2008 Audi A6 Walkaround Review at Automotive.com
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2008 Audi A6 Review: Exterior

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2008 Audi A6 Review

Dynamic excellence, quality and comfort.
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The Audi A6 is a study in excellent design. It has the look of a four-door coupe, with clean, flowing lines. The overall look is upscale, masculine. A giant trapezoidal grille dominates the front of the car. Some like it, some don't. The car's completely modern shape has a slippery drag coefficient of 0.29. Aluminum was used for key body panels to save weight, though not to the extent of the expensive all-aluminum A8.

The A6 Avant is an especially sleek looking wagon, distinguished by a sloping roofline. The arching shoulder line and relatively narrow glass create a dynamic profile that terminates in a gently sloped tail marked by distinctive two-piece LED taillights. Overall the design language says European elegance.

Much of the beauty of the A6 is in the details: Body panels fit closely together around the doors, hood and trunk lid, as well as along places such as the bottom edge of each tail lamp. It's a result of close tolerances. You won't even find a rubber strip at the top of windshield, nor strips on the sides of the roof. Door jams, the trunk flange and other areas normally hidden are Class A surfaces, smooth and painted as on the exterior body panels. Not everyone will notice this level of detail, but most will sense a general look of quality.

All A6 models (except S6) gain S line styling cues for 2008. An air inlet is added beneath the grille, the front and rear bumpers are changed, and 18-inch wheels become standard versus the 16s and 17s on 2007 models.

The S6 is distinguished from its less-powerful stablemates by special exterior and interior elements. Audi's striking trapezoidal grille gets an S6 badge. The front bumper's unique look comes from the strip of separate LED daytime running lights situated a the top of two larger lower cooling ducts. The front foglamps are incorporated into the main headlights, which feature gray-tinted covers. The rear tailights also feature distinctive LED brake lights. An integrated spoiler juts from the trunk lid, bright aluminum trim surrounds the side windows, the door handles are body color, and the rearview mirror housings are brushed aluminum. The S6 also has black brake calipers, dual exhaust oval polished quad tailpipes, and a chrome strip on the trunk lid.

The lever-style outside door handles are stylish, but we found they aren't as easy to operate as the grab handles that don't require flipping your hand over.

Overall, the A6 sets a benchmark in quality of materials and build quality. Next Page



2008 Audi A6
  
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