Audi A6 Allroad Review

Audi A6 Allroad

The Audi A6 Allroad has revolutionised the family estate car market. With it's 4x4 capabilities and punchy engines, the world really is your oyster!

Overall Verdict

Some may look at the Audi A6 Allroad quattro with suspicion and ask “why bother?”. The popular Q5 and Q7 models already cater well to SUV-lovers. What’s the point in this A6 variation? The A6 Allroad isn’t really an SUV. It’s a perfect blend of Estate and SUV Crossover, offering estate car practicality and SUV off-road capabilities. For those who need something with decent off road ability but don’t want a mammoth Range Rover sitting in the driveway or work car parking spot, this car offers a happy medium. 

Battling with the likes of the Volvo V90 Cross Country and the Mercedes E Class All Terrain, this Estate car/SUV hybrid concept is by no means unique to Audi. It is a great new car choice for those who need something sturdy for both urban and off-road terrains. With better ground clearance and more protective cladding around the wheel arches than the standard A6 Avant, it won’t fail on the bumpiest of roads. Its impressive towing capabilities and powerful TFSI and TDI quattro engines give it that extra practical edge. But if you don't plan on straying away from the beaten track, you might be better with the standard A6.

There are just two trims to choose from, A6 Allroad Sport and Vorsprung, but you'll get loads of tech as standard. Features like Hill Descent Control, Cruise Control, smartphone mirroring, Bluetooth, Sat Nav, climate control, and Audi's impressive dual-screen infotainment system all come as standard. Practicality-wise, the boot space is generous, offering up 565 litres with the rear seats up, ideal for chucking all your camping gear in. Fuel economy is average, with Audi claiming the A6 Allroad will return around 37.7 mpg 

For more on this top estate car-cum-rugged off-road SUV, dig deeper into the rest of our Audi A6 Allroad car review.

Available Trims

Sport

The base trim level comes with twin leather upholstery seats as standard and 19-inch ‘10-spoke dynamic’ design alloy wheels. To brighten the road ahead, it comes with matrix LED headlights and dynamic front and rear indicators. In terms of tech, the Sport trim comes with Audi MMI Navigation with MMI touch, and quattro all-wheel drive and offroad mode when you need that extra traction.

Vorsprung

Take a step up and for an extra fifteen grand you can treat yourself to luxurious heated front Sport seats in Valcona leather upholstery, 21-inch ‘5-twin-spoke’ module design alloy wheels with inlays in matt grey, adaptive air suspension, HD Matrix LED headlights, and MMI Navigation Plus, Audi Virtual Cockpit, and Audi Phone Box with wireless charging. Phew!

Exterior

The A6 Allroad has come a long way since it first graced our roads. Audi has waved goodbye to the harsh angular edges of the OG A6 Allroad and replaced them with smoother curves that are easier on the eyes. This sleeker revision blends rugged off-road readiness with a smart company car gameface. The transition from day-to-day business to weekend country adventure is seamless.

Driving Experience

The A6 Allroad strikes a good balance between urban and off-road performance and handling. You won’t get the same thrill as you would in a proper off-roader, but Audi have worked out the kinks to ensure you’re not flying out of your seat on gruelling bumpy roads.

Engine

Designed to be rough and ready, the Audi A6 Allroad packs some serious engine power.

There isn’t as wide a range of engine options as the A6 Avant, but you don’t really need it. There are two powerful 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines available in a choice of two power outputs - the 45 TDI with 231bhp and the 50 TDI with 286bhp. There’s no petrol option, so if you’re just looking for something for the school run or your commute to work, it’s not for you.

Both options come with quattro four-wheel drive and an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission - apologies manual lovers.

The A6 Allroad can ramp up from 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds, and it can easily power up to a roaring top speed 139mph. The V6 diesel engine is so silky that you’ll barely hear any engine noise even at top motorway speeds.

Driving Position

The A6 Allroad proves that you don’t need to be in a mammoth Land Rover to have a decent driving position. 

As standard, you’ve got electrically adjustable front seats so you can tweak your driving position to the nth degree. The windscreen pillars are slender so they don’t obstruct your view too much. The rear vision is hampered by the shallow and steeply raked rear screen, but not to fear - you’ve got a rear view camera and front and rear parking sensors to keep you right. No more cranking your neck around your headrest like a contortionist when you can stare straight ahead at a dashboard screen!

Handling

During its most recent facelift, Audi shaved off 20% of the A6 Allroad’s weight which has lent itself to even smoother handling.

Like the standard A6 models, the Allroad uses Audi’s quattro all wheel drive system, splitting the torque 40:60 front to rear. Over rough roads, this lends itself to superb body control, seeing you whizzing down the road far faster than in a tall SUV or a lower slung executive estate.

To combat different terrains, you’ve got a choice of a few different driving modes. With Off Road, the car is raised 30mm higher than it would in Auto or Comfort mode, and if you go for Lift mode, you’re raised an even further 15mm higher for easy handling on tougher terrains.

When it’s pinned against competitors like the Volvo V90 Cross Country, the A6 Allroad isn’t beaten on ride comfort. There is a little bit of body lean when you’re speeding round corners, but in comparison with the V90, you’ve definitely got more grip.

Suspension

The body can rise through 60mm from the lowest to highest setting with the help of the standard air suspension and controlled damping. Depending on your speed, the ride height will automatically adjust so you can focus on making the most of your off-road experience rather than fiddling around with dials and knobs.

