Audi A6 C7, a car that finally managed to fulfill its dream of becoming a luxury car for discreet people. However, is humanity still looking for discretion in our times?

Audi A6 C7, because an Audi A4 is below your dignity and an Audi A8 is above your financial power. In fact, I’m just thinking that the Audi A6 C7 and Opel Astra J are spiritual cars, because even this A6 also fails to find its target audience. This A6 is not a car that screams luxury and tells everyone that life treats you well, whether you have chosen legal or less legal ways in life in order to make money. It’s just that the people which belong in the second category have flocked to Mercedes and SUVs, leaving the sedan somewhere in the annals (haha, annals) of history.

We also talked in the Mondeo article about this problem, what relevance does a sedan have in 2020?

What is the relevance of the classic sedan, in a world of SUVs? And here the Audi A6 C7 is stubborn to retire and still offers a luxury alternative to the corporate managers and hospital medics. Because apart from them, I don’t know who else would buy an Audi A6 C7.

 

Audi A6 C7 Engines

Petrol

  • 2.0 TFSI of 180 and 211 horsepower – The entry-level engine for those who want a simple engine, without too much hassle and headaches caused by particle filters, cold starting in the morning and other diesel induced anger. However, while being an Flex Lewis of an engine on the A4, it’s more of an Graham Norton on the Audi A6 C7, so make sure you can get along with this engine.
  • 2.8 V6 FSI of 220 horsepower – Launched immediately after the Battle of Yamazaki in 1582, this is the last naturally aspirate petrol on the Audi A6 C7. It does not get 100% along with an LPG contraption and lives in a time where turbocharged petrols are reliable and are no longer haunted by their issues from the past. Kind of the Tom Jones of engines, 2.8 FSI still can do it, but it can’t shake that feeling that it comes from another era, where engines were engines, cars were cars, men were men and goblin-on-gnome adult films were goblin-on-gnome adult films.
  • 3.0 TFSI of 300 and 310 horsepower – Finally, the most representative engine for the Audi A6 C7. I will explain in the general issues section what is the matter with this Michael Phelps of the engine world, and in the verdict why I choose this engine as the most balanced.
  • 4.0 TFSI of 420 and 560 horsepower – Available for S6 and RS6, these cars are so far away from the Audi A6 C7 that they ask for their own article. It is important to know that the engine comes with cylinder deactivation technology at light load, so it no longer consumes 45 liters per hundred km of city, it will consume only 40 liters. As if consumption or the amount of emissions have any relevance to you when you buy an RS6.

Diesel

  • 2.0 TDI of 177 horsepower – The well-known 2.0 TDI is once again asked for service on the Audi A6. Coming with most of it’s issues solved, this microscopic diesel is perfectly decent for the Audi A4 B8, but not for the Audi A6 C7. 2.0 TDI, the aspirational engine for the aspirational Audi A6. If you want an Audi A6 C7 but you can’t afford an Audi A6 C7, you get a 2.0 TDI manual with front-wheel drive. Just make sure to put some money aside for the dual mass flywheel and for the DPF.
  • 3.0 TDI of 204 and 245 horsepower – The basic engine for all barges from the VAG group, this 3.0 TDI is able to transport you quickly, quietly, with reasonable diesel consumption and can easily tow a trailer with another Audi A6 C7 . However, there were some issues with the timing chain tensioner for the first versions and so it’s recommended to replace them with tensioners built after 2016.
  • 3.0 BiTDI of 313 horsepower – A rarer engine than a welsh working as a hotel receptionist in Osaka, this 3.0 BiTDI has good and less than good points. What is certain is that if you are lucky enough and the BiTDI system breaks down, the repair costs so much that you can sell the car. Yes, even when we talk about an Audi A6 C7.

Hybrid

2.0 TFSI + electric of 245 horsepower – With a 211 horsepower from 2.0 TFSI and 45 from an electric motor, which can use together a maximum of 245 horsepower. A hybrid engine sold because why not. Or to fill out some brochure or emissions median. So that nobody can point fingers that the Audi A6 C7 doesn’t have any hybrid options available.

Audi A6 C7 General Issues

  • Petrol engines that are aided by turbos also need aid from the engine oil in order to do the job properly. Yes, ladies, gentlemen and everything in between, this generation of Audi the 2.0 TFSI and 3.0 TFSI engines carry on the oil consumption torch of it’s predecessors. It doesn’t chugg down as much as it used to, but it’s good practice to keep a barell of oil in the boot. You never know.
  • The S-Tronic automatic transmission (DSG) is of a new generation and has fewer problems. However, the oil and filter must be changed every 60,000 km. As for the front-wheel drive versions, they come with the already classic Multitronic CVT automatic gearbox, affectionately nicknamed “Multitrauma”.
  • The parking brake is electric, obviously, as you own an Audi A6 C7. You don’t have one of those cheap Dacia Logan to pull the handbrake lever yourself. But do you know what a Logan has and the Audi A6 C7 doesn’t? Rust. In any case, the electric parking brake has the occasional habit of getting stuck, thanks to the parking break motor wich works with the same interest as an old hag working at the taxes counter.
  • It is said that all Audi A6 owners are equal. It’s just that some are more equal than others. And here I mean the pretentious air suspension with it’s signature air of superiority. The Audi A6 has a disastrous reputation and history with air suspension, only that in the case of the Audi A6 C7 the problem is not with the actual bags, but with the trailing arms that have bushes made out of chewing gum. Thus, the air passes through the bushes and the arms no longer do their job. If you have air suspension on your A6 and you hear a squeak when you take a pothole head on (I know, a rare phenomenon in UK), then you can suspect that there is something wrong with the suspension.
  • The MMI system slides and rises more spectacularly than your heart rate when you see the invoices. However, the MMI system does not always slide very majestically, or at all.
  • Power steering is the last point discussed here and it’s not even a general issue. Electric power steering is the latest craze in the automotive industry and if you haven’t driven a car with electric steering so far, I sincerely recommend you do a rigorous test drive. Like Andre Rieu’s music, electric is not for everyone.

Audi A6 C7 Verdict

A car that timidly entered the industry, which then broke the market and was the official car of the double-layered-neck-tracksuit-wearing-gold-chain-showing gentlemen, Audi A6 is now a car for those who want something discreet and do not want to stand out. Guns and swords enthusiasts have now moved on to the Audi A7, and those who want an Audi but can’t afford an Audi now buy an A3 or at most an A4. Those who want luxury buy an A8. Those who want opulence buy a Q7. Those who want status buy a Q5. And where does the A6 fit into this combination? The only target group I see are people who want an Audi A8 but want to drive it themselves. But that’s about it.

What engine do I recommend? Following the above train of logic, if you want to drive your own car and can afford an Audi A6 C7, then clearly a 300 horsepower 3.0 TFSI is the best answer for you.