2005 Audi A6 3.2 quattro

4. Audi A6 3.2 quattro
More sharply creased lines, a 3.2-inch wheelbase stretch, stiffer body structure, and the controversial, in-your-face single-frame grille highlight the heavily revised A6 for 2005. Overall fit-and-finish is exemplary for a car in this price range. In particular, the A6's cabin is well-turned out and roomy in front and rear. It's easily the most luxurious of the cars in our test group, although somewhat lacking in distinction compared with the last-generation A6's interior. Like many of the other cars in its class, the need to cram more features into the finite dash space has resulted in a rework of the center-stack controls for audio, climate, and such. Some of this is logical and some not, like adjusting something as simple as blower speed, which requires assigning the adjuster dial one of several functions rather than just twisting a single dedicated dial as before.

Big news under the hood is the direct-injection 3.2-liter V-6, which allows higher compression and results in higher specific output (the first use of a high-pressure, direct-injection V-6 in the U.S.). The extra ponies come in handy because the A6 quattro is the heaviest car in our test group. A large portion of the extra weight comes from the all-wheel-drive system itself, but quattro is worth lugging around as it transforms what would be a nose-heavy front-drive machine into one in which every wheel is doing its part to move the car along, especially important on wet tarmac.

That said, the Audi is no BMW when it comes to driving dynamics. In stop-and-go traffic, throttle and brake transitions are rather abrupt. And the A6's steering feels artificially light at low speeds, doesn't self-center after a turn, and isn't communicative at any speed.