New Audi A6 Saloon

Audi has unveiled the latest iteration of its A6 Saloon, which brings new levels of design, comfort, sportiness and digital technology to its class.

Exterior

The taut surfaces, sharp edges and striking lines of the new A6 reflect the design language of the recently launched new A7 and A8 models. The business saloon unmistakably conveys its sophisticated, dynamic and high tech character.

The exterior stands out with its balanced proportions – long bonnet, long wheelbase and short overhangs. The wide, low-slung Singleframe grille, the flat headlights and the powerfully contoured air inlets lend a suitably purposeful air.

In the side view, three striking lines reduce the car’s visual height. The powerfully taut contours, which are drawn over the wheels, are testimony to Audi’s quattro genes.

Dimensions

The new model is:

• 4.939 metres long (7mm longer than its predecessor)
• 1.886 metres wide (12mm wider than the outgoing model)
• 1.457 metres high (2mm higher than its predecessor

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 Interior

• Beats outgoing model and its core competitors on legroom
• Superior front/rear head and shoulder room compared with outgoing model
• Luggage compartment capacity (530 litres) remains unchanged but has more loading width – two golf bags will fit horizontally. The boot lid can be opened electrically with a kicking motion

The interior of the new A6 features a black-panel design, providing a modern, sporty finish. The sleek instrument panel and the calm, continuous horizontal body line create a spacious interior.

The centre console in the new Audi A6 is directed at the driver; the top MMI touch response display is also tilted slightly towards the driver. With its black-panel look, it almost disappears into an aluminium clip when switched off.

The display is activated when opening a door; its graphical user interface appears reduced, matching the interior design.​

Control at your fingertips

The A6 has two large, high-resolution MMI touch displays which replace the rotary push button and conventional controls that previous models have. The driver can control the infotainment system from either an 8.8-inch or 10.1-inch upper display, while the 8.6-inch lower screen is used for climate control, comfort functions and text input. Virtual Cockpit will be available on the A6 for the first time.

Users will hear and feel a click as confirmation when their finger triggers a function on the touch screens. The easy-to-use menu structure gives the user quick access to the vehicle’s functions, and it can be personalised thanks to movable ‘favourites’ buttons.

The natural speech dialogue system processes questions and commands in two ways – with information stored on-board and at the same time with detailed knowledge from the cloud.​

Connected car

The new A6 Avant offers the same infotainment and connectivity range as the A6 Saloon, A7 and A8. Up to seven drivers can store their preferred settings in their own user profiles. The online services from Audi connect have been expanded to include features such as the traffic sign and hazard information Car-to-X services.

There is a choice of three sound systems. The top version, the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System, also delivers 3D sound to the rear seats.

​The chassis

Innovative new suspension and dynamic all-wheel steering make the new Audi A6 noticeably sportier than the outgoing model.

Customers can choose between four suspension setups: a conventional steel spring suspension, the sport suspension that lowers ride height, electronically controlled damping and the self-levelling adaptive air suspension.

Dynamic-all-wheel steering combines direct, sporty steering response with stability that gives the driver an agile yet comfortable ride. The optional sport differential improves handling even further by distributing drive torque between the rear wheels, complementing quattro all-wheel drive

At low speed, the rear wheels steer in the opposite direction to the front wheels to make the new A6 more agile and reduce its turning circle by up to 1.1 metres, despite the model’s almost five metre exterior length.

At high speed the wheels turn in the same direction, optimising stability when travelling in a straight line or changing lanes.

​Mild-hybrid system

All engines offered in the A6 come with a new mild hybrid system (MHEV) as standard for greater comfort and efficiency. This uses a 48-volt primary electrical system for the V6 engines. At speeds between 34.2 and 99.4 mph, the new A6 can coast in freewheeling mode with the engine deactivated and then restart comfortably.

The start-stop function has been significantly expanded and now activates at 13.7 mph. The standard front camera will also sense when the vehicle in front of you starts to move, and the engine will predictively restart.

Audi AI

The driver can activate the Audi AI remote parking pilot and the Audi AI remote garage pilot with the AI button. The A6 is then autonomously driven into and out of a parking space or garage. This function will be launched in 2019.

The driver can get out of the car before pressing the AI button on the myAudi app on their smartphone. To monitor the manoeuvre, the driver presses and holds the Audi AI button the entire time. Depending on the equipment level, there can be as many as five radar sensors, five cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and a laser scanner monitoring the area around the car while it parks.​

Driver assistance systems in the new A6 that are split up into three packages:

• ​Tour Pack: includes Adaptive Cruise Assist, Stop & Go and Efficiency Assistant
  
• City Assist Pack: includes Audi Side Assist, Pre-sense Rear and Cross Traffic Assist
  
• Parking Pack: (gradual introduction beginning 2019)
  

Lighting design

Optional HD matrix LED headlights, five horizontal lines form the daytime running light signature, emphasising the width of the front. Above them are dipped beam modules that look like pupils. Optionally, the lighting signature of the tail lights is made up of a single horizontal line and nine vertical segments for each unit; the brake light fills the areas in between.

When unlocking and locking the doors with the optional dynamic indicator, a pulsing coming- and leaving-home function brings to life the combination of design and technology that is the hallmark of Audi.

Two different lighting packages are offered for the interior: the ambient lighting package and the contour ambient lighting package. Both subtly animate the space, the volume and the materials.

The ambient lighting makes the dashboard and centre console appear to float. The contour lighting reproduces the clear lines of the interior architecture and can be set to 30 different colours.

Colours

There will be a choice of 14 colours for the new A6. Seven are new.