Kelley Blue Book ® - 2003 Audi A6 Overview

Vehicle Overview from Kelley Blue Book


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Body
A6 is a Ten

The A6 is Audi's mid-level luxury-performance sedan. Its rivals include the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes E-Class and Lexus GS. Though each of its competitors appeals to a different buyer—-and sometimes financial demographic—the A6 is well equipped to pose a formidable challenge to all of these worthy automobiles because its lineup is so varied; the A6 ranges in price from $36K to a high of over $50K and can be everything from a boulevard-smooth cruiser to terrorizing street rod.

Perhaps more than any other car is its class, the A6 offers a truly inspired interior design, one that goes beyond the oh-so-common gray, black and tan color palate. The A6 offers a choice of interior colors, materials and wood trims that let you feel as though you've personalized your car. The soft touch plastics and tastefully applied brushed-aluminum trim show the A6's interior design team has a real eye for design and aesthetics. The dash layout is stunning to behold, especially at night with its glowing red backgrounds and bright white gauges. Everything you touch inside the A6 has a sturdy, substantial feel to it, from the thickly-padded steering wheel to the sculpted door panels that flow forward to join the dash.

The A6 interior is more than just a visual experience; it is equally enjoyable from a tactile perspective. The front seats, for example, offer a power adjustable lumbar support that not only adjust fore and aft, but can also be moved north or south to better fit the contours of your back. We find very little to complain about in the A6, though we did notice that the the digitally-controlled HVAC system sits low in the dash and is partially blocked by the gear selector. You'll discover that even after weeks of driving the A6, it will continue to delight and entertain you with subtle little features, like the theatre-style floor lighting that slowly fades up when you enter and then fades to black after you've closed the door.

Beyond its graceful Bauhaus inspired design and opulent interiors, the A6 has one other very strong appeal for those who enjoy the thrill of the drive: the option of a manual gear box—in this case a wonderfully smooth 6-speed manual—on the 2.7 T model. And Audi has not excluded those who don't care for the burden of working a clutch pedal; the standard automatic includes the wonderful Tiptronic transmission that allows you the ability to manually shift gears by either tapping the shift lever or using the steering-wheel-mounted up/down shift buttons.Audi has also made its multitronic continuously variable transmission standard equipment on the A6 3.0. The multitronic replaces the traditional gear-set found in a standard transmission with a mesh belt that moves between two pulleys. This design eliminates the shifting, balking and delay that sometimes slow the performance of gear-driven transmissions; it also allows the engine's peak torque and horsepower to be better utilized at all speeds. Engine choices for the A6 include an all-new aluminum 220-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 engine and a torque-heavy 4.2-liter V8, good for 300 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 6.7 seconds. There is also a high-performance twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6 that puts out 250 horsepower and can post a 0-60 time of 6.0 seconds flat (with the six-speed manual.)Audi believes that performance, handling and power are also important to the luxury car buyer, so each A6 model has been designed to provide an ample dose of all three, just in differing measures. Handling is as much a safety issue with Audi as it is a performance one; so all A6s feature a sophisticated four-link front suspension that virtually eliminates torque steer in the front drive models. If you require more traction than front-wheel drive can provide, you'd be well-served to opt for Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system, which practically glues the A6 to the pavement. If you live where inclement weather is at all a problem, the $2000 Quattro option barely increases the overall price of the vehicle and the added measure of security it offers is priceless. Among the many features the A6 can count as standard equipment are such mainstays as power windows with one touch up/down feature, remote keyless entry with alarm, front side-impact airbags and a side-curtain airbag that runs the length of the cabin, dual-zone automatic air conditioning, driver's information system, premium audio with cassette and in-dash CD changer, cruise control, tilt/telescopic steering wheel and traction control.