Jeremy Clarkson
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From
February 2, 2008
Audi S6 Avant
Rating 
Verdict Utterly, utterly useless
When I first heard that the new Audi S6 Avant is fitted with the V10 engine from a Lamborghini Gallardo, I was, I’m ashamed to admit, priapic with anticipation.
The only thing I didn’t know is what sort of car the S6 would be. Would it be a hunkered-down, super-sharp road rocket, or a true Q-car, a real wolf in sheep’s clothing?
First, there’s the engine. You have direct fuel injection, continuously adjustable camshafts, and the 10 pistons have 5.2 litres of space to move around in.
Fine. But it produces only 429bhp. That’s nearly a hundred less than the Gallardo.
Then there’s the truly awful ride. It’s firm to the point where you start to laugh at its complete inability to ride with grace or panache over absolutely anything.
I can’t be bothered to go on, frankly, because it doesn’t matter how much I like the styling or the quality; everything is overshadowed and ruined by the suspension, and to a lesser extent by the steering.
With a tiny, tiny set of tweaks and a lot of mass sackings in the suspension design department, the S6 could be turned into something quite breathtaking. The ingredients are all there. But what you are being offered is actually well beyond a “disappointment”: it is actually utterly, utterly useless.
Current price £56,745
Price when tested (Oct 2006) £56,600
Engine 5204cc, 10 cylinders
Power 429bhp @ 6800rpm
Torque 398 lb ft @ 3000rpm
Transmission Six-speed tiptronic
Fuel/CO2 21.1mpg (combined) / 319g/km
0-62mph 5.2sec
Top speed 155mph
So true. My (ex) boss has a V10 S6 and once took me for a 'Joyride'. My feeling of disappointment when he floored it and I realised it felt slower than my humble Skoda Fabia VRS was so overwhelming that I was compelled to keep schtum. I've owned a Alfa Romeo Sprint Quadrofoglio Verde, he never will!
Gus Solomon, Saffron Walden, UK
Interesting indeed. Some American automotive websites have gone nuts over several qualities which this car does not, in fact, have. Then again, these same websites find the Z06 to be a light, easy-to-drive car and feel that the El Camino truck-car is the pinnacle of automotive technology.
Joseph Shaul, Madison, USA