Audi A6 review

Like most new-age Audis, the interior of the A6 is dominated by screens. The 11.9in digital dial display is rather plain and not quite as good as Audi’s old Virtual Cockpit, with ADAS graphics in the centre of the screen and no option to stick a map there.

You don’t get a rev counter unless you switch to a sportier mode either, and the impressive, augmented reality head-up display is only available as part of a £2,650 ‘Sound and Vision’ pack.

The central touchscreen is a whopper at 14.5in and is angled towards the driver. Again, it’s crisp and easy to read, but the graphics and colours are a little bit clinical. You do get some permanent shortcuts housed on the side, but there are barely any proper physical buttons in the cabin. D'oh! All of your climate controls are on the screen, although thankfully there are also a number of ways to set up shortcuts to disable the more intrusive active safety systems.

The 10.9in passenger display is included on top-spec Edition 1 models and uses clever tech to stop the driver from getting distracted. It can be used to play games, stream videos or access the nav. In reality, it’s a bit of a gimmick.

Oh, and it’s probably worth noting that the Audi voice assistant will now divert to ChatGPT if it can’t answer a question, which is a bit of a kick in the teeth for all of us trying to reject the encroachment of AI into our daily lives.

What are the non-digital bits like? 

Very good. The S-spec seats are excellent and you sit low in the car. This generation A6 is 60mm longer than the previous gen too, and rear seat space is plentiful. Leather trim is standard and there are soft-touch materials everywhere you look. The sports steering wheel does feel oversized – it’s more serving plate than dinner plate – but the switchable panoramic glass roof is impressive with its fancy ‘digital curtain’ to block out the sun.

An electronic tailgate is also standard and Audi has helpfully added a light to indicate where you should “kick” for hands-free opening. A great idea, but as ever with these things we still couldn’t get it to work reliably and ended up waving our foot around under the boot for what felt like an embarrassing amount of time before giving up and pressing a button instead.

What’s the boot space like? 

Obviously it’s going to be better if you buy the Avant. That car gets 503 litres of luggage space with the rear seats in place and a cavernous 1,534 litres with them folded flat. The saloon is less flexible, but still manages an impressive 492 litres. All of these figures will be harmed by speccing a plug-in hybrid powertrain, of course.