The Audi A6 Allroad Lives Up to the Cult Following

Most of the enthusiast cars with a major following are focused, hardcore machines. Sports cars with big wings and hairy drivetrains, or lightweight, minimalists with barely a concession to comfort. Cars built to excel in one narrow realm. We love them because they sacrifice every non-essential trait in pursuit of purity.

But that's not the only way to become an enthusiast darling. Audi's Allroad variants prove that.

Talk about a niche offering: A flared, slightly jacked-up wagon, not a brutal off-roader but tougher than a sedan. You'd figure such a machine would earn sneers—not street enough for the pavement crowd, not burly enough for the adventure set. But ever since Audi set the first Allroad loose in 1999, they've had a cult following, even among Audi's already-fervent superfans.

So back in October, I took the latest A6 Allroad to Avantoberfest, an annual celebration of Audi wagons of all shapes, sizes and vintages. I wanted to get a feel for how the latest flared longroof fits into Audi fandom.

The 2021 A6 Allroad wears its all-terrain upgrades handsomely. This is the first time Audi has brought an A6 Allroad to the U.S. since the C5-generation model, which went out of production in 2005 (the smaller A4 Allroad has been available here since 2013). The signature matte black flares and undercladding add some tactical contrast to the brushed silver accents on the grille and body sides. The new Allroad sits 1.8 inches higher than the standard wagon—which, sadly but not surprisingly, is not sold in the U.S. (Thankfully, the fire-breathing RS 6 Avant does make it here, should your wagoning needs require a 591-hp twin-turbo V-8 and a 190-mph top speed.) The Allroad also gets height-adjustable air suspension and standard "Quattro with Ultra" all-wheel drive, which disconnects the rear axle for better fuel economy when the extra traction isn't needed.

Avantoberfest hosts two get-togethers every fall, one for each coast. My girlfriend and I joined the East Coast event, which consisted of a beautiful country-road drive from Saratoga Springs to Lake Placid, NY. We packed up in Brooklyn and hit the road.

The Allroad promise is compelling: The freeway manners of a svelte European sedan, plus added clearance and traction to get you to the campsite or cabin. Out on the freeway, our black-on-black wagon had all the composure of an A6 sedan. The 3.0-liter single-turbo V-6 offers up its 369 lb-ft of torque in a broad, smooth swell that hits its max at just 1400 rpm and stays high throughout most of the tach's sweep. The 335-hp peak comes at 6100 rpm, ensuring that there's basically no flat spot in the rev range. Our colleagues at Car and Driver measured 0-60 in 5.2 seconds in a nearly identical Allroad. The power makes it quick and playful on the road, though it's still dialed more for comfort. In Sport mode, the steering effort increases, but there's never really much feel through the wheel, and the slightly-louder exhaust is still polite.

The only transmission available is Audi's 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. VW Group has been more dedicated to dual-clutch transmissions than any other automaker, and that long-running expertise shows. Aside from a few slightly clunky moments at parking-lot speeds, the transmission programming is excellent and smooth. Dialing up Sport mode brings higher shift points and holds a gear longer in corners. The car responds to manual-mode paddle shifts with almost zero lag, but after a few minutes, shifting for yourself starts to feel silly—this is a smooth cruiser, not an apex-chaser.

We motored from NYC to Saratoga Springs in hushed, smooth comfort. The flared wagon's interior is basically identical to the A6 sedan, with nearly every dashboard function handled through one of two center-stack touchscreens. There's a bit of a learning curve to the system, especially when you're trying to change HVAC settings on the move. I'd still prefer physical buttons and knobs for setting temperature or airflow—navigating a touchscreen while driving feels unnecessary and attention-sapping. Audi's Virtual Cockpit, which puts a video screen in place of conventional gauges, offers great customization, letting you choose from multiple gauge layouts or offering a highly-detailed map display front-and-center.