My new A6 Allroad Quattro

[richspeight]

Good question! Several reasons actually :-). I did originally consider an A6 Avant (as well as all the other usual suspects BMW 5, Mercedes E, Volvo V/XC70)

The ride is way better on the Allroad due to the air suspension. The S-Line suspension is far too hard (especially for the wife and kids and probably for me too if I'm honest) and the SE version looks plain dull. You can get air on the A6 Avant however but by the time I'd specced one with air to the same specification of the Allroad it was >£2k more expensive and consequently poor value.

The finance deal (1.0 APR) was only available on the Allroad

Allroads hold their value better than normal Avants so that combined with the cheaper finance means it will cost me quite a lot less overall

It will be able to go places my old car couldn't and the car will have to tow a boat/trailer from time to time so the extra ground clearance will come in handy. The Allroad does have specific electronic settings which means that it will cope with (admittedly light) off roading better than a standard Quattro.

I also quite like the way it looks. With the extra trim painted in body colour it has more presence than an A6 but doesn't look too utilitarian.

Well, that's a spanking gorgeous set of wheels! I have to agree with you on the air suspension -- keeps me away from the osteopath compared to the S-Line...

Having just come back from the wilds of Cornwall, I can vouch for the effectiveness of the air suspension (and the 'Lift' setting) for some light off-roading. And that's on a standard A6 (with quattro nonetheless). I was pretty impressed at some of the places I could get. It would be interesting to know what the difference between the standard air setup and the Allroad setup is -- I don't think my suspension lifts as high as yours (the standard level on a regular A6 being about 30mm lower than an Allroad, I think).

Seeing the 3G MMI makes me quite jealous! Unfortunately, I seem to recall CraigyB stating that it'd cost a fortune to retrofit onto the old MMI. Hmmm.