Start optioning out a 535 and it gets ridiculous yet no mention of "value" in the auto rags unless of course they include the Infiniti. If you can't manage the MMI how do you use the computer or a cell phone?

The CNET video review really made me laugh.
http://reviews.cnet.com/sedan/2009-a...-33653540.html

Pete_In_NH

Read the article today. They were highly complimentary of the 3.0T.

It wasn't merely a pure performance article... BMW would win that... but it's "best overall car".

note, a6 was only AWD car in test.. they did vs. 535i, M45 and E350 rear drivers (Jag doesn't come in AWD at all I think).

Given the $50K test price target.. surprised they didn't toss in the CTS 3.6... that would have been competitive.

I have to admit... lately I've had some lustful thoughts about the CTS-V.


I wonder with snows on and traction control if it could be liveable in New England winters....




oh, p.s. they had an article on new Taurus SHO.... 300+ HP twin turbo 6... does 0-60 in 5.2... "two tenths quicker than an Audi S6" says the article.... ouch.

which gets me thinking... they had 3.0T to 60 in 5.6 secs... is it that close between 3.0T and S6?

BlueSander

yea, that what I was wondering too. Don't these guys ever understand the difference between all wheel drive vs rear wheel drive and how that affect the car's power, steering as a whole?

cynerjist

Where is the article? Is it in Sept. issue?