2019-04-01 CAR UK (1)

134 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | APRIL 2019

I’d barely settled in to CAR’s new

Audi A6 test car when photographer

Alex Tapley (in hat, on my car)

asked for a week-long swap with

his Mazda 6 Tourer. The two 6s do

make an interesting comparison: a

large German luxury estate that’s

a default choice, and a Japanese

alternative that’s much cheaper but

rarely seen – it’s £8k more affordable

in standard form, £14k as tested. Are

UK buyers missing a trick here?

Well, Alex seemed pretty excited

about nabbing the A6. Part of the

appeal came down to the badge, he

admitted. He felt a more successful

kind of photographer driving

something with four rings on its

nose. But the A6’s boot also proved

to be a useful bit bigger for all that

camera gear he lugs around – what

is all that stuff? – with 565 litres

seats-up to the Mazda’s 480. That’s

partly because the Audi is 74mm

longer at 4939mm.

With all the miles Alex covers,

the Audi’s apparently huge mpg

advantage also appealed. ‘It’s

pretty impressive that the Mazda

officially does 41.5mpg considering

it’s a big car with a 2.5-litre petrol

engine,’ he commented, ‘but the

Audi’s four-cylinder turbodiesel

would make a big difference to my

fuel costs if it gets anywhere near

60.1mpg.’

The Audi’s cockpit made

the biggest impression. ‘Its

infotainment is far superior to the

Mazda’s,’ noted Alex, pointing to the

slick twin touchscreens that define

the dashboard. ‘It’s also a much

Coveting thy colleague’s estate

Audi A6 AvantI

Month 2

The story so far

Entry-level diesel A6 estate

with comfort-orientated extras

+Audi build quality

• It’s a diesel estate

Price £40,740 (£46,805 as

tested) Performance 1968cc

4-cyl turbodiesel, 201bhp,

8.3sec 0-62mph, 149mph

Efficiency 60.1mpg (official),

40.5mpg (tested), 124g/km C02

Energy cost 14.9p per mile

Miles this month 1408 Total

miles 2238

Logbook

Prestige German vs anonymous Japanese? It’s a close call. By Ben Barry