A6/S6 avant Vorsprung reviews/comments from owners

[Optimus]

I’ve just placed an order, I haven’t been overly happy in my MY23 A6 Avant Quattro. Simply lacks the progressive powertrain with the 4 cylinder diesel. I’m not looking for petrol as I use this vehicle for long commutes for work.

I did test drive the MY24 TFSI 50 hybrid and felt the car was heavy and dragged whilst on motorway and was not impressed with the mpg. 

i test drove a MY23 s7 diesel which shares the same powertrain? and was exactly what was expecting.

presently the build times for the S6 are 8-14 months and it’s likely due to diesel engines, particularly those with large capacity coming to an end.  With this I mind it sort of cemented my purchase thinking there is literally 97 supplied/ordered in the last 12 months in the UK market and these may soon stop entirely and could be a far more rare almost iconic sort after car in the not so distant future given that the RS6 is double that of the S6 orders.

i was curious to know whether the Vorsprung is worth its price, notably the only significant difference is that it shares similarities with the RS6 chassis with 4 wheel steering and adjustable air suspension for off road and sports mode. 
 

I wanted to get some owners feedback, I have 3 months to decide on my end specification (presently it is the Vorsprung model).

Edited May 2 by Optimus

[Steve Q]

I think if the cars a keeper then you've gone for a great spec 🙂 especially if it'll be rare. 

[K200CWC]

Having driven bot a Vorsprung and a none Vorsprung S6 prior to purchasing mine they are both very component cars and both have a pleasant ride quality with one up, where the Vorsprung wins hands down is when towing and/or fully loaded you just don't know on the air suspension.  Other than the MPG I'm not really aware I'm towing 1.4 tonnes and carrying 150Kg in the boot!

My decision was also based on mine being a keeper. I've always been a firm believer they you add as few option as possible because these cost for these is generally written off the day it leaves the showroom (with a few exceptions) so I'm hoping mine will be worth a lot more than an A6 with lots and lots of options as and when it's time to move it on in 9 years time.

 

[Optimus]

Excellent, thank you for contributing your direct comparisons.

is there any other not so immediate and obvious perks with the air suspension? 

the sales chap was guiding me around an RS6 being the closest he could demonstrate and mentioned that in dynamic mode it will lower the suspension slightly and also has adaptive ride height. Is this the same for the Vorsprung S6?

Does the car feel like it’s a 2.5t car with this air suspension or more agile? 

I noted in the courtesy car I was given 2020 TDI 50 I drove with the s suspension with damper control it felt like it gripped well but felt heavy and some what unresponsive going over bumps in the road sort of like the older models of range rover sport where the weight shifted and you felt the suspension stiffen up with a little body roll but otherwise you’d have to lift off the throttle to shift the weight back onto the front of the chassis for the feedback when taking a tight corner or bend with a mild gradient spiritedly.

Wasn’t quite the directness I was hoping for in a saloon/estate Quattro. 

having said that the RS6 seem to have this addressed. 

 

Edited May 3 by Optimus

[K200CWC]

32 minutes ago, Optimus said:

in dynamic mode it will lower the suspension slightly and also has adaptive ride height. Is this the same for the Vorsprung S6?

Fairly sure it is.

 

33 minutes ago, Optimus said:

Does the car feel like it’s a 2.5t car with this air suspension or more agile? 

I'm now bias but it felt more planted and less pitch and roll.

36 minutes ago, Optimus said:

I noted in the courtesy car I was given 2020 TDI 50 I drove with the s suspension with damper control it felt like it gripped well but felt heavy and some what unresponsive going over bumps in the road sort of like the older models of range rover sport where the weight shifted and you felt the suspension stiffen up with a little body roll but otherwise you’d have to lift off the throttle to shift the weight back onto the front of the chassis for the feedback when taking a tight corner or bend with a mild gradient spiritedly.

Not to be too blunt about it but these are mile munching exec cars with some added oomph. I regular do 275 mile trips without a stop, get 41+ MPG while still 'making progress', have some fun and I get out ready to do a days work.  My wife hates it, too big and too many lights and buttons but this just given me more opportunity to drive it.

 

42 minutes ago, Optimus said:

Wasn’t quite the directness I was hoping for in a saloon/estate Quattro. 

The difference between Eco and Dynamic is marked in mine but even in Dynamic the 4-wheel steering maybe making some of the sensation you are expecting, compared to my E350d Merc I had before it took some time to get full attuned.

Interestingly I have a client that took delivery of an RS6 at the same time as I got my S6, he has no idea what's under his right foot as he doesn't use it and his eats tyres, maybe that how they make it feel more direct!

Can you get Matrix headlights on the current S6?  I was told mine was one of the last to get them because of component shortages and Audi wouldn't be reintroducing them until the next gen was released.

[Optimus]

I actually looked at both the Mercedes E350d and the BMW 530d. 
 

I felt that the E350d was too comfortable ride for me, lacking any form excitement when you wanted to push it round corners everything felt too balanced and too forgiving you didn’t notice the torque at all you’d look down and you were travelling at speed but none of the thrills. The BMW was the polar opposite feeling like my imaginary daily commute was via the Nurburgring and if you let off and tried to drive in comfort it wasn’t really and you only had to think of touching the throttle and it wanted to take off like a rocket again which became irritating quite quickly into my test drive. 

I believe so, my spec sheet says ‘HD matrix headlights with dynamic front and rear lights’

Interesting, my current MY23 black edition has matrix headlights, however looking at the spec sheet for MY24 they don’t seem to have them in specification and now only available for Vorsprung/RS model.