New Audi A6 sedan revealed as brand’s most aerodynamic ICE car

Audi has pulled the covers off the sixth-generation A6 sedan. Last month, the German carmaker unveiled the A6 in estate form, and now, the sedan derivative has broken cover. Just like its estate counterpart, the new A6 sedan is underpinned by Volkswagen’s Premium Platform Combustion (PPC). It’s worth noting that while the all-electric A6 e-tron shares the same name, it leverages the Premium Platform Electric skateboard.

1. The new A6 sedan gets a more aggressive and aerodynamic design than the outgoing model
2. Its interior can be had with up to three screens spanning a cumulative 37.3 inches
3. Gets three engine options: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol, 2.0-litre turbo-diesel and 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6

New Audi A6 sedan exterior design

Lowest drag coefficient of any ICE-powered Audi model yet

Compared to the outgoing model, the new-gen A6 sedan has a 3mm longer wheelbase and is 60mm longer overall. Audi also claims a 0.23 drag coefficient for the new A6 sedan, making it the carmaker’s most aerodynamically efficient ICE-powered car to go into production. The A6 Avant, meanwhile, follows closely with a drag coefficient of 0.25, while the A6 e-tron remains undefeated with a 0.21 reading.

Expectedly, most of the A6 Avant estate’s design cues are present in the sedan iteration, save for the extended rear end. Up front, the new A6 sedan features a more aggressive look than its predecessor, thanks to the sleeker and more angular LED headlights, bonnet ridges, wider honeycomb grille, and sporty air curtains bookending the bumper. The sedan’s taut, muscular fenders lead into the side profile, where we can see chunky door-mounted rearview mirrors and 20-inch alloy wheels (18-inchers as standard, can be optioned up to 23 inches).

Over to the rear, the tailgate of the new A6 sedan is made from steel instead of aluminium to allow for a more rounded structure than the outgoing model, helping Audi achieve the slippery drag coefficient. Other notable design elements include connected LED tail-lamps with sequential turn indicators extending downwards, as well as a sporty bumper finished in silver with dual (and functional) exhausts.

New Audi A6 sedan interior and features

Triple screen setup takes prominence

Unsurprisingly, the new A6 sedan’s cabin is virtually the same as that of the A6 Avant, with a trio of screens dominating the dashboard (the passenger screen is optional). Central to this setup is the 14.5-inch curved infotainment touchscreen, which uses Android Automotive OS, supports over-the-air updates, and can run third-party apps like YouTube and Spotify. Interestingly, the infotainment system integrates ChatGPT to work in tandem with the built-in Audi assistant, and it can be accessed via voice commands to answer questions and execute specific vehicle functions.

New A6 sedan feature list

Right in front of the driver sits an 11.9-inch fully digital instrument cluster, and the optional 10.9-inch passenger display serves as an extension of the central unit. The equipment list includes a new 4-spoke steering wheel, a 685W 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system (an 810W 20-speaker setup is optional), ambient lighting comprising 84 LEDs, and more. Among the optional goodies are a panoramic glass roof that shifts from opaque to transparent with the touch of a button, a heads-up display, 4-zone climate control, and soft-close doors, to list a few.

Audi claims it has used higher-quality materials for the interior and improved the sound insulation by 30 percent. The boot space is 492 litres (11 litres short of the new A6 Avant), which can be further expanded thanks to the 40:20:40 folding rear seats.

New Audi A6 sedan powertrains and performance

Petrol and diesel engine options

For overseas markets, the new A6 sedan gets the same trio of mild-hybrid powertrains as the new-gen Q5 SUV and A5 sedan, with the entry-level option being a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol engine developing 204hp and 340Nm. Also on offer is a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine that’s good for 204hp and 400Nm, and buyers looking for something sportier can go with a 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 delivering 367hp and 550Nm.

No 4-wheel drive for 4-cyl petrol A6 sedan

All three engines are mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, but while the entry-level petrol unit is front-wheel drive only, the diesel and V6 models can be optioned with quattro all-wheel drive, which can send up to 70 percent of the power to the rear wheels. As for performance, the 2.0-litre petrol and diesel versions can hit 0-100kph in 8.2 and 7.8 seconds (6.9 seconds for the quattro diesel), respectively, and the V6 variant does that in a brisk 4.7 seconds.

New Audi A6 sedan suspension and dynamics

As standard, Audi has equipped the new A6 sedan with a 5-link suspension at the front and rear, primarily made of aluminium. Buyers can also opt for a sports suspension package that lowers the ground clearance by 20mm and adaptive air suspension that can lift the A6 by as much as 20mm. As a first, the A6’s air suspension can raise or lower the sedan via voice commands issued through the infotainment system.

New Audi A6 sedan launch details and rivals

Deliveries to start by this summer

Audi has begun taking orders for the new A6 sedan internationally, with deliveries set to commence by summer 2025. An India launch is likely, given that the outgoing model has been on sale here since 2019 and faces tough competition from more up-to-date competitors like the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

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