- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
4.0TT, 8 cyl.
- Engine Power
309kW, 550Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 9.6L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Auto (DCT)
- Warranty
3 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
New car review: Audi S6
Green is everything in the motoring world these days. It's not a philosophy that's exclusive to the mainstream, as even fuel-swilling performance cars with big-dollar pricetags have had to pull up their socks lately.
Here's a case in point; the new-generation Audi S6. It's less powerful than its predecessor, having traded a monstrous twin-turbo Lamborghini-sourced V10 engine for a smaller twin-turbo V8.
The result is a significantly more economical S6 - and a cheaper one - but according to Audi it's not slower. It's exclusive, too, with just 50 being offered to Australian buyers.
What do you get?
The 'S' on the badge suggests a serious sports sedan in the mould of BMW's M5 or Benz's E63 AMG but the S6 – in terms of price, power and position – is more of a rival to the comparatively understated 550i and E500.
It stacks up well against those cars. Prices start lower at $168,900 plus on-road costs and that buys you a similarly generous array of kit that includes four-zone climate control, power heated seats, sat nav, Bose premium stereo with hard-drive storage, digital TV, Bluetooth, power boot lid, LED headlights with high-beam assist, head-up display, sunroof and 20-inch alloys.
It concedes on some fronts to its rivals, such as its lack of ventilated seats and lane-departure/blindspot warning systems. The latter, though, can be optioned while still retaining its price advantage and its safety artillery (eight airbags, stability control, reversing camera, five-star ANCAP rating) could hardly be called underdone.
The S6 has a sibling, too, the $179,900 S7 Sportback. It's essentially the same package clothed in the five-door hatch A7 body and just 50 of these will also be available.
What's inside?
For the most part this is just another A6 cabin. Which means it's one of the best cabins you'll find in the current luxury-car lexicon, from its impeccably tasteful design and lush materials to its beautifully legible instruments/monitors and respectably easy-to-master (for a hyper-dollar luxury car) switchgear.
To this the S6 adds brilliantly supportive sports seats (lashed in lovely diamond-stitched leather) and carbon fibre dash, door and console cappings you'll never mistake for something bought from Autobarn.
There's functionality, too. There are no space or storage issues up front and back-seat occupants get a pampering bench with good leg and foot space, as well as two sets of air vents (B-pillar and console) and their own air-con controls. Beanpoles will test headroom more than, say, a Benz E-Class but this 183cm tester was able to get perfectly comfortable.
The boot, despite being a bit tight on access for bigger items and hiding only a space-saver underneath, is also large and – thanks to split-fold back seats – usefully versatile.
Under the bonnet
There's nothing in the 309kW/550Nm outputs of the S6's all-new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 to suggest a demon performer by class standards.
But it well and truly kicks sand in the face of its rivals with a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.6 seconds, 0.4 and 0.6 seconds quicker than the BMW 550i and Benz E500 respectively and quicker than even the 375kW Jag XF-R. From 3000rpm, when those turbos really start cranking out the boost, it gathers pace with epic intensity.
Aside from the slightest bit of turbo lag at low revs, the S6 is also as responsive and flexible as you could wish for in lazy driving. But don't expect much in the way of aural theatrics as the S6's V8 cultured tone is never really more than a distant rumble.
The S6's seven-speed double-clutch S tronic auto is occasionally bedevilled by the low-speed hesitation you get with these kind of gearboxes but otherwise it's a peach, with quick, slick changes and shifter paddles on the steering wheel for drivers who want their say.
The S6's economy is possibly even more impressive than its performance. All sorts of fuel-minimising technology has been deployed (including auto stop/start and cylinder deactivation) and the result is a remarkable 9.6L/100km official rating.
While you won't get near that in purely urban or hard driving, we saw as low as 8.4L/100km on one gentle open-road drive. Over our combined urban/highway test we averaged 11.2L/100km, a great figure for a big, heavy (and fast) V8 sedan.
On the road
All-wheel-drive traction, monstrous power reserves, strong brakes and face-distorting roadholding from its 20-inch rubber make the S6 an undeniably potent driver's car.
It's also quite the pamperer with Audi's drive select system (which alters the engine, gearbox, air suspension, steering and exhaust settings) switched to 'comfort' mode. Quiet, too, thanks to noise-cancelling technology that masks undesirable tones.
But don't go looking for benchmark finesse or satisfaction. The S6 absolutely eats up sweeping corners but it can feel just a bit reluctant to turn into tighter bends and its responses aren't ballet-dancer sharp. In dynamic mode, which offers the tautest body control of the choices available, you also get plenty of crashing over big bumps (and, on our car, a nasty rattle from the dash).
The steering's multiple settings aren't really a benefit, either – dynamic mode's self-consciously meaty, inconsistent weighting is a distraction, while comfort mode is too light and lacking in feel.
Verdict
You can sense with the S6 that Audi is keeping its powder dry for its traditionally even more berserk RS6. It feels and drives more like a sporty luxury car than an uncompromising sports sedan.
Still, what the Audi lacks in benchmark cornering abilities and the theatre of unmuzzled V8 soundtrack, its value, performance, frugality, pampering cabin and considerable point-to-point potential – not to mention its exclusivity –should easily find it an audience of fifty. Assuming they're looking to tread softly while carrying a big stick, they won't be disappointed.