More power to you

The spirits of an Indian petrol-head have been inversely proportional to the prices of petrol, and diesel aficionados have been having quite the laugh with the market players obliging them with a flurry of diesel-powered cars in the last few months. But all it takes to put a childish grin on a petrol-head's face is something such as the Audi A6 3.0T. With its 295bhp engine, this one's definitely putting the grin back where it belongs.

But first, there are a few things you need to know about this car's powertrain. It's supercharged, with direct-injection and unlike the old A6 3.0T, which had a six-speed auto box, the latest model comes with a seven-speed twin-clutch transmission that incorporates a launch control function. This translates to 0-100kph in six seconds, 0-200kph in 24.32 seconds and a top speed limited to 250kph — reasons to opt for the petrol over the diesel. Compare spec sheets and the petrol has 50bhp more than the diesel, makes 6kgm torque less and is exactly 0.3sec faster to 100kph Now, this may not look like a whole lot more than the 3.0 diesel A6 and the truth is that in the real world, the diesel would gamely keep up but the 3-litre petrol in its latest iteration is just so much more thrilling.

For starters, it revs quite freely for a forced induction engine and the way you can wind it to its redline of 6500rpm (versus the diesel's 4500rpm) thrills you like no diesel can. This engine snarls like you're trying to steal its food and pulls like a runaway train all the way from 2000rpm to the rev limiter.

Displacing all of 2995cc from its six cylinders set in a 90deg vee, this engine's belt-driven supercharger which makes up to 0.8 bar of boost, sits between the two cylinder banks and is driven off the crankshaft. Compressed air passes through two intercoolers before entering the combustion chamber, and because the supercharger is located between the cylinders, the compressed air doesn't have to travel far, which helps engine response.

And boy, is it responsive. Thanks to the wide power band, the engine responds anywhere and everywhere in the rev range. Taps on the throttle are rewarded with instant forward motion and strong pulling power — the engine makes 44.8kgm of torque. The biggest difference though is with the gearbox. The old A6's torque converter was jerky in its gearshifts, but this twin-clutch unit is a lot smoother. Gearshifts are lightning-quick and the new A6, unlike the old one, gets paddle-shifters, which makes it all the more fun to run up and down the gearbox. It has no qualms about spinning the engine upto the redline on downshifts either, so on the right road it's huge fun to squeeze the most out of the engine. That it remains extremely smooth even at the edge of its rev counter only encourages you to do so.

Of course, a strong petrol engine is heavy on the wallet. The ‘Efficiency' mode in Audi's MMI system does help in disengaging the flywheel when the car is coasting, but in our back-to-back highway runs (once in ‘Efficiency' mode and again in ‘Comfort' mode) didn't change any numbers. We're sure that there'll be some savings in the city cycle which gave us an average of 7kpl, which isn't too bad. The car comes with start/stop system too.

The Quattro system with its new centre differential gives the A6 loads of grip and the car displays good poise around corners. However, the A6's handling isn't very involving and the inherent understeer (you have to push hard to find the limit) and benign steering doesn't make it engaging to drive.

There's also the mushy brakes — the pedal action is not very linear with almost nothing initially and strong bite later. Ride quality however is exemplary. Audi's adaptive damper system is standard on the car and offers a smooth ride in ‘Comfort' and controls body movements brilliantly in ‘Dynamic'. What helps the ride are tyres that are slightly taller than before but we wished, for the sake of aesthetics, Audi would offer slightly wider tyres than the standard 225/55-R17 rubber. In fact, the previous A6 had chunkier 255/50-R17 tyres and the downsizing on the new model is probably to reduce rolling resistance and hence fuel consumption.

The interiors are a familiar story — richly equipped, well designed and superbly built. The front seats are properly supportive and the cabin feels rightly sporty, yet luxurious. Like the diesel, the rear seats have good space but not enough thigh support.

The A6 3.0T will cost Rs. 56 lakh (estimated), and apart from the rather shocking omission of powered steering adjust, our test car came well-equipped. It has powered seats with memory, four-zone climate control, adaptive suspension, Bluetooth connectivity, reverse camera and keyless and go.

For performance and refinement, the A6 3.0T writes its rival's epitaph. It is easily the quickest car in its class and the strong engine makes it amazing to drive. The purist in you probably won't like its aloof handling and road manners, while the chauffeur-driven passenger will find the rear seats a tad low. In terms of value, like any other petrol luxury car, it's not great. However, this is a car that'll get the petrol-head grinning every single time.