sgroer

The big difference to me are the engine, DSG transmission, Brakes and air suspension.

Everything else is a "nice to have" but those four are serious upgrades. In my book, well worth the price of admission.

I continue to be amazed at how well the 8 speed tranny shifts, I can't imagine the performance of the DSG!

s4str

"Do I spend $20k more for a slightly improved performing s6 that gets worse gas mileage all the time?"

You seem to be trying to rationalize what for most folks is an irrational purchase...buying a high end or high performance car. Buy the car that "speaks to you" and meets your needs. The Audi S is a performance car and if you truly value performance and have the money, I guess I'm not sure what the question is. As an enthusiast (S5 to 911 turbo to A6…guess my latest reflects I'm getting old), I really don't try to rationalize my purchases...I buy what I can afford that will scratch my performance itch.

If we listened to our rationale minds, we'd all be driving Toyota Corollas

mikem33

edporsche:

I'm curious: Why did you pick a Carrera S over the regular Carrera?
The delta in 0-60 is 0.3 sec, and the price delta is close to 20K as well; this acceleration delta is smaller than between A6 and S6, and unless you take your car to the track or have an appetite for danger, street cars seldom see much over 100MPH.... If you track your cars, then it's another story, but then again, you would probably not be debating A vs S if you had a track in mind.

I've always found it hard to assign dollars to deltas in cars; it's more of a visceral thing to me. FWIW, the delta between a 5.3 car (the A6) and a 4.8 car (the S6) is HUGE once you are driving at freeway speeds. A 70-90 pass on a two lane road is a completely different experience on one vs. the other.

Ultimately, you have to decide how you plan to drive your car. I went from a Supercharged Jag XF to an A6 since my car is now more on commuter duty/soccer dad than track duty. While I miss the extra 150 HP on occasion (read: no wife, no kids in the car), for the rest of the time the A6 has more than enough engine for my current use pattern. The extra 10 MPG is also a good incentive. What swayed me to the A6 is all the tech gadgetry (especially the adaptive cruise that is actually useable in the audi and gave me whiplash on the Jag....).

Tucker74

As you were mistaken earlier, in the UK you can essentially get all the bells and whistles in an A6 (like air suspension, s-line seats, etc) so that essentially the S6 upgrade is the bigger engine (not sure about brakes in the UK). Here in US are options list is far more restrictive so take any UK-based review with a grain of salt.

stoulana

S6 professional car reviews showed that it is a serious performer with better track numbers than BMW M5 mainly (in 0-60mph), 1/4 mile. I think 3.7 or so sec was number S6 did in 0-60 as compared to 5.2sec for A6. Few threads on this forum on S6 & members were asking how could S6 do 3.7s, check those threads. But real driving is not about track numbers so it comes down to which car you like & meets your needs. I find A6's power more than adequate in most normal situations. So my opinion I would test both back to back when S6 is available then decide. Both are wonderful cars no wrong decision with either one.

edporsche

This is my favorite quote. I'm glad no one is beating me up I think people realize that I'm trying to gather information, not bash. It does look like the S6 does have quite a bit of value with the $20k kicker.

Now, I'm thinking S6 all the way baby.

To answer your question specifically about Carrera over Carrera S: It's a different engine and it's bad @ss!

Audi just put the S6 on the website for US people to drool over...including me.

Thanks for all the comments! I'm going with the S6.

mwar99

[QUOTE=edporsche;24328088]
Audi just put the S6 on the website for US people to drool over...including me.

[QUOTE]

Nice to finally be able to see the difference in the wheels. I think I will stick with the 19's. I started my drooling tonight, can't wait for Sept/Oct to pick it up.

RobC

This may interest you then:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/334865/audi...h_Brochure.pdf

GiantEli

[QUOTE=mwar99;24328115][QUOTE=edporsche;24328088]
Audi just put the S6 on the website for US people to drool over...including me.

I went with the 20's b/c the 19's are the same wheels that have been on the S4 and S5 for the last two years...i have a set of 18's that i use as my winter set up. for $75k, I wanted some fresh meat on the thing.

edporsche

I just ordered a fully-loaded S6 12 weeks ETA. Glacier White to match our Q7.