Overkill or Just What the Country Doctor Ordered
When the designers, engineers and product planners at Audi create a new product, it's normally chic and advanced in some form or another, and such was the case when the Volkswagen AG division showed the world its production allroad crossover for the first time in 1998 as a 1999 model.
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| With unexpected competition closing in, Audi felt a 300-hp 4.2-liter V8 powered allroad would help boost sales. (Photo: Volkswagen AG) |
But since that time the market of luxury sport utilities has boomed, with unexpected competition popping up from domestics like Cadillac and Chrysler to imports such as Infiniti and Porsche. Though Audi's entry could have continued along as it was, pulling in a modicum of sophisticated urban families, Audi felt its quasi-SUV needed a slight boost to kick it up the sales charts; enter the 300-hp 4.2 liter V8.
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| The updated allroad 4.2 has minor exterior changes, but still doesn't have the look or the feel of a sport utility vehicle - a positive or negative trait depending on priorities. (Photo: Volkswagen AG) |
Although Audi would like us to think of its allroad as a sport utility vehicle, it just doesn't have the look or the feel of one. Moreover, it reminds more of the Volvo XC70, or as it was previously known, the V70 Cross Country. Derived from the standard A6 Avant (read wagon), the German brand added matte black front and rear bumpers as well as four rough and ready wheel well arches.
The updated allroad 4.2 adds chrome-plated moldings at the bottom of each door to match the brightwork roof rack, similar to the body-colored trim of the sporty S6 - a nice touch.