New Audi A6 vs rivals

FWD NO NO NO

How on earth is a FWD Audi A6 better than BMW 5 series. This review sucks.

Anything bigger than a Golf with FWD sucks.

BMW anytime

By iozdil on 27 April, 2011, 4:22pm

All three magnificent cars!

For once, I really can't separate these cars! I really like them all! One thing is clear, these cars are in a league of their own!

By JTravolta77 on 27 April, 2011, 11:16pm

Please read the review

@iozdil - did you actually read the review? Handling IS better in the BMW, but at the expense of ride quality. In this sector, ride quality is more important - if you want handling, buy a 3 series or A4

By Daren on 28 April, 2011, 6:59am

I've had the top models of all three

I've had the top models of all three, albeit not the latest ones, and now drive an Audi A4 Quattro 3.0 tdi
In my view Audi is deserving of the top award, with all three in the correct order.

By mafield01 on 28 April, 2011, 7:25am

Yeah right!

Oink oink oink - whoosh! Blow me down a pig just flew past my window!!

By Pigley on 28 April, 2011, 7:56am

I think Audi are leading the way. On our website the Audi receives top searches especially the new Audi Q3.
http://www.planestrainsautomobiles.co.uk/automobiles/the-new-audi-q3-price-release-date-pictures-and-specifications

By Vikki1 on 28 April, 2011, 9:26am

Still bland

Had the 2009 3.0 A6 TDI quattro version fully loaded, loved it, but and its a real "but", even though it was an SE the ride is rubbish compared to Merc and BMW, the car lacked something, it was borning and after 2 years of faultless use and 20K miles I just got fed up with it, saying that it was a great car but not one you would want to keep forever..
BMW might be unusaly but its different

By mbkk44 on 28 April, 2011, 9:40am

Refinement

The BMW sounds the quietest by far (judging by the video), and this would make it the winner for me.

By sandberg4 on 28 April, 2011, 9:50am

YEP!!!....if you want to slide off the road backwards at low speed in wet conditions - the BMW is by far the best.

By wmtmarine on 28 April, 2011, 10:09am

All dull....yawn.

Frankly they would have done well to pitch these against the Jag XF or XJ? (Not sure about how they would compare price-wise against the latter though). There's something very boring about all these cars and IMHO particularly the ubiquitous BMW.

By Tony27nine on 28 April, 2011, 10:27am

All dull indeed

I wouldnt spend my own hard earned reddies on any of them... await the 4 pot oil burner and 8 speed box from Jaguar.....

By dlwilson on 28 April, 2011, 10:30am

Pointless.

We tested 3 German cars and guess what, the German car won. Next week we'll road test 3 bowls of tomato soup to see which one stands out as the best.

By craiglife on 28 April, 2011, 11:03am

bmw - made for ditches

Yes, BMW feel great to drive but for the past few winters they are better left in the garage. I saw so many Mercs and BMWs sliding all over the place on a few mm of snow. We have to stop pretending that we are Top Gear presenters who like to kick the tail out at every corner. Most British drivers have no idea how to handle a skid.
4WD on a saloon is an option that looks more and more desireable.

By IlMostro on 28 April, 2011, 11:13am

value for money

I too have owned all three makes all good cars, but i now own a superb elegance this car is as good as all the above, but when you take the cost of all four cars the superb is in a class of its own.

By taylormade1 on 28 April, 2011, 11:32am

Credabiltiy - Gone

AUDI = Always Unimpressed Driving It !!

By Bond_James_Bond on 28 April, 2011, 11:46am

RWD

@IlMostro RWD is NOT for everyone, as roughly translated form a popular saying from my country: “you need to have a "fingernail kit" ", when handled properly they are awesome fun. When you disrespect a RWD, they will bite…

By PaGonza on 28 April, 2011, 12:44pm

Well done Audi!!!

Its about time audi has adressed the issues with there new A6,The merc and BMW should now be in its shadow,Front wheel drive is the correct car to have has a alrounder or of course quattro or a 4wheel drive is even better to have if you can afford the option,If you buy a merc or bmw you wont be looking forward to the snow that we do have in the uk which makes the audi a6 the clear leader .

By future26 on 28 April, 2011, 1:23pm

Yes a powerful RWD car is a pain in the snow and ice

I had great difficulty on minor roads last winter in my BMW 325 SE Touring. Getting any sort of traction was extremely difficult. However, the counterbalance to this is the enjoyment I get from the available torque for the other 51 weeks of the year. I'm not going to invest in chains or snow tyres, much less swop to an Audi. I'll stick with the BMW, its my firts but won't be my last!

By Subrogation on 28 April, 2011, 1:49pm

I too fail to understand why AutoExpress have decided to test these executive cars against each other but completely omitted the brilliant Jaguar XF. If they had waited six months they could have paired all four together when the revised XF appears, along with styling changes and a new 2.2 four-cylinder diesel to boot.
I sometimes wonder about the British, given as so many are to patriotism one minute and then bigging up the opposition the rest of the time.
New Jags get very little mention in the German auto press, but then Germans like to buy German and do so in huge numbers. Anyone know if AutoExpress is owned by a parent company that happens to be German by any chance?

By sirsidneyruffdiamond on 28 April, 2011, 3:57pm

Two Letters For You...

...XF

By koupekid on 28 April, 2011, 9:30pm

Autocar test.

Autocar has just done this test (including the XF!) using 3.0L Diesel versions.
The result:- 1. Jag, 2. Merc 3. BMW 4. Audi.
Just shows that different people have different priorities.
They are all very close and a prospective buyer would be well advised to try each one before making his/her own decision.

