Mat Watson reviews the Audi A6 Allroad: why would you bother getting an SUV?

This is the new Audi A6 Allroad, and it’s like a pair of hiking trainers. Super capable, quite rugged-looking and fashionable, but they definitely send a different message to wearing a full pair of high-top hiking boots every day. A bit less performative, a bit more practical in the real world.

It’s a car I’ve been getting really excited about. It has a spacious estate car body, buffed-up styling, four-wheel drive, adjustable air suspension, and best of all a V6 diesel engine under the bonnet. That’s the sort of spec sheet that gets motoring journalists like me hot under the collar.

But there’s a big problem to start with right away – prices for the A6 Allroad start at around £70,000, and the car I’m testing costs over £90,000 with options. You can get a lot of family SUV for that kind of money. So is the A6 Allroad the ultimate alternative to a posh SUV, or is it just an expensive way to pretend you’re cool and different?

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New Audi A6 Allroad design

The Allroad has a lot more presence than the otherwise smart-looking regular A6 Avant. That’s because it has a widened body and buffed-up wheelarches, making it look like an Audi RS6 on stilts. It’s actually 11cm wider than the standard car, and comes on 20- or 21-inch wheels. My car had the latter, and I think they look awesome.

There’s a different front bumper and grille, vents behind the front wheels and contrasting black plastic cladding around the lower portion of the body. It looks much sportier than previous Allroads, but still suitably beefy and ready for the great outdoors.

You get roof rails too – every self-respecting estate car should – and the wide rear haunches make it look really cool from the back. There are even real exhaust outlets rather than plastic fakes. On a diesel Audi! I’m very happy about that.

There’s a drawback to those chunky side skirts though, and that’s that they stick out so far that you rub the back of your trousers on them when getting in and out of the car, making your clothes dirty.

New Audi A6 Allroad interior and technology

Inside, it’s not as universal a success as the exterior. Some of the materials feel lovely – I really like the soft microfibre trim on this model, and I love the optional sports seats too – they have big bolsters that hold you in place without being too grabby. They’re a £4,715 cost option, mind you.

Other areas, though, just don’t feel good enough for the price. There’s scratchy plastic where I don’t want to find it, and the centre console is a particularly bad example as it collects scratches and fingerprints really easily. I’m not keen on the panels of switches on the doors and steering wheel, either – they move under your fingers and it’s too easy to accidentally press the wrong button.

The infotainment system is easy enough to use through the big 14.5-inch central screen. I’d prefer proper, physical climate controls, but at least the temperature settings stay visible at the bottom of the screen all the time, even when you’re using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

The huge bezels around the screen look dated, though, and the digital instrument cluster for the driver doesn’t look as good as Audi’s older system either. Why is the rev counter so small?

Then there’s the voice assistant, which kept interrupting me without being asked. My test car also had a rattle on the move which stopped when I held onto the screen. Neither is what you want in an expensive new Audi.

There are clever features, like the panoramic roof with switchable transparency and fancy lights with lots of different patterns. But the passenger display? It’s really distracting, and I don’t like it. All my front seat passengers just end up watching their phones instead.

New Audi A6 Allroad space and practicality

The A6’s rear seats are comfortable, with decent headroom, kneeroom and space for your feet. There’s plenty of support under your thighs, too, which is more than I can say for this car’s A6 Avant e-tron sibling.

It’s not so good if you’re sat in the middle, though, because there’s a substantial transmission tunnel that you have to straddle, plus squeezing everyone together pushes the outer occupants towards the sloping edges of the roof.

There are heated outer rear seats, rear climate controls and two USB-C ports, plus door bins and seatback nets – but the rear windows don’t roll all the way down. If you have kids, you’ll know this matters more to them than almost anything else.

The boot measures 466 litres in this diesel, which isn’t as much room as you get in a BMW 5 Series Touring or a Mercedes E-Class Estate. It’s deceptively roomy, though, and I fit a whopping 10 carry-on suitcases inside. There’s a load-securing kit under the floor which lets you keep items contained, though it’s a bit fiddly to use.

Go for the plug-in hybrid engine and you lose a bit of boot space to the battery, leaving you 404 litres. It also gets a lower towing limit of 2,000kg vs the diesel’s 2,500kg.

New Audi A6 allroad engines and driving

The diesel I’m in has 299hp and 580Nm of torque, with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and quattro four-wheel drive. The plug-in hybrid has 367hp but despite this extra grunt, it’s slightly slower from 0-62mph in official tests.

In my acceleration test, the diesel managed 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds, which is properly quick for a sensible family estate car. It stopped well, too, taking just 32 metres to brake from 60mph.

Around town, it’s wonderful at smoothing out bumps thanks to the standard-fit air suspension. You don’t sit quite as high as you would in an Audi Q7 SUV, but raise the suspension and the seat and you get a good view out nonetheless.

Rear-wheel steering is standard, so it’s surprisingly manoeuvrable, and the diesel’s mild-hybrid system can move it on electric power alone for a surprising amount of time. It keeps things quiet in traffic without needing to plug in.

Put your foot down and there’s a lovely wave of diesel power, with a quick response for overtaking. Settle into a cruise and it’s comfortable, quiet and luxurious. I averaged 43mpg during the test, which I’m very happy with.

It’s good on a country road, too. Dynamic mode lowers the suspension by 20mm and firms everything up a bit. The steering feels good, the brakes are predictable and there’s loads of grip, giving you plenty of confidence on a bumpy road.

The adjustable suspension is useful for a bit of light off-roading too – it can raise up by 35mm to navigate big lumps. Saved me scraping my underside on the countryside roads round my house.

I’d choose the diesel unless the plug-in hybrid’s company car tax savings are important to you. The hybrid is really heavy, loses some boot space and can’t even fast-charge – that’s disappointing when lots of cheaper hybrids offer this.

New Audi A6 Allroad prices and verdict

The Audi A6 Allroad starts at around £70,000, while my option-heavy test car costs just over £90,000. That’s the one thing I struggle to get past. At the time of filming, I found a one-year-old Audi RS6 with fewer than 30,000 miles for less than this car’s asking price.

There are things that annoy me, especially the screens, voice assistant and some of the interior trim. But the way this car drives, its practicality and that brilliant diesel engine make it very easy to forgive a lot.

So, should you avoid it, consider it, shortlist it or just go right ahead and buy it? I think you should just go right ahead and buy the A6 Allroad. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the best Audis on sale.

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