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It’s Official: Audi Debuts Stylish and Practical 2012 A6 Avant

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The all-new 2012 Audi A6 Avant has just made its world premiere during a special happening in Berlin Germany, but not before we got our first taste of the estate model with a set of photos that we showed you earlier today. The latest addition to the new A6 range has grown in size offering improved interior space but without any penalties in weight or fuel efficiency thanks to a new composite construction of the body.

Audi has a knack for designing stylish station wagons with clear lines and details that will delight the aesthetically cultured, and the latest A6 Avant is no exception to this rule. Inside, the estate model features the same materials and dashboard layout as the four-door version adding some bespoke options such as a load-through hatch, a fixing set and a power rear hatch.

There’s also a new gesture-based control of the hatch with the convenience key. According to Audi’s own words: “If the driver stands behind the car and makes a specific movement with his or her foot, two sensors open the hatch”. Unfortunately, the Germans did not elaborate on what type of foot movement triggers the mechanism.

The boot compartment of the new A6 Avant has a standard capacity of 565 liters (19.95 cu ft) which can grow to an enormous 1,680 liters (59.33 cu ft) with the rear seats folded down.

The new A6 Avant measures 4.93 meters (16.17 ft) in length, 1.87 meters (6.14 ft) in width, and 1.46 meters (4.79 ft) in height. Despite being slightly wider and with a 70mm longer wheelbase at 2.91 meters (9.55 ft), the use of new composite materials on the body and aluminum on the suspension and other parts of the car help reduce the weight over the previous model. Audi says the new A6 Avant is as much as 70 kilograms (154.32 lb) lighter than the car it replaces.

The engine choices for the Avant mirror those of the A6 saloon and include two gasoline units, and four diesels. The gasoline range comprises of the 2.8-liter FSI V6 with 204HP and the 3.0-liter TFSI supercharged V6 producing 300-horsepower. The diesel lineup consists of a 2.0-liter TDI with 177HP and a 3.0-liter TDI V6 available in three states of tune delivering 204HP, 245HP and 313HP. The 2.0 TDI is the most fuel efficient returning a combined economy of 5.0lt/100km (47.04 US mpg) with CO2 emissions of 132 g/km (212.43 g/mile), while the twin-turbo 3.0 TDI V6 is the fastest completing the 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint in just 5.4 seconds.

In Europe, the new A6 Avant will begin arriving in showrooms in late summer with a base price of €40,850 (about US$58,200).


PHOTO GALLERY

10 Comments:

Anonymous said... »May 18, 2011

It's one of the few luxury wagons I would ever consider owning.

Anonymous said... »May 18, 2011

Heeelloooooo 5 Series Touring! :D
Not enough Audi..

Anonymous said... »May 18, 2011

bland!

Anonymous said... »May 18, 2011

Nice new squinty headlights and trapeziodal (however you spell it) grille, from then on, dull as

Anonymous said... »May 19, 2011

Is this A4 Avant or what?

Anonymous said... »May 19, 2011

Very nice, just wish that AoA would bring it here to the US market...

Apparently AoA have not crash tested the car here which indicates that they do not plan to import it...

Anonymous said... »May 19, 2011

Boring and ugly- that's VW with four rings.
Grey mouse- Ideal car for old Metrosexulas...

Anonymous said... »May 19, 2011

I tried to find an angle from which it would look interesting. I failed. Extremely uneventful styling.

Anonymous said... »May 20, 2011

^....Some are just not sophisticated(yet) enough to understand what is going on with this car and it's design...well, it is not for them that Audi created this elegant, well crafted, practical, entertaining, and sporty vehicle.

So, thankfully, not every one is going to buy one regardless of their bank account...Makes the world go round for me.

Anonymous said... »May 21, 2011

All for a touch of sophistication, Volvo V60, the new Citröen DS5, even the Skoda Superb, provide something altogether less terminally unimaginative as this.

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