Short Take Road Test
For years we've been preaching a revivalist sermon with this as its gospel core: Station wagons can be cool. They are no longer the lard-assed, haul-it-all appliances that caused a generation of sullen teenagers to grow up rejecting the bovine barges that were a source of shame in their youth.
These defections had become massive by 1984, a year marked by the introduction of the Chrysler minivans and the Jeep Cherokee, vehicles that made it easier to say no to traditional family sleds such as the Olds Custom Cruiser and the Ford Country Squire.
But that was then. Minivans have long since become passé. The only difference between Custom Cruiser moms and those in Dodge Caravans is that more kids are playing soccer. Sport-utes, for their part, are heavier in the hindquarters than even the porkiest of Country Squires.
Station wagons, meanwhile, have undergone a makeover, first at the salon, then at the gym-particularly station wagons issued by Audi. Particularly this Audi station wagon, the S6 Avant, which is how you say station wagon in Ingolstadt, Germany, where they are assembled.
As Audi faithful know, when the car carries the "S" prefix (for Sport, pronounced " shport" in German), that car packs extra punch under its hood, more starch in its suspension, and more grip at ground level. The Shport formula has also been applied to the various members of the A4 and A8 lineups, but in the A6 tribe it's a wagon-only deal. You can get a "sport" (lowercase s, please) package for the A6 sedan-slightly stiffer suspension components, slightly larger footprints-but it doesn't include all the horsepower that distinguishes the S6, and it's not as aggressive in terms of tires and underpinnings, which is why "sport" and " Shport" are two different deals. Got that?
Although the S6 delivers more-decisive turn-in, quicker recovery in brisk transitions, and more grip (0.86 g on the skidpad versus 0.82) than a similarly shod A6 4.2 Quattro sedan (wearing 255/40ZR-17 tires), its most compelling edge lies in the visceral realm of thrust: 340 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque from Audi's 4.2-liter DOHC 40-valve aluminum V-8. That's 40 horsepower and 15 pound-feet more than you get from the same engine in the A6 4.2, and 20 horsepower and 7 pound-feet less than the offering in the S8 sedan. Can't have something with a "6" suffix on an equal power footing with the lord of the manor, y'know.
Like the other Audis using this undersquare five-valve V-8, the S6 Avant sends power to the front and rear wheels via a five-speed Tiptronic automatic and a Torsen center differential. This version of Audi's Quattro system splits power evenly between front and rear until slippage occurs, whereupon it redirects thrust as needed. It wasn't installed in our preproduction test car, but the S6 will also have a new Tiptronic with steering-wheel shift buttons and a sport-mode setting, raising shift points to enhance acceleration.
Acceleration? Check. Lots of that. The S6 is no wraith. Despite weight-reducing items such as aluminum subframing, control arms, and knuckles, it nonetheless scales in north of two tons, just like the A6 4.2. But it hustles to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, 0.1 second quicker than the sedan, and hits 100 mph in 15.8 seconds, a full half-second faster. More significant, though, is how the S6 sprints versus the A6 Avant and its cousin, the SUV-wannabe Allroad. With 250 horsepower from its turbo 2.7-liter V-6, the Allroad needs 7.7 seconds to reach 60 mph and 21.4 to hit 100. That's pretty deliberate, but it's the speed of light compared with the A6 Avant: 0 to 60 in 9.6 seconds and 0 to 100 in 26.0.
As you'd expect of a ride in the rarefied realm of $55,000, there's more to this package than mega-muscle and stiffened sinews. The S6 Avant includes xenon headlamps on high and low beams, excellent brakes augmented by ABS and hydraulic brake assist, traction control, an electronic stability system, curtain side airbags, plus plenty of luxo licks: leather, Wagner-worthy Bose audio with a six-disc, in-dash CD changer, heated power front seats, heated power mirrors, and the option of the OnStar telematics system.
Bonus: There is little visible distinction between the bad-boy S6 and the milquetoast A6, just some subtle differences in the front fascia, broader fender flares to shelter the wider tires, a lower ride height (by 0.4 inch), two tailpipes (the A6 has just one), and that all-important "S" badging.
The bottom line: If BMW's M5 is the ultimate sedan (Any argument on that? No? Good.), then the S6 Avant is the ultimate wagon. End of discussion.