By hsbcgeoff on 28 April, 2011, 9:32pm

QUALITY THAT YOU CAN COUNT ON

For ages the quality feel of Audi has outshone all its rivals, and when buying an executive car such as these tested, you look at quality and specification. For those Jeremys out there that feel it is how fast you can rip your tyres whilst looking out of the side windows and considering all Audi drivers as 'Cocks', take a BMW or Mercedes. I'll quietly take the Audi that will look just as good in years to come and will impress my family and friends with it's superb performance and economy!

By CyprusYid on 28 April, 2011, 10:58pm

And the winner is...

None!

They are all German and these days people will just sneer at your purchase and mutter what a complete *&%$ you look in it, and probably not a very nice &^%$ either!

Buy something else and leave the braces and overpriced wristwatch at home...

By LegioIXHispana on 28 April, 2011, 11:17pm

NO flair at all german cars are for dickheads.

I have an Audi A8 Ssssooooooooooooooooooo boring what a dickhead for buying it!
Better a secondhand masser or even cough an XF

By tomsks on 29 April, 2011, 1:40am

Biased review...

In this review, it says the Audi will hold it's value the best. But in the real world, you can see Audi's loose their value very quickly and it is the BMW's that hold their value really well. Yes, the Mercedes looks a bit strange, but it has the best ride, and the interior is the most comfortable. Most people buy these cars for motorway cruisers, so I think that the BMW should have won overall, followed by the Mercedes and Audi joint second.

Please can you compare the Audi A8, Lexus LS, Jag XJ, BMW 7-series and the Mercedes S-Class.

By tom123 on 29 April, 2011, 1:23pm

VWexpress.

VAGexpress. Audiexpress. Skodaexpress! (superbly ugly superb with mediocre quality is the best car according to these dudes here.

Audi's never ever going to be BMW or mercedes. Always last. Always third, or fourth. Always VAG group.


In this sector, "ride quality matters". Well mercedes @#$@ audi ass all day long in that regard. And BMW is the best handling car.

So where does that leave this oversized A2?

Imitation is the best form of flattery. This A6 shows on the inside it wanted to be a -last year- BMW in so many places it is not even funny.

As always BMW has moved on. And is the best built car.

By giorikas81 on 29 April, 2011, 4:29pm

And the winner is? The Skoda Superb

giorikas81 has obviously not driven the latest model Superb otherwise he would KNOW what he was talking about.

Save yourself a fortune, buy a Superb Estate (far better looking than the saloon), it's just as well built, has bags more room, is just as quiet and far more economical to run and has better standard equipment. Oh, and it handles and goes well too...

Extra benefits? You might actually have some friends... Roll with the smart money.

Smile, It's a Skoda...

By sgtgrash on 29 April, 2011, 6:42pm

Nope I did not like it

The superb isn't as refined as some rivals and the quality on the inside is "not as good" as other VAG products and certainly it is not a mondeo or insignia on many levels.

By the way check the painting on the silver bar on lesser trim levels, the way the dashboard is not fine armed with its lower part and the hard plastics on the lower levels and door.

Add the styling add the inlfated price in greece (fortunately the dealers do what they can to bring it down) and add to that that even the octavia feels more upmarket and a better car on the road, talking about internal competition.

By the way I don't drive a skoda. I like many of them, but the superb is not one of them and the insignia rightfully pummeled it on the sales department.

By giorikas81 on 30 April, 2011, 8:29am

Why do you guyz alway mention CO2 emissoins. Global warming debunct and a scam. CO2 is not a pollutant.

By ilduceuno on 3 May, 2011, 3:22am

Excellent

I'll put my order in soon for the A6.

I think its a great looking car. The build quality is unrivalled and fantastic! In Germany, the Audi is the most popular car and beats BMW and Merc more often than it does in the UK for some reason. The Germans know their cars best.

Audi Fits in where Merc and BMW dont quite make it.
Knowing someone at corporate BMW, he says Audi are BMW's biggest rival. Absolutely right.

Audi, Merc, and BMW have differing philosophies. Its about what suits you.

Please do not compare the Audi to Skoda or VW as they may have similar Drivetrains but they are built differently and at their own respective factories. They are different cars!

VW own 100 percent of Skoda. VW own 99 percent of Audi... but Audi owns 100% of Lamborghini and Bentley..some of you forget that.

Audi all the way!!!

By A330driver on 3 May, 2011, 9:21am

LSS

Driven these three plus XF last weekend and the A6 and 5 series are easily first and second respectively; albeit only in my opinion. I would however fully understand why someone else may reverse the order of these two but these are by far the more superior cars! My only other comment would be is that the BMW superiority gap has gone and we should look forward to further game changers in the future!

By lloyd6795 on 3 May, 2011, 4:06pm

Its simple......

....buy a Jaguar XF

By Jag1981 on 5 May, 2011, 1:37pm

Top 3 choices for Executives are the 3 Germans. How many buy the Jag, very few. Dont big up the Jag because it is 'British'. The company will have no incentive to improve it if they think we will buy it regardless of the quality because it is British. The 3 tested here sell well across the world because of their well deserved reputation for quality. How about Jaguar selling us a Mondeo badged as the X-type, yeah right.

By Themangood on 13 May, 2011, 7:34pm

"Slip sliding away, slip sliding away..."

"... You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away"

Sorry guys, but BMW is now off my shopping list as they are simply embarrassing handlers in the snow and ice. I was fortunate enough to be driving a front wheel drive car both last winter and the winter before, when I witnessed more than several incidents where a BMW driver had got into trouble and snarled it up for the rest of us. This isn't some minor point-scoring execise on my part, they really are RUBBISH when the going gets tough. Love the look and quality though...

By FloatingVoter on 15 May, 2011, 11:28am