If you know me well at all, it's no secret that I prefer a large hefty car over a small hatchback. I enjoy the presence that a larger car has on the road as well as the comfort and luxury that usually accompany it. I'm also a huge fan of estate cars for their versatility. Whether that's been for moving people, equipment for work, bikes on days out etc. Opening a huge tailgate and chucking in whatever needs to be moved is just easier.
But what happens when you give a huge estate car a powerful bi-turbo V6, four wheel drive and a manual gearbox? You get an ultimate all-round sleeper.
At the time of starting my new job, my daily commute was around 10 times the distance of my previous one, so relying on a classic (and heavily modified) VW Corrado was probably not going to be a smart idea. It's replacement was a straight swap on a 2003 Audi A6 Avant. A large, luxurious mile muncher, perfect for my needs.
The key selling point of the A6 is space. At just under 4.8 meters long, the car has more than enough space to fit four adults in comfort with space for a fifth at a pinch. It also had enough space for anything and everything those four adults needed to carry with a boot capacity of 565 litres. Still not enough? Pop the rear seats down and that number rockets to an astounding 1680 litres. That's enough to fit an entire garden shed into, believe me I've tried!
The interior was nothing special as with most VW products from this era. I had the same thoughts about the interior of my Skoda Fabia. The dash is very plain but functional. The soft touch buttons for the climate controls had begun to wear away, this is common but always annoyed me. The other oversight was a second cup holder in the front, this was surprising given the size of the cabin but was a little inconvenient on a long journey.
The party piece of this car was undoubtedly the engine. The A6 came with a plethora of power plants including the known and loved 1.9 TDI, 1.8T and the 2.0 petrol. But one of the best engines (in my opinion) was the 2.7 twin turbo V6 offering 230bhp from the factory, and man is it a good lump.
The V6 was what transformed this car from a luxobarge to certified sleeper. These engines are well known for their modding capabilities with heavily modified ones capable of 700+ BHP. Mine was a little more conservative with a decat RS6 exhaust, aluminium radiator, larger intercoolers and custom hoses to support a 320bhp remap.
With the sheer size of this thing, it already has some presence on the road. But to have the power to back it up completely changes the game. It's a car that people simply don't expect to be fast, so it put a huge smile on my face when I was able to poke it a little away from the lights. It wasn't a bad car to throw around the corners too. It wasn't by any means nimble, but the steering was reasonably heavy and the suspension had some polybushes up front to stiffen the chassis up which made a huge difference to it's driveability.
In my time there was very little that went wrong with the car. It had an engine light due to the decats as the previous owner had simply unplugged the lambda sensors. Two spacers and a quick check later and the car was running much smoother again. The next issue was with a boost leak from one of the turbos. This was a simple fix as a jubilee clip had snapped. The unfortunate issue was the placement of the clip. To get to it meant the removal of the entire subframe. A £200+ bill to replace a 10p part. I can't pretend that didn't hurt a little!
The reason why I eventually had to sell the car simply came down to fuel. It turns out that when you have six cylinders and two turbos to feed, they end up being thirsty! I averaged around 22-25mpg and with my long commute was paying around £450-500 per month in fuel before any other bills. As much fun as this thing was, I simply couldn't afford to keep running it as well as save up for my future. I do deeply miss it though.
At the end of the day, this car was a great all round daily. Spacious, comfortable, fast, and fun, all while going relatively under the radar. The perfect combination for an enthusiasts daily driver. If you don't mind your wallet being a hell of a lot lighter!
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