Audi A6 Allroad quattro: Luxury estate and posh workhorse

We found a nice article about the Audi A6 Allroad quattro, a luxury estate and posh workhorse all in one vehicle.

The all-new A6 Allroad, with its estate car body, sits between the A6 Avant quattro and the Q7. Audi say they are the only premium manufacturer to offer both Allroad estate car and a full SUV and these two types of vehicles will appeal to very different customers.

Although both sets of customers will come from the same 40-50 age group each with an average salary of £50-£60k, Audi say they differ status orientation and extrovert nature. More simply they mean Allroad drivers are more restrained and seek less attention whilst SUV owners, who might buy their Q7, want to flaunt their flamboyant aspirations.

The Allroad has long been a favourite for well off people who cover great distances travelling in their line of business but who generally live in the country. They need to get from place to place in all weathers and part of their life will include driving off-road. They do not find it necessary to have a big unwieldy heavyweight 4x4 but prefer something which is fast and more suitable for motorways yet retains the ability to cope with mud, snow, sand and rough tracks as work or leisure dictates. I live in the country and I see a growing band of well off people driving these vehicles. The sort of people are well known horse trainers and racing stable owners, on the gallops watching their horses in the early morning and then going to a racecourse probably at the other end of the country for the start of racing lunchtime. I use this group of people only as an example but it typifies the sort of person who I know from first hand experience chooses such a vehicle as the Allroad. They could equally be surveyors, architects, landed gentry, the ‘Royals’, all high profile professional people needing to do their job whatever the weather.

The qualities of the Audi A6, the Avant and the quattro four-wheel drive systems have been well documented by the motoring media with barely a negative word to say, other than perhaps price. The interiors are the best in the business in the premium segment both for design, application and quality. The estate area is large but not the largest and the quattro system sharpens up the handling of all Audi models where it is an option. With the added adjustable air suspension you get the best of all worlds. Limpet road adhesion, a smooth flat computer controlled ride with good handling feedback to the driver and the ability to increase the ground clearance only when needed are all elements which combine to give the Allroad a serious advantage over traditional off-roaders, unless of course really bad off-road terrain is likely to be encountered. Snow, mud and rutted tracks will not stop the Allroad but because it has a car–type suspension it will not absorb the worst of impacts encountered dropping into very deep off road tracks created by tractors and 4x4s. So it really is a case of knowing what the Allroad can do in reality and of course that means for 99% of the time it does everything you might need very well.