Audi has doubled down on the jacked-up estate car formula with the new A6 Allroad, at a time when most rivals have abandoned the idea altogether. While lifted, rugged-look estates enjoyed a wave of popularity some 15 to 20 years ago, few manufacturers still bother today. Aside from Dacia, which plays in a very different price bracket, Audi remains the only brand persisting with the concept in the UK, having launched the original A6 Allroad Quattro back in 2000.

Rather than simply raising the ride height and fitting black bumpers, Audi has gone further this time. The new Allroad gets flared wheel arches and a genuine widebody design that, while engineered differently from the upcoming RS6 Avant, looks remarkably similar to a lifted version of that car. It also rides on wider and taller tyres than the standard A6 Avant, measuring 285/35 instead of 255/35 on 21in wheels, and comes with four-wheel steering as standard.

Crucially, the Allroad is the only A6 variant sold in the UK with a six-cylinder engine. It launches with a 295bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel, with a 362bhp petrol V6 and a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid to follow later this year. The PHEV, offering around 60 miles of electric range, makes most sense for company car tax purposes, but the V6 units are the highlight, since BMW no longer offers a six-cylinder 5 Series without a plug in the UK, and rivals such as Jaguar, Volvo and Maserati have exited the big-engined executive segment entirely. That leaves the Mercedes-Benz E450d Estate as the Allroad's only direct competitor. Both V6 versions use Audi's MHEV Plus system, pairing a 24bhp electric motor with the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

On the road, the diesel V6 impresses with its willingness to rev and a sense of effortless pulling power, even if smoother six-cylinder units from BMW and Mercedes remain more refined at low speeds. The standard air suspension and four-wheel steering give the Allroad genuinely composed handling, with accurate, progressive steering that belies its near two-tonne weight, even if the wide tyres are admittedly more about styling than outright need.

Inside, the cabin mirrors the standard A6, meaning strong technology but interior materials that fall short of expectations at this price point. UK buyers also miss out on the superior Contour seats and round steering wheel offered elsewhere.

Pricing starts at £69,720 for the diesel and £72,145 for the PHEV, around £4,000 more than an equivalent A6 Avant but less than a comparable Mercedes E-Class.

Source: Autocar

Before this, we covered: Audi Unveils Plans for New Formula 1 Team Campus in Switzerland