Available as an option: adaptive air suspension
The new A6 Avant – and, at the same time, the A6 saloon – is available with the adaptive air suspension system as featured on the A8 as an optional extra. The combination of air suspension and an electronically controlled damping system produces the perfect synthesis of decidedly sporty handling properties and superb suspension comfort.
A choice of three different characteristics ranging from very sporty to relaxed can be selected via the central Multi Media Interface MMI control element.
The automatic mode represents the perfect all-round setting. At speeds of more than 120 km/h, the body is lowered by 15 millimetres. The change in ride height produces first of all a lower centre of gravity. At motorway speeds, the lower settings in addition reduce drag and therefore fuel consumption. If the driver then slows down to less than 70 km/h, the air suspension raises the vehicle body again to its starting position.
Gentle compression and excellent long-distance comfort are the characteristics of the "comfort" setting. If the "comfort" mode has been selected, speed-dependent lowering of the body at motorway speeds is suppressed.
The performance in the "dynamic" setting is a match for steel-spring sports suspension. In the "dynamic" mode, the car's ride height is lowered permanently by 15 millimetres.
At low speeds the adaptive air suspension establishes greater ground clearance of 15 millimetres in the lift mode if the driver so wishes. This is an additional bonus on uneven terrain. At road speeds of more than 100 km/h, the vehicle is then automatically lowered to its standard height.
In all selectable ranges, the continuously variable dampers are in addition automatically adapted to the type of road and driving style.
The classic conflict between sportiness and comfort is thus overcome.
The new A6 Avant comes with air spring struts on the front wheels, with the air suspension gaiters arranged concentrically around the infinitely adjustable shock absorbers. The air suspension gaiters consist of a special, multi-layered elastomer material with polyamide to increase strength. The advantage of this design is that the thin-walled and consequently soft-rolling gaiters lend the new A6 Avant excellent rolling properties and make the suspension highly responsive even to minor jolts.
On the rear axle, the air springs and fully controlled dampers are separated from one another. The main advantage of this configuration, as with conventional suspension, is that it allows a large through-loading width and helps to keep the floor in the luggage compartment as low as possible.
The car's ride height is held constant independent of the load by fully load-bearing air springs at the front and rear.
Thanks to its concept, air suspension provides a number of inherent advantages: the occupants benefit from a constantly smooth ride at all times, regardless of the load the vehicle is carrying. This is because the firmness of the springs adapts to the load situation at all times.
The equipment
Even with the standard specification, the new Audi A6 Avant comes with a level of equipment by no means usual even in the luxury class. And this superiority is immediately borne out by the use of premium materials and the perfect quality of finish.
MMI - Multi Media Interface
The integrated user interface which goes by the name of Multi Media Interface MMI is unparalleled by anything on offer from the competition. This infotainment platform and control concept on the new A6 Avant combines the advantages of simple operation, a perfect position and consistent operating logic.
With MMI having already set the standard in the luxury-class Audi A8, it is now continuing its story of success in the executive segment. As in the Audi A6 saloon before it, the system is available in three different configurations: as MMI basic (standard), MMI basic plus, and MMI.
The Audi A6 Avant comes as standard with MMI basic, featuring the terminal, a 6.5-inch monochrome display, as well as an integrated radio and single-disc CD player. Music output is via a 2x20 Watt amplifier and four loudspeakers in the front doors. Like all radios, the basic system comes with speed-dependent volume control and, thanks to the diversity aerial, excellent radio recep¬tion. As well as the radio functions and the broadcasting of traffic information, numerous vehicle functions such as the air conditioning and interior light configuration can be controlled via MMI basic, as on the Audi A8.
On MMI basic plus, available as an optional extra, the radio system of MMI basic can be further upgraded with extra components. A TP memory, for example, is able to record traffic messages lasting up to four minutes. Over and above the basic unit, MMI basic plus comes with a sound system incorporating a total of 10 loudspeakers (three-way combinations at the front and two-way combinations at the rear).
MMI basic plus can also be combined with a CD-based navigation system featuring optical destination guidance using arrow pictograms and additional text in¬form¬ation in the driver information system presented exactly in the driver's line of vision. The system also indicates the route acoustically to the driver. Route planning takes all information pro¬vided by TMC traffic radio messaging into account.
Fitted as an option with the full range of features, MMI comes with a 7-inch colour monitor in the new Audi A6 Avant. In addition to the high-quality audio system already featured with MMI basic plus, a double tuner and a six-disc CD changer are included in the radio system.
Yet a further option also available in combination with MMI and MMI basic plus is the all-new BOSE surround sound system, no less than five amplifier channels distributing sound around the listener like in a concert hall – and in the process creating an experience in sound which sets new standards even in the supreme luxury range. The BOSE system provides an equalizer function that adapts the sound output to the speed-dependent level of background noise in the vehicle.
As on the A8, MMI can also be supplied with DVD navigation. A DVD provides more than ten times the storage capacity of a conventional CD ROM, coupled with a noticeably faster access time. This kind of capacity is able to cover not only the route directions for one country but almost the entire Western European road network on one single data carrier, relieving the driver of the annoying job of changing the CD when crossing borders.
A further advantage is that the navigation system calculates the route much more swiftly than on CD-based systems. This is particularly noticeable during map loading and when using the zoom function. This allows a flowing zooming in and out and enables the map to be moved in all four directions. As an alternative, the navigation system can also be operated using voice control.
adaptive cruise control
As on the Audi A8, the new A6 Avant, and parallel the saloon, comes as an option with an intelligent "travelling companion": second generation radar-aided adaptive cruise control that automatically maintains the right distance from the vehicle ahead. Supplementing the optional cruise control function, this system significantly enhances driving convenience by automatically controlling the speed of the car relative to the vehicle ahead and the distance chosen.
A new feature in the latest generation of adaptive cruise control is the fact that the angle recorded by the sensor has doubled, clearly improving the detection range especially on winding country roads. And for the first time, the system can be combined with manual gearboxes.
Hidden discreetly out of sight, the system sensor is fitted behind the trim grille on the coolant air intake. While the car is on the move, it emits radar signals that determine how far ahead the next vehicle is. A computer then establishes whether that distance is increasing or decreasing based on the change compared with the previous measurement, and adjusts the car's own speed correspondingly by manipulating the accelerator or the brakes.
The Audi development engineers have deliberately limited the intensity of possible acceleration and that of brake intervention and very definitely designed the distance control as a convenience system. The adaptive cruise control system is configured such that when another vehicle that is travelling at a completely different speed is approached, the driver is alerted both visually and acoustically to the need for a conscious, situation-appropriate response. The speed range used by the system is between 30 and 200 km/h.
Adaptive headlights and daytime running lights
As on its saloon counterpart, ultra-advanced innovations are to be found behind the clear-glass covers of the A6 Avant's headlights: the dynamic technology of adaptive light, and daytime running lights in conjunction with xenon plus technology – a combination not found on any competitor model.
The new A6 Avant, too, comes with light units in Audi's typical "tube" look. Featuring anthracite-coloured trims, the tubes for the high and low beams appear to hover almost freely in the air, giving the front-end design of the car its very own touch of high-tech.
The headlights on the new A6 Avant come in three different versions: halogen headlights in free-form technology fitted as standard, xenon plus headlights with daytime running lights, and the xenon plus system with the dynamic adaptive light system that "can see" around a bend. It does this by pivoting the ellipsoidal module for the high-beam and low-beam headlights in synchronisation with the line of the road or a bend as the car is being driven. This greatly improves illumination of the road in front of the vehicle and to the sides, making it easier for the driver to anticipate the course of the road ahead.
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