Audi just debuted the newest addition to their lineup, the A6 Avant. The model is positioned squarely to be cross-shopped with the 5 Series Touring, and likewise won’t be offered in the United States market. Our first impression is that our longroof enthusiast friends overseas will have quite the difficult choice to make, since the A6 Avant pulls out all the stops.
Exterior Design
The A6 Avant debuted in the surprising shade of Unlikely Brown, but details are still easy to make out. (The actual name is Madeira Brown metallic.) The A6 Avant gets narrower headlights, considerably larger air intakes along the side of the front bumper, and a wider front grille. That translates to a more aggressive—but perhaps slightly more cluttered and cheaper—appearance.
One thing the 5 Series Touring definitely lacks is the A6 Avant’s exhaust tips in the back. Apparently, they’re real, and they look great with the black diffuser running under the rear bumper cover. Both cars offer a variety of slick alloy wheel designs, and the 21-inch wheels featured on this car look fantastic. The A6 Avant is a little bit shorter and narrower than the 5er. Deciding between the 5 Series and A6 is largely a matter of taste. The A6 looks more aggressive. The 5 Series Touring is more restrained.
Interior Design
The 5 Series Touring is larger than the A6 Avant, so, intuitively, the 5er has more storage space—1,700 liters vs. the Audi’s 1,534 liters. Both get a 40/20/40 split-folding rear bench. From the cockpit, both wagons offer a lot of screen real estate, and Audi even gives you one for the passenger. That’s coming soon to the 5 Series. Both sport a square-bottom steering wheel and minimal button controls. Everything’s on the screen these days, after all. They’re more similar than different. Like on the outside, this largely comes down to simple preference.
Performance
We don’t have a look at the performance versions of the A6 Avant quite yet. When we see an S6 Avant—or even better, a V8-powered RS6 Avant—we’ll have a better idea of this chassis’ upper limits. What we do know is that the A6 Avant offers three engine options: a 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine, a 2.0-liter diesel four-pot, and a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. Each one pairs with quattro all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission. Both the V6 and diesel are mild hybrids.
The top-dog V6 makes a decent enough 270 kW (367 PS, 362 horsepower) and 550 newton meters (406 pound-feet) of torque. By contrast BMW’s top-dog Tourer makes 360 kW (489 hp), which is quite a gap. Historically, BMW provides a much more engaging driving experience, and we tend to think that will ring true here, too.
Technology
Like we said, the A6 Avant and 5 Series Touring both offer a lot of screen real estate. That means tons of gizmos, gadgets, and apps only tangentially related to the business of driving. For example, Audi states that the A6 Avant features ChatGPT-ingrained infotainment. On the other hand, BMW offers AirConsole for in-car gaming. Any way you slice it, both offer pretty much every modern tech feature one could reasonably expect a luxury vehicle to have. One area in which the 5 Series definitely excels is usability – the physical iDrive controller is still alive and well, at least for now.
The A6 Avant looks good, even though we won’t see it in America. At least, not without an extra bit of badging, be it RS or Allroad. The Avant’s debut comes just ahead of a sedan variant that will come to the states—but we’re willing to bet it won’t be as cool as this thing is. What do you think of the new A6 Avant?
