• Attractive but busy cockpit
• Typically excellent Audi fit and finish
• Impressive tech on offer

How is the quality and layout?

The A6’s cockpit is a lovely place to be. It’s relaxing and well built, but a little bit boring compared with rivals, especially as it can only be specced in sombre colours.

Fit and finish is exemplary. You won’t find any squeaks or rattles and most of the controls have a real feeling of solidity to them. Shift the gear selector and there’s a thunk that screams quality.

Storage space up front is a bit measly. There are two small cupholders and the door pockets aren’t large enough to house one-litre bottles.

Infotainment and tech

There’s a twin-screen infotainment system that reserves the upper for navigation, media and vehicle controls, with the lower being used for seating and ventilation switches.

The system benefits from user-sourced traffic data from mapping specialists to give you the best route, plus there’s the option for remote parking in bays or your own garage, and the ability to use your phone as your car key.

Lesser details in the A6’s cabin include illuminated seatbelt sockets, textured wood veneers, a newer generation of Audi’s Virtual Cockpit digital instrument display and a chunky automatic gear selector.

Voice control is a key feature here too, with Audi’s latest cloud-assisted natural-language database employed to make things as simple as possible. We think this is great news, because the twin-screen set-up takes a bit of getting used to.

It’s worth noting here that unlike BMW’s, the head-up display in the A6 doesn’t display properly if you’re wearing polarised sunglasses. It’s still there, but so dim it’s barely useable.

Comfort

• Excellent seat comfort
• Impressive refinement
• All driving positions catered for

This is one of the A6 Saloon’s strongest points. The front seats we’ve sampled have been excellent, with a huge range of adjustability and great support. We’ve only tried cars with optional double-glazed windows, so naturally you’d expect it’s quiet in the cabin, but even still we were impressed with how isolated we felt from the outside world. Test drive models with and without the double-glazing before you decide whether to spec it as an option.

None of the engines are particularly loud inside the car, which is another plus point, and there’s acres of room for four adults to get comfortable. In all, it’s a very quiet and serene place to be.

Being a full-sized executive car, it’s scaled-up for all the family or those all-important mobile business meetings. There’s loads of rear leg and shoulder room, plus plenty of space for taller passengers’ heads.