Hard to imagine now, but if you walked into an Audi showroom ten years ago, your only choice was something from either the A4 or A6 model
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc, Auto123.com) |
ranges. But with plans to extend its lineup from the existing 22 to a total of 40 by the year 2015--more immediately, the A5 Coupé, Audi TT Roadster and the Audi R8 mid-engined sports car, all coming for 2007--Audi is getting serious about being a full-line carmaker. Even the Audis that matter to driving zealots--badged S line, S, and RS--have multiplied like hasenpfeffer. Which nicely segue's into this road test's subject matter: Audi's new S6. Or, better known to enthusiasts as, "the S6 with that Lamborghini vee-ten".Appearing first in Audi's recently rejuvenated über-luxury-sedan S8, this is Audi's first ever vee-ten. Although the German company admits that the S6's mill was pinched from a parts bin with an Italian label, they also say that there's been enough technical differentiation from Audi's hard working engineers to call this mill their own.
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc, Auto123.com) |
Engine genealogy aside, cajoling a 435 horsepower, 398 pound-feet of torque 5.2-litre ten cylinder into the engine bay of the sourced A6 sedan certainly does supports Audi's "getting serious" attitude. Compared to the carmaker's first S6 from the mid-'90s--that housed a 227 h.p., 258 lb.-ft. of torque 2.2-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine--it's also another indication of Audi's decade long upwards progress. More on the S6's Lambo, er, Audi vee-ten later. As expected from any Audi wearing an S badge, the rest of the five-passenger, mid-size sedan has been modified to balance the engine's prodigious power.
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc, Auto123.com) |
The sole transmission choice--a six-speed manumatic--has been retuned to deliver more dynamic gear changes. In addition to being able to select "S" sport mode via the console gear-shift lever, an S6 driver can also swap cogs anytime manually with the gorgeous aluminum-optic shift paddles that are mounted on the steering wheel. The S6's steering ratio has been quickened over the A6's, and standard 19-inch cast aluminum wheels with a distinctive 5-arm wing design and four large (386 millimtres in the front, 330 millimtres out back) ventilated discs with brake calipers painted black are all S6 exclusives.Standard S6 rubber are 265/35 R19 summer performance tires, but during this most recent test, slightly narrower 255/35 R19 Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D M+S were fitted for the impending cold.
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc, Auto123.com) |
Inside, the S6's cockpit is crafted like every other A6--the industry's benchmark. For the new S6, front occupants enjoy sports seat with integral head restraints and pronounced lateral supports wrapped in Silk Nappa leather. The three-spoke multifunction leather sports steering wheel has power reach and height adjustments. And, as per Audi S standards, the instrument needles are in white and its numbers use characteristic S-style italics; the dials are in dark grey.