Drove new 4.2 on Monday.
10-13-2004, 07:14 PM
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Drove new 4.2 on Monday.
On Monday, I stopped by Barrier Audi, near Seattle, to see the new A6, and as luck would have it they had a dark blue on grey 4.2 on display. It was a demo that they are required to keep. The salesperson I talked to told me they had already made quite a few pre-sales.
The car I looked at was fairly well optioned - msrp was $56k. As many other people have noted, the car looks very different in real life. It's quite a striking design. I like the grille, and also the upwards rising dynamic line. And no - it doesn't look like a Saturn L300 in real life. I also felt the rear was much better resolved than it looked in pictures. You can see the relationship with the A4 Cabrio, and the angle at which the bumper meets the quarter panel looks much better than it does in photos. I still think the C6's front overhang looks too long - even in real life. The way the front end curves around to try to disguise the front overhang kind of reminds me of the Phaeton. Hopefully this will be the last Audi with the current axle/engine layout. At the bottom of the doors, below the dynamic line, the new A6 features painted polyurethane panels. I'm betting that S6 models will have more aggressive side moldings like the S4's. It was interesting to see that the rocker panels are painted metal. No more plastic covers. This is the first Audi since the B5 A4 to have non covered rockers.
The interior was another surprise. I liked the new dash design a lot. The shapes and forms still feel like an Audi should, but there is so much more control space. I still don't like the new square steering wheel, but even that looked less bulky than it does in pictures. And the feel of the 3 and 9o'clock position was just right. The seats are harder than those of the C5. In fact, they feel about like the seats in my B6 A4, which are too hard for long trips in my opinion.
It also drove well. The body shell feels very stiff - much more so than the C5. The steering is light at low speeds owing to the servotronic system, but not ridiculously so. I've driven many Servotronic equipped cars over the years, and this one felt like they had finally tuned it sensibly. The steering also has more of a self centering feel to it than earlier four link suspended Audis. The turning circle is definitely tighter, so what ever they did to the shape of the front links sure worked. I didn't have a chance to check out grip, but I will say this. The car feels very heavy. Even though the 4.2 has great power, it doesn't necessarily feel effortless accelerating from a stop. Fuel economy is 17/23 - too bad Audi couldn't get about two more on the highway with it.
Overall, I liked the car a lot, and most of my reservations about the design proved to be unfounded. The car oozes class and quality and I think it will succeed just like the current A8 has. It isn't necessarily a sporty car - more of a powerful, immensely stable cruiser, but I think that's what most people want in this class of car anyway. I still feel that Audi needs to start caring about curb weight again, and they need to ditch the overhanging engine layout, but as the car sits, it will continue to garner Audi converts.
David C.
The car I looked at was fairly well optioned - msrp was $56k. As many other people have noted, the car looks very different in real life. It's quite a striking design. I like the grille, and also the upwards rising dynamic line. And no - it doesn't look like a Saturn L300 in real life. I also felt the rear was much better resolved than it looked in pictures. You can see the relationship with the A4 Cabrio, and the angle at which the bumper meets the quarter panel looks much better than it does in photos. I still think the C6's front overhang looks too long - even in real life. The way the front end curves around to try to disguise the front overhang kind of reminds me of the Phaeton. Hopefully this will be the last Audi with the current axle/engine layout. At the bottom of the doors, below the dynamic line, the new A6 features painted polyurethane panels. I'm betting that S6 models will have more aggressive side moldings like the S4's. It was interesting to see that the rocker panels are painted metal. No more plastic covers. This is the first Audi since the B5 A4 to have non covered rockers.
The interior was another surprise. I liked the new dash design a lot. The shapes and forms still feel like an Audi should, but there is so much more control space. I still don't like the new square steering wheel, but even that looked less bulky than it does in pictures. And the feel of the 3 and 9o'clock position was just right. The seats are harder than those of the C5. In fact, they feel about like the seats in my B6 A4, which are too hard for long trips in my opinion.
It also drove well. The body shell feels very stiff - much more so than the C5. The steering is light at low speeds owing to the servotronic system, but not ridiculously so. I've driven many Servotronic equipped cars over the years, and this one felt like they had finally tuned it sensibly. The steering also has more of a self centering feel to it than earlier four link suspended Audis. The turning circle is definitely tighter, so what ever they did to the shape of the front links sure worked. I didn't have a chance to check out grip, but I will say this. The car feels very heavy. Even though the 4.2 has great power, it doesn't necessarily feel effortless accelerating from a stop. Fuel economy is 17/23 - too bad Audi couldn't get about two more on the highway with it.
Overall, I liked the car a lot, and most of my reservations about the design proved to be unfounded. The car oozes class and quality and I think it will succeed just like the current A8 has. It isn't necessarily a sporty car - more of a powerful, immensely stable cruiser, but I think that's what most people want in this class of car anyway. I still feel that Audi needs to start caring about curb weight again, and they need to ditch the overhanging engine layout, but as the car sits, it will continue to garner Audi converts.
David C.
10-14-2004, 11:43 AM
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Good points. . . . .
I drove the 4.2 a week ago and have the same conclusions. The interior is very nice and even of higher quality than my B6. Solid structure and heavyness is apparent, but the car feels quick. Seats are much better and visibility is great. Body roll and understeer are happily down. The car looks better in person, but it is not stunning IMHO. The grille is okay with the darker colors, which play down the dark grey license plate bar.
Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
10-14-2004, 07:06 PM
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Re: Drove new 4.2 on Monday. And I one last week, but I...
didn't find it slow on pickup at all! Quite to the contrary, but it probably depends on what you drive daily!?
But I too found it to be WAY better than my old 2.7 T, which I liked. I got it through 2 curves, one fast and one 270 degree, both on-ramps, and also here did it outperform the old A6 big time IMHO
Bottom line was that I liked what I saw, but haven't put money down yet
But I too found it to be WAY better than my old 2.7 T, which I liked. I got it through 2 curves, one fast and one 270 degree, both on-ramps, and also here did it outperform the old A6 big time IMHO
Bottom line was that I liked what I saw, but haven't put money down yet
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