With 10-cylinders and FSI, the S6 achieves 435 horsepower at 6,800 rpm,
and churns up 398 pound-feet of torque at engine speeds as low as 3,100
rpm. The Audi S6 is a man’s car. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.
Think about it.
It has a 435-horsepower, V-10 engine. The side bolsters on the front seats protrude several inches from the seatback and are better suited to a 200-pound man than to a 100-pound female. The 15.9 cubic-foot trunk is plenty large enough to hold a few golf bags. And the Formula-One-inspired Tiptronic shift paddles are much better placed for larger, beefier hands.
That’s not to say, however, that women won’t have a blast in this car as well. I had the opportunity to take a friend home after a meeting, and, of course, I had to show off just a little. When we hit the onramp for the highway, I stomped on the accelerator, and we both felt the bottom drop out of stomachs. Once on the Kennedy, my friend could only say: Wow.
Overall, the S6 is fun to drive, has smooth and seamless acceleration and easily fits more than $150 worth of groceries, a yoga mat and a gym bag in the trunk.
While I thought this was a great car to tool around in for a week, my guy friends downright salivated at the mere mention of the S6.
The interior of the S6 was both elegant and sporty. The cool black leather seats and red gauges are what I’ve come to expect in an Audi, but the optional carbon fiber inserts ($400) gave the interior zing and are definitely worth the upgrade.
The test car also had the Technology Package ($3,900) tacked on, which included voice recognition, the Advanced Key, the Advanced Parking System, a navigation system and Sirius Satellite Radio. I loved the Advanced Key, which gets you in and out of the vehicle without rooting around in your purse or briefcase for the key fob, but my favorite feature was the Advanced Parking System. Not your typical backup camera, this system actually shows you trajectory lines of where your car will go as you turn your steering wheel. Then there’s the red line that warns you when you’ll be hitting something. This was great for parallel parking and backing into my garage, and I think it’s a must-have feature for city drivers.
One thing that perpetually perturbs me about the high-tech, high-end Audis is the Multi Media Interface (MMI). In my opinion, it’s not intuitive, it’s distracting, and it’s ill-placed. Every time I wanted to do something as simple as view the radio stations on the FM band, I had to press the audio quadrant button and then use the center MMI dial to scroll through my options. If I wanted to save a station or switch from AM to FM, there were other quadrant buttons to push.
I consider myself a relatively tech-savvy person, but all this technology serves to distract the driver, taking a simple task and making it less than easy.
On the S6, the MMI was located just in front of the cup holders, which put it just out of my comfortable reach. Additionally, nothing electronic should ever go near anything that could have liquid and, oh, spill. I’m fairly positive that someone drizzled coffee or soda on the MMI buttons in the test vehicle because whenever I pressed anything in the left quadrants, the buttons would stick. Combine the American habit of venti lattes, a V-10 engine and a highway onramp, and you have a disaster waiting to happen.
With a base price of $72K and an as-tested price of $79,070, I would have hoped the S6 would cater to every whim I had. While the ride and comfort in the test car were exceptional, I’m still grumpy about the MMI. At this price point, I should merely be able to think about what I want, and the car should do it. Well, OK, I obviously exaggerate, but still, operating the MMI shouldn’t be brain surgery.
Though the MMI is difficult, I could find one redeeming value: I was able to sync my Bluetooth phone to the car and thereby make and receive all my phone calls hands free. This feature I liked, and it was relatively easy to use.
The exterior of the S6 is subtle yet distinct. The quad exhaust, brilliant LED daytime running lights and the red stripe behind the S6 badging tell you this is a special car. The test vehicle also had the optional Sprint Blue Pearl Effect paint ($750), which was a stunning electric blue.
While this car could really move, it wasn’t as nimble as I would have liked. The S6 has an overall length of 193.5 inches, and I felt every inch when I was trying to maneuver in tight spaces. The turning radius could have been a tad tighter.
Someone who is going to buy this car probably isn’t going to be concerned with the mpg estimates, but I feel compelled to mention them anyway – especially since the S6 carries a $1,300 gas guzzler tax. EPA estimates 15 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway. I averaged 15.6 mpg in combined driving.
There were also a couple things that bothered me about the S6 that might not affect a male driver. First, the oft-mentioned Ciminillo pet peeve of the gas pedal that goes all the way to the floor and catches the bottom of my 2-inch heels. Then there was the piping around the seat bottom that jutted out just enough to catch the top of my knee boots as I moved my right foot from brake to gas pedal. The biggest annoyance I encountered during the test week, however, centered around the exterior door handles. I typically wear my fingernails a bit long, and whenever I would open the doors to the S6, I would stub my fingers because the door handle grip wasn’t deep enough. Ouch!
I thought the S6 was eye-catching, fun and downright cool, but I have to admit I don’t think I’d be willing to drop $80K on this car. When the review of a car is more about a complicated gadget and less about the car itself, you know there’s a problem. If I’m going to spend that kind of money, I need more than cool. I need intuitive.
