I'm impressed with the car's handling. The salesman, who knows me from frequent trips to service and visits to the showroom, let me drive a well optioned 3.2 w/ 17s non-sport alone. What a gift!! The chance to really test the car. Scared myself abit.

Started off with very aggressive stop and go launches. The 3.2 has noticable torque at the low end and revs smoothly with a nice rumble. Compares very favorably to the 4.2 and felt more engaging with the nice engine notes. Hit a 90 degree tight turn at 50 mph and the car stayed flat and very poised. After even sharper corners, it was obvious the car has high handling limits. Was suprised I could barely get a squeal from the car. The only push I got was after late braking and overshooting a tight corner. The servotronic steering is cool with the light feel vanishing and going unnoticed during regular and spirited driving.

The cabin is nice at night, although the MMI screen is distracting at first. The armest is nicely placed and vision is good. MMI functions are very easy to use, although I was suprised that steering wheel seemed to have limited interaction with MMI.

I noticed a few rattles in the cabin, which may be due to the tight and lively suspension. I read about this, so alittle non-objectivity here.

Final thoughts - One hell of a nice car. The FSI 3.2 is a great engine and not much (if any) of a step down from the 4.2. It might be the call. The car flat out handles. In terms of the interior, another top job from Audi. I'm not nuts about the gauge cluster, but the other bits more than make up for this. The seats were good being only somewhat narrow and maybe needed a few more seat adjustments. Compared to the C5, the car feels bigger in the front and smaller in the back. It was a shame the car didn't have the 18s or a sports package. The exterior styling does grow on you, but doesn't have the stunning looks and impact(IMHO)of a b6 a4 at its debut. I'm not sold on the C6 yet. Will take more test drives and more daydreaming.

Recent drives.


2004 Audi A6 2.7T (loaner)
2005 Audi A6 4.2
2004 BMW 530i
2005 Audi A6 3.2


Planned.

2005 BMW 530i - 545i
2005 Audi A6 - 18s/sports



Oh for the chance to drive the C6 4.2 and 530 alone too. Maybe next time.

CVT Benhogan
03 A4 CVT

Interesting observations. I've done several test drives of both the 3.2 and the 4.2 and had many of the same reactions. The first 3.2 I tested was a slug. Pretty slow and unresponsive unless ridden hard. The 4.2 was an absolute joy. The extra power made the car feel smaller and more nimble-more like a sports car than a sedan. I went back and tried a different 3.2 and it was MUCH better than the first one I tried. It was punchier at lower RPMs and more responsive overall--more on par with my E320. It still didn't make me forget the 4.2 though. I'm in the process of trying to find one right now.

Of the 4 different cars I tested, only one had any rattles or creaks-somewhere near the junction between the top of the dash and the windshield on the right side. I think this would be pretty easy to fix.

...an adaptive transmission/throttle response. Meaning that it learns how you like to drive and adjusts.

So, Maui19, the first car you drove might have been taught to have 2nd gear starts.

I've had a 3.2 for a week or so. I "discovered" the sport mode position and realized that in drive I was not getting much, if any, first gear. In sport mode, the car is very quick and sounds great. When slowing down while in sport mode, the transmission keeps the revs up and responds differently than my Allroad.

Great ride so far!