Here's a first teaser for one of the most heated 'battles' in 2011. Audi recently pulled the wraps off their all new
A6, and this encouraged the folks at
Autozeitung to a first comparison. The contenders:
BMW F10 5-series and
Mercedes-Benz E-class.
Autozeitung on the exterior:
"There are no suprises here, all three cars are in good shape and will age well. The Mercedes is rather 'classic', the BMW as usual sporty due to it aggresive kidney grilles. The design of the Audi is sharp and precise, but it could have used a bit more effort to change the trademark singleframe grille. Nonetheless, it's a car to look forward owning."
Autozeitung continues saying that the A6 comes in 80 kg less than the predecessor, in average. Bumpers, hood, boot and doors are all made from aluminum. Yet, this makes for less of a weight difference in this comparison than you'd think. Audi state 1610 kg for the A6 2.8 FSI, an F10 523i (204hp) is only 15kg heavier, the Mercedes E 200 CGI (183 PS) even 80kg lighter.
On the
engines Autozeitung claims that "Audi isn't up to the competition yet. Only few engines are available at the launch in March, but Audi promises to follow up fast - including S6 and RS6 models." Initially available (in Europe) are the 2.8FSI (204hp), the 3.0FSI (300hp) and two variants of the 3.0TDI (204hp, 245hp). The A6 2.0TDI will follow later. Audi's double clutch transmission isn't available for all variants.
Both BMW and Mercedes offer more engines to choose from. For the F10 the range goes from the 520d (2.0l Diesel, 184hp) and 523i (204hp) all the way up to the 550i (N63, 407hp). Mercedes leaves even more choice: E 200 CGI (1.8l petrol engine, 184hp), E 200 CDI (136hp) and E 350 CGI (292hp) just to name a few.
Expect more (performance) comparisons fairing the F10 against the new A6 to trigger in soon as the A6 gets closer to its market launch in March 2011. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures after the jump.
[source:
Autozeitung]