Here are some spy shots of Audi's next-generation A6, which is scheduled for launch next year. While it's still pretty well wrapped up in swirls, we can assume that the car will essentially be and a less-"designer" A7 Sportback with a trunk; the student has become the master (and quickly!). Since we already know what the A7 will look like, it doesn't take much imagination to see where the A6 will go from there.
The stylish A7 does a damn fine job of being a 4-door, 4-seat coupe while also being a hatchback (and embarrassing BMW's 5GT), which leads me to believe that the next A6 will be a nice-looking 5-seat evolution of Audi's large mid-sizer.
The engine lineup will include the usual suspects, trickling down from the CLS-killer A7 and up from the A4: a 204-horse 2.8 FSI as a base gasoline V6, a supercharged 300-horsepower 3.0TFSI as the sporty gasoline V6, and two 3.0 liter V6 TDIs. Smaller, more efficient engines will be available as well (depending on the market of course), including turbocharged diesel and gasoline 2.0-liter inline-4s, and even a hybrid.
Quattro and FWD will be available across the range, as well as a 6-speed manual, 7-speed S Tronic (DSG), or 8-speed automatic transmission depending on engine choice.
A top-line S6 is rumored to bring some form of big-power V8. Lastly, the madman RS6 will no doubt be built by quattro somewhere down the line to take on the M5 and AMG's E. From what we've heard, chances are Audi will drop the current V10 unit in favor of a smaller, lighter, and greener but equally, if not even more powerful, force-fed V8.
By Phil Alex
