Alternative review of Audi A6 Avant

Sometimes, it's hard to do this job. Let's take the car I've been looking at this week, Audi's latest A6 Avant. Yes, you could carp about the premium prices (from £26,910 if you're interested) but aside from that, I'm really struggling to fault it. There are no duffers of course in the Executive Estate sector this car sits in. BMW's 5 Series Touring and Mercedes' E-class estate are the two main rivals but having tried these then checked out the Audi, I'd have to say that the Ingolstadt car just shades it. It has a dignified presence, astonishing build quality and that feel good factor that counts for so much when you're buying a car of this kind.

The Audi offers probably the most meticulously developed loading bay of any estate car to date. The flat 105cm wide load floor features a pair of recessed rails and these are the key to many of the A6's features. Fitted with four sliding, adjustable and lockable lashing eyes, it's possible to couple the lashing eyes with the standard luggage net so that bags aren't sent flying around the load bay during spirited cornering. Bag hooks integrated into the luggage compartment and an additional luggage net on one side also keep things firmly in place. A lockable side compartment can be specified as an optional extra, helping to keep valuables safely out of sight. When lifting up the load floor, I found a large plastic tray that was ideal for storing muddy boots or stinking dog toys. I also liked the fact that the floor itself can be locked into a number of positions to prevent items sliding around in the load area. Perhaps the A6 Avant's neatest trick however, is to offer an optional telescopic rail which slots into the conventional rail mechanism and can be used to wedge luggage into place. Still the ideas keep coming. A retaining strap can be used to pin objects securely against the sides of the luggage compartment at the push of a button. If after all this, you manage to break the family china in the back of an Audi A6, in my view, you're either lazy, stupid or exceedingly unlucky.

All the A6 saloon's engines are on offer in the A6 Avant bodystyle. That means 2.0T, 2.4, 2.8, 3.2 and 4.2-litre petrol units and 2.0, 2.7 and 3.0-litre diesel powerplants. Then there's a range-topping 5.2-litre V10 that powers the S6. The car I tried was a 3.0-litre TDi diesel model and it's a class act. Drop inside and it smells delicious like all new upspec Audi models - leather and the faint tang of oil. Just because it burns diesel rather than unleaded petrol doesn't mean it's a sluggard either. It's markedly more powerful than its challengers from Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar, the 225bhp engine setting a new class benchmark and easy beating the 204bhp of the most expensive car of the trio, the Mercedes E320CDi. That power advantage also means that it's one of the quickest and although its advantage is clear over the Jaguar S-TYPE 2.7D, that huge body takes a serious engine to get it moving. A sprint to 60mph takes just 7.1 seconds and a top speed of 150mph put it on a par with the BMW 530d and it's also a fair bit quicker off the line than the Mercedes. It seems as if the Audi has swept all before it. If there is one Achilles heel in the A6 3.0 TDI's make up, it comes in the form of its emissions figures. Emitting 229 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometer, the Audi will be significantly more expensive in terms of benefit in kind taxation than all three of its key rivals. It's also a bit thirstier with a combined fuel consumption figure of 33.2mpg. Do bear in mind when making comparisons of this sort that the Audi is fitted with a six-speed tiptronic automatic gearbox as standard. This gearbox is a massive 14kg lighter than its five-speed predecessor. Audi have also widened the gear ratios, giving the A6 better pick up at low speeds and more relaxed high speed cruising ability. The shift is faster and the downshifts are accompanied by an automatic double-declutching feature that blips the throttle in a sporting fashion. A sport mode will interest keener drivers although the gearbox isn't as quick-witted as the S Tronic twin-clutch manual that's fitted to the top of the range TT coupe.

If I was in the market for an Executive Estate. I'd shop here first.

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