A6 Wins Car & Driver Comparo
 

i didn't get a chance to read the article yet, however, the December issue of Car & Driver has the A6 winning a comparo over the Caddy CTS, Mercedes E350 and BMW 535i.

Audi seems to be winning a lot of comparos in recent years.:)

Interesting - over 200 views and not a single comment.

Over at Bimmerfest the same topic has over 5 pages and 125 posts.

Maybe finishing last in 4th place (535i) gets people more fired up than finishing first (A6).;)

FWIW, most posters at Bimmerfest are more upset with the 535i placing behind a Mercedes E350 (3rd place), than losing to Audi.

Link to the article please?

Truthfully, I had a 535Xi loaner (among many others) when I had the X5M, and its not a bad car. In this class, optioning the cars up will change where they place. The 5 series has tons of options that makes it competitive, and some that ruin it. Unfortunately, adding options also jacks up the price, which hurts its value proposal (and would make me get a 550 instead). The A6 comes pretty well equipped, depending on which trim level you get. Stuff thats optional on the BMW or Benz comes standard on an A6 Prestige. That helps keep the Audi a good value, as does Quattro.

I haven't seen the article, but I'd bet that most of the problems they had with the 535 was due to poor choice of options or poor set up of the chassis and drivetrain in iDrive.

The article is not online and perhaps few of us subscribe to Car & Driver to be able to read it to comment.

I looked at the Bimmer and Benz. They are both more expensive than the A6 Prestige when you try align the options. And the Audi has a better rust and corrosion warranty (12 years vs MB's 4 years).

I don't but into tech because it's just to make up for shortfalls in other areas. But the tech in the A6 is well-done and more useful. Lane keeping assist in the Audi uses actual steering vs opposite braking in the MB. The A6 has more room and is much lighter than the BMW.

Of course, C&D might have chosen the Audi and sunken the BMW just to increase sales of their magazine. Now I must go buy the damn thing so that I can read it and find out why.

Not available online yet - print only.

Would love to read it. Do they put all the articles online eventually?

Haven't got my copy yet but I would assume it won based on price and quattro.

Its a pretty good article. They praised the A6 (with 19" wheels) for having the best handling and ride of the 4 vehicles. The handling received very good marks and was called out for handling better than any car as heavy as the A6.
They also appreciated the power (2nd quickest) and smoothness of the transmission. They called the A6 the "compromise" of the group as it didn't win any particular category but it had very good marks in more categories than the BMW, Mercedes or Caddy.
The interior and exterior design also received rave reviews as to the quality and understated appeal. Nothing too flashy like the caddy's red leather inserts. One interesting thing-they said the Audi (among others in the compare) had a "sport setting" for the suspension. That doesn't exist until you step up to the S6...