The Comfort and Automatic suspension both offer a smooth driving experience. Surprisingly, the Sport suspension is a bit of a bumpy ride, so we recommend steering clear of it!

Audi A6 Allroad Interior

Step inside the A6 Allroad and you’re met with the same slick interior as the regular A6 models.

Styling

The elegant deep black plastic dashboard and delicate silver trim could even have you mistake it for the pricier Audi A8 model. The materials used are solid and good quality.

That said, if you’re looking for something sportier, you may prefer the BMW 5 Series Touring, whilst the Mercedes E Class Estate has a drop more class if you want to edge as close to the pinnacle of premium elegance as possible.

Tech

Three words: Audi Virtual Cockpit. Four more words: Standard on all trims.

While the A6 Allroad lags behind BMW and Mercedes in terms of sportiness and elegance, it more than makes up for it with its whopping array of standard tech. Even the entry-level models come with two touchscreen displays without a traditional button in sight on the dashboard. The top 8.8-inch MMI infotainment display controls the stereo, Sat Nav and smartphone mirroring features, whilst the lower 8.6-inch screen controls your heating and ventilation. A bit tricky to get the hang of mid-drive, but you’ll pick it up!

Audi’s Virtual Cockpit keeps your eyes ahead of you, replacing all your usual analogue dials with an intuitive screen. Features from your Sat Nav to your music playlists will sit just behind the wheel.

You can upgrade to Bang & Olufsen unit with the Comfort and Sound pack for the ultimate listening experience.

Practicality

Designed with the family car market in mind, the Audi A6 Allroad offers more than meets the eye in terms of practicality. It neatly packages up so many elements you'd look for in a good family car!

Dimensions

The new car is both wider and longer than before.

Length: 4,938mm

Width: 2,086mm

Heigh: 1,512mm

Height: 1,534mm

This is almost identical to the Volvo V90 Cross Country and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All Terrain, with the exception that the A6 is marginally wider, which is good news for passenger space.

Boot Size

Seats up, the A6 Allroad offers up 565 litres of boot space. The boot is a lovely large square with a flat load area and low loading lip making it easy to stow away even the bulkiest of IKEA flatpacks. If you need more room, pop the rear seats down and the space triples in size, offering 1,680 litres.

If you need more room, say for a set of mountain bikes, the roof rails can carry an additional 120kg. Pop a tow bar on the back and this rugged set of wheels has a towing capacity of 2,500kg regardless of your choice of powertrain.

Since the rear window is steeply raked, the boot space is a tad encroached upon, but this is only an issue if you’re going to be transporting bulky items on the regular, in which case, why are you looking at this A6 Allroad review?

Passenger Room

There will be no awkward rubbing shoulders and knocking knees in the Audi A6 Allroad. The cabin is very roomy, with a great amount of legroom for front and rear passengers. Bad luck if you’re the middle rear seat passenger though - the central tunnel eats into your foot room. Don’t worry if you’re a six footer, as the headroom is decent.

Safety Features

Graced with a 5 star Euro NCAP crash rating, you can expect a long list of standard safety kit in the A6 Allroad. Equipped with 9 airbags and features like Lane Departure Warning and an automatic eCall system to alert the emergency services in case of an accident, you and your passengers will be safe and sound (and without forking out a pretty penny for the privilege!).

That said, if you pick the Sport trim, loads of safety features will have to be added on separately with a choice of two add-on tech packs. The “Tour” pack comes with Adaptive Cruise Assist, Traffic Sign Recognition, and Pre-Sense Basic which shuts the window and sunroof and tensions the seatbelts if a crash is detected. The “City Assist” pack offers up Blindspot Monitoring, Pre-Sense Rear and Cross-Traffic Assist. 

Running Costs

“Audi running costs are rock bottom!” - said nobody ever.

MPG

Fuel economy isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s not the worst either. The 45 TDI and 50 TDI engines claim around 37.7 mpg on average, and if you’re lucky, you can push this up to 40 mpg on a relaxed, long motorway run.

Audi has tried to improve fuel economy in a few ways. The V6 diesel engines use mild hybrid technology and the efficiency mode on the standard Audi Drive Select reduces the power consumption of the ancillary equipment.

CO2 Emissions

If you’re looking for the greenest set of wheels money can buy, you’re in the wrong place. On the Sport trim with 19-inch alloys, it’ll pump out around 153g/km of CO2. If you choose the Vorsprung trim with 20-inch wheels, you’ll emit around 156g/km.

This means you’ll be in the 37% company car tax band for diesel engines so it’s on the pricey side!

Insurance Group

Again, insuring the A6 Allroad (or any Audi, really) doesn’t come cheap. It stands on the high end of the rung, falling somewhere between insurance group 43 and 48 depending on your precise specifications.

Reliability

There haven’t been many major problems reported with the A6 Allroad but on a manufacturer level, Audi reliability doesn’t place highly in the Reliability Index. It stands 34th out of 40 - not great.

Warranty

Like all Audis, the Audi A6 Allroad comes with a standard three-year/60,000 mile Audi warranty. So, if you sign up for a standard three year leasing agreement, you’re covered for any manufacturer faults which should keep your mind at ease! If you do extend your lease or select a higher mileage, you have the option to take out an Audi extended warranty to cover 100,000 miles.

Servicing

To keep your A6 Allroad in tip-top condition, Audi recommends servicing regularly. They suggest picking one of two service schedules - the “flexible” service for high mileage driving (every 18,000 miles) or the “fixed” service for city driving (annually or every 9,000 miles).