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Audi A6 2.0 TFSI and 2.0 TDI 2012 review

EXPERT RATING
7.5

TWO poor wretches have just emerged from the car behind and the scene is dreadful: completely soaked and exhausted, they stumble into the bright light and find comfort in 35C heat.

The unfortunate fellows have spent a couple of hours driving through the Adelaide Hills in the new Audi A6 and it's much hotter inside the car than outside in the sun. The A6 has airconditioning, of course. They've turned it off.

Their shirts dry more quickly than I can stop laughing. But behind the smile is concern, and not for their personal hygiene: What did you get?

ECONOMY PRESSURE

We're on an efficiency challenge, dreamed up by Audi to demonstrate the frugality of its new four-cylinder A6s. These have just joined the six-cylinders launched in June and a handful of cars, petrol and diesel, have been split between two teams.

Lowest total wins. As fellow members of team green, my co-driver and I need the sweaty ones to do well. Even if we don't want to sit next to them. 

Their number is 5.0 litres per 100km, bang on the official fuel consumption figure for the diesel 2.0 TDI. Anyone who has tried to replicate these numbers knows they don't relate very well to the real world. 

In the A6, help is at hand. An energy meter for auxiliaries shows how much you save. For our perspiring team-mates, turning off the aircon gave them an edge. It's a good result and shows off the driveline, at least, to best advantage. Crucially, too, it's better than the diesels of the opposing team.

TECHNOLOGY

But even those more concerned about personal comfort are doing fairly well. With this generation, A6 four-cylinders go to the top of the efficiency class. The 5.0l/100km figure for the 2.0 TDI means it matches or betters the BMW 520d, Jaguar XF 2.2D and Mercedes E220 CDI.

It's a similar story with the petrol 2.0 TFSI, which improves 17 per cent for a figure of 6.4. The 2.0 TFSI matches the newest (and yet undriven) BMW 520i and is substantially more economical than the Mercedes E250 CGI, with its turbo 1.8.

At this level, the 2.0 TFSI also benefits from a higher luxury car tax threshold and so a couple of thousand comes off the starting price. Both diesel and petrol have more power and torque than before and both are quicker. As well as being neck-and-neck with each other -- at 8.2 or 8.3 seconds to 100km/h -- they lose just one-tenth in acceleration to the naturally aspirated 2.8-litre V6.

As well as the latest engine technology, including direct injection, the fours have stop-start systems and drive the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission with eight manually selectable ratios. Helping the efficiency claims are aluminium panels, including the bonnet and doors, which reduce weight by 65kg.

DRIVING

Happily, you don't have to take an in-car sauna to benefit and in the petrol we're leaving it on for long spells and still getting 6.3. That's slightly better than the official figure and I'm not entirely clear how we've done it.

Certainly, there's no point thinking you can drive as you usually do. At least, not for most drivers. We've been accelerating and braking as smoothly as possible and trying to even out speed by looking a long way ahead, anticipating every move. We're also going much slower than the law allows. At times, 20km/h below the limit as we try to keep revs low. For a while, there are a half-dozen cars backed up behind, and who can be patient in heat like this?

Well, Adelaide can. In most parts of Australia, we'd have been thoroughly abused by now -- a concern in a city better known for its murders than its churches. But if there's a bright spot for road tolerance in Australia, we're in it. This, it seems, is business as usual for South Australian drivers. At least on last week's baking Wednesday.

Across a 170km route through the Adelaide Hills our 6.3 in the petrol combines with two excellent scores from team green diesels to take out the win. But it's with some relief that the next day's drive does not involve a competition; this sort of thing can become obsessive.

With the normal amount of lead in my right foot, different aspects of the engines stand out. Both the petrol and diesel have enough low-rev torque for an easygoing drive and either four-cylinder would make a relaxed touring machine. It's quiet and civilised in here.

This is true even though both employ a continuously variable transmission. CVTs can be unpleasant because of the way they exploit an engine's power band. They tend to locate one narrow part of the rev range and adjust their internal ratios, rather than rev the engine out as you would normally. They can be shrill and will never be a driver's first pick. Although here they are better than expected.

Nor is front-wheel drive the enthusiast's choice, especially for a large car. If performance and handling is your priority, then the V6s come with all-wheel drive. If I was left with doubts about these cars, it concerned their ride quality, which felt busy even on roads that looked smooth.

I wasn't convinced they could cope with the worst of Aussie tarmac. But I do know, for sure, that the airconditioning can cope with the worst of Aussie heat.

AUDI A6 2.0 TFSI, 2.0 TDI

Price: From $77,900 (2.0 TFSI) to $78,900 (2.0 TDI) plus on-road costs
Engines: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol or diesel
Outputs: 132kW at 4000kW and 320Nm at 1500rpm (2.0 TFSI); 130kW at 4200kW and 380Nm at 1750rpm (2.0 TDI)
Transmission: Eight-speed continuously variable transmission, front-wheel drive
Fuel Consumption: 6.4l/100km (2.0 TFSI) 5.0l/100km (2.0 TDI)

Pricing guides

$17,875
Based on third party pricing data
Lowest Price
$10,010
Highest Price
$25,740

Range and Specs

VehicleSpecsPrice*
Allroad Quattro LE 3.0L, Diesel, 7 SP AUTO $20,350 – 25,740 2012 Audi A6 2012 Allroad Quattro LE Pricing and Specs
2.8 FSI Quattro 2.8L, PULP, 7 SP AUTO $14,740 – 19,360 2012 Audi A6 2012 2.8 FSI Quattro Pricing and Specs
2.0 TFSI Avant 2.0L, PULP, CVT AUTO $14,740 – 19,360 2012 Audi A6 2012 2.0 TFSI Avant Pricing and Specs
3.0 TFSI Quattro 3.0L, PULP, 7 SP AUTO $16,280 – 20,900 2012 Audi A6 2012 3.0 TFSI Quattro Pricing and Specs
EXPERT RATING
7.5
Philip King
Contributing Journalist

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Pricing Guide

$10,010

Lowest price, based on third party pricing data

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