Has anyone here test driven the Audi A6 with he turbo six? Similar 0-60 to the e43 at 4.6 seconds, the Audi nav and interface electronics are supposed to be great, nice interiors. I would imagine meaningfully cheaper. Any thoughts? Thanks. Regards. Ned.

 

That interior (A6/A7) design is as old (in years) as outgoing W212 E, but IMHO is very dated (not technology wise, but aesthetics wise) to that of W212's E, and is ancient compared to the stunning W213's (a mini S class, again technology aside) interior.

As far as engine, the A6 3.0 V6 is 5.1 sec as per Audi. It is less expensive than E43, but is less powerful. If you like A6 exterior/interior, than maybe look into S6 with 4.0 V8 and similar price and performance to E43's.

 

Agree that the A6 / A7 design is getting old. They lease out poorly because of the low residuals and similarly depreciate significantly if you own it.

 

I'd say the E43 sits in between the A6 & S6. The S6 has a beast of an engine... it does 0-60 in the mid 3's (partially AWD aided, but still). I own an A8 4.0t (same engine, but in a bigger car), and I think Audi vastly underrates the output of their 4.0t v8.

 

Interior of A8 is still stunning (even after six years now) and IMHO is years ahead of A6's. 4.0T in A6 is detuned in torque output as compared to A8 (same as E550/CLS550 is detuned compared to S550).

As far as mid 3s for an S6? Well a significantly more powerful and expensive E63/CLS63 do that. The number I saw from manufacturers were - 4.6 for E43 and 4.4 for S6. RS7, which is even more expensive than E63/CLS63, is a mid 3s car, not S6/S7/S8.

 

Here's a recent C&D article on the S6 with an "estimate" of 3.6 sec 0-60. I know, it's just an estimate for what that's worth. But, it's a 4,300ish lb car with 450 HP/ 406 tq. The second article is an actual instrument test of the A8L 4.0t (my car). This was with the older tune on the engine (420 HP/406 tq... although I swear both figures are underrated) on a car that is ~300 lbs heavier and they got an instrument tested 0-60 time of 3.9 sec. I'd say the 3.6 estimate for the lighter, more powerful S6 (relative to the A8 they tested) is probably accurate.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t-drive-review

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...0t-test-review

FWIW, I've seen 0-60 times for the E/CLS63s in the low 3's. Both are in a different class from the S6.

 

I go only by manufacturers posted numbers, this way its apples to apples, even if the numbers posted on their websites are conservative. (No longer read any of the magazines - they're all biased to different manufacturers at different times).

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehic...models-compare

https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-s6 clic on tech specs and you'll see 0-60 ar 4.4 sec

There's no way S6 and E63/CLS63 are close 0-60. S6 would be a great alternative to E43 in both price and performance if not for a bit dated exterior and very, very dated interior (IMHO of course). My perfect Audi, the one I would buy now to break my "dependence" on the MB brand, is A8 interior in the S7/A7 body with S6/S7/S8 engine.

 

I don't think they're close in performance either. You have to remember as you get faster and faster times in performance, a small absolute difference is still a big percentage difference. C&D instrument tested an A8 at a 3.9 sec 0-60. I found an article (linked below) where they instrument tested a CLS63 at 3.2 seconds. While it's only a 0.7 absolute difference, the CLS is almost 20% faster to 60. Assuming linear acceleration from 0-60 for both cars, a 3.2 sec car is ~2 car lengths ahead of a 3.9 sec car by the time it hits 60 (that's a massive lead at just 60 mph).

I don't see any reason to doubt that a lighter S6 would be even faster to 60 than the A8 (so definitely in the 3's). But there's still a big gap in performance. If you take the estimated figures for the S6 for 0-60 and 0-100 (3.6 & 9.1 sec) and compare them to the 2014 test of the CLS63 (3.2 & 7.7 sec) again assuming linear acceleration for both, the CLS would be more than a full car length ahead of the S6 to 60 and would be almost 7 car lengths ahead of the S6 to 100. The S6 is a fast car, but that's not "close in performance" to the CLS 63 which is insane. The fact that we're arguing about performance numbers that far exceed supercar performance from 20-30 years ago is an amazing thing. All of these cars would leave a Ferrari Testarossa or Lamborghini Countach in the dust. It's a good time to be a car enthusiast.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...specs-page-5-2

 

I think the posts are drifting away from the OPs question about the performance between the E43 vs A6.

In this class of vehicle, the difference is negligible. That should not a deciding factor.

 

I guess I'm a bit to blame for that. To the OP's question... I think the performance of E43 (TT V6 ~400 HP) is going to be good bit better than the A6 (TT V6 ~330 HP) but of course it is in a higher performance class and the price reflects that. The E43 is probably more closely aligned in performance / price to the S6. But the S6 has a ~450 HP TT V8 (which HAS to be underrated based on my experience with the engine) and would outperform the E43. But both are fast cars and the decision would likely come down to personal preferences more than differences in 0-60 times. I agree the MB interior in this class is MUCH nicer than the Audi. I do like my A8 interior though.

 

I think the A6 will have a better transmission than the Benz ... of course this remains to be seen as not many if any own and drive the e43 yet

historically Audi just does a smoother driving and shifting transmission

already reading about c43 transmission issues: lag, jerking in low speeds ... just like the MCT

 

With the new e coming with the base 4 cylinder engine, I'm surprised that there hasn't been more chatter on the forum about the Audi alternative, long in the tooth as it is. At least you can get a nicely equipped A6 with a great engine in the zone of the 4 cylinder e300. Audi did up the hp in 2016 and Car and Driver indicated 0-60 in around 4.6, pretty fast. I owned a 2001 e55 and currently still have my 2011 e550. I like big engines, good ride and handling, but also want a comfortable suspension, one that doesn't shake me up on rough roads. Not been a fan of the never ending march to larger rims, hardens the ride, more potential blowouts and bent rims and for what, I'm not racing around winding roads at 90mph. After a double blowout on my e550 in 2011 outside the Lincoln Tunnel on a cold rainy night in February going into NYC, I put 17 inch rims on the car, and you know what, it still drives great, I've got a beautiful set of 18 inch AMG rims in my basement. I test drove an Audi s8 which has a stunning interior still after many years, and the car was great. It just may be a bit too big for driving around in the crowded Miami area where my new wheels will reside, too bad, it was really, really nice. I liked the user interface as well, seemed much simpler and intuitive than Comand and even the stock Bose stereo was truly high end, sounded fantastic. The Comand and 19 inch runflats on the e43 give me some pause. Haven't spent any time in the A6 so my like of the s8 interior gave me hope that the A6 might be close to as nice, maybe not though. No question the new e is stunning in the cabin, that is a big allure. Wish I could get it in more of a luxury version geared toward more comfortable ride. I like the concept of the mobile living room, comfortable with a great stereo with the right degree of performance. That used to be The Mercedes complete package but now you have to choose. Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Regards. Ned.

 

Ned I agree... the 2014 e550 sedan was one of the last great balances in Benz production .. luxury and sport and power... oh the power!