Wednesday 1 February 2012

Road - Audi does it again

Here’s a thought. From a standing start to 60 miles an hour in 5 seconds, AND, 44 miles to the gallon, AND, it’s not April the 1st. And there’s more, it’s got a rorty exhaust note – in a diesel.

In other words, Audi is at it again. The latest A6 Saloon, Avant and A7 Sportback models will get the option of a new 313 PS (309 bhp) Audi biturbo TDI engine. The new twin-turbo V6 is notable not only for being their most powerful six-cylinder diesel engine ever, but also the fruitiest thanks to its exhaust-mounted sound actuator.
 
This actuator system consists of a speaker which imposes a defined oscillation pattern on the exhaust flow and transforms the typical TDI exhaust note into a more sonorous roar that is closer to the output of a high-performance petrol engine.

Slotting in above the single-turbo 204 PS (201 bhp) and 245 PS (242 bhp) versions of the 3.0 TDI that already feature in the A6 and A7 Sportback ranges, the latest V6 has a two-stage turbocharger group delivering a maximum boost pressure of up to 3.2 bar. This should enable the A6 3 litre BiTDI quattro Saloon to hit 62 mph from rest in 5.1 seconds, while the A6 Avant and A7 Sportback will take a wee bit longer to hit the same speed - 5.3 seconds.

Helping all this power along is an eight-speed tiptronic transmission fitted to the latest generation quattro all-wheel-drive system, which features a self-locking centre differential and torque vectoring for optimum traction and stability.  A sport differential which distributes power in continuously variable proportions between the rear wheels is available from the options list for even more grip and grunt.

And here’s the silly part. Driven sensibly it will return in excess of 40 miles per gallon, but progress comes at a cost, the A6 models are priced from £43,810 OTR, and from £51,645 OTR in the A7 Sportback.

No comments:

Post a Comment