AUDI A6 ALLROAD FOR EUROPE

An all-new allroad version of the A6 has been announced for the European market. You’ll remember the allroad that was in South Africa in the early 2000s. We drove it and loved it. Now Audi plans to woo customers who aren’t too interested in the Q7 but are quite attracted to the A6 as an alternative.

Allroad is based on the Avant (station wagon) body type but has a ride height that’s raised by 6cm compared to the normal Avant. Because owners will expectedly do a bit of off-roading in their cars, Audi strengthened it with bits like stainless steel underbody skid plates and hard plastic flared fenders.

Only four engines were announced; three are diesels and all are 3.0-litre V6 types. The 3.0-litre TFSI is equipped with 228kW and 440Nm of torque, does 0 – 100km/h in 5.9 seconds and returns 8.9 litres per 100km. With the 3.0 TDI Audi manages three outputs. First is the baby 150kW, 450Nm one sipping 6.1 litres per 100km, followed by the 180kW, 580Nm version. Finally a twin turbo unit good for 230kW and 650Nm is available. It’s the most powerful 3-litre diesel on the market today. The cars are of course, all fitted with quattro all-wheel-drive (AWD). For the 650Nm unit, an 8-speed automatic is used, while the 7-speed double-clutch gearbox goes into the other models.

Germany will sell the lowest-priced Audi allroad at €54 600 (R564 000). Sadly for us South African allroad fans there are only about 5 of us willing to shell out the necessary capital for one of these babies. Therefore it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see it here anytime soon, if at all.