fuzzydice

the A6 got into C&D's top ten list and got a nice review. Could anyone help me understand why they hate the Driver assist features so much?


I am getting ready to order an 2016 A6 Prestige w/ the driver assist package so any feedback would be really appreciated.


2014 10Best Cars - 10Best Cars - Page 2 - Car and Driver


The S6 is nearly perfect as is. All it needs is the $2000 Comfort Seating package for a total MSRP of $76,295. For the A6 and A7, once you commit to a V-6, your trim-level choices narrow to two: Premium Plus and Prestige. We like the Prestige trim’s sportier S-line fascias and rocker panels. For $2800 ($2900 in the A7), it also includes a laundry list of features, including blind-spot monitoring, ambient lighting, and ventilated front seats. Avoid the Driver Assistance package at all costs. Incorporating adaptive cruise with automatic panic braking, lane-keeping assist, and other equipment, this $2800 bundle is cheaper than running the car into a wall but has the same effect: utter ruination.
We would also add the following equipment, bringing the total MSRP to $62,695 for the A6 and $71,895 for the A7:

Full-LED headlights ($1400)
<noscript>&lt;img src="http://media.caranddriver.com/images/media/552883/2014-10best-cars-blue-bullet-photo-553346-s-original.jpg" width="11" height="11" style="padding-top: 3px;" /&gt;</noscript> Sport package for a firmer suspension and split-spoke wheels in the standard 19-inch size ($1000 on the A7, $1500 on the A6)
<noscript>&lt;img src="http://media.caranddriver.com/images/media/552883/2014-10best-cars-blue-bullet-photo-553346-s-original.jpg" width="11" height="11" style="padding-top: 3px;" /&gt;</noscript> Layered Oak Trim ($500 on the A6, $700 on the A7)
<noscript>&lt;img src="http://media.caranddriver.com/images/media/552883/2014-10best-cars-blue-bullet-photo-553346-s-original.jpg" width="11" height="11" style="padding-top: 3px;" /&gt;</noscript> Cold Weather package for the heated steering wheel and rear seats ($500)

NOLAessate

I just crossed the 40k mile barrier with my 2014 A6 TDI Prestige. I have the driver assist package and love it, but it does take some getting used to. There have been a few occasions where a car, traveling in front of me, moved off to the right into a turning lane and, as it started to turn, the "Pre-sense Plus" or auto braking feature began to activate. I think it has to do with the way the front-facing sensors are aimed and calibrated. I don't know if it's possible to narrow down the focus so that it only reacts to a car directly in front without a small amount of bleeding off on the edges. The Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is, for me, a terrific option. I've used it in bumper to bumper, in the 40 to 50 mph range, and in the 77.5-82.5 mph range (unlike conventional cruise control with 1 mph increments, the ACC has 2.5 mph increments), and with the 1 second, 2 second, and 3 second intervals. It will pick up a motorcycle just like a car and has reduced most, if not all, the stress from congested commutes. I normally engage the cruise control whenever possible as I find that it keeps me from getting into the "Super Speeder" range (the car just prefers to go much faster than the posted limits).

The Active Lane Assist is a little less precise in that it will kind of weave a little from one side of the lane to the other, but will vibrate the wheel if you drift without using the turn signals, and will pull you back into the lane. It's not necessarily the smoothest operating of the assist features, but it does work. It's also very easy to deactivate if you find it intrusive.

I just came back from Quattro de Mayo (which is an annual gathering of Audi enthusiasts in the beginning of May in the northern Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee areas for the specific purpose of driving some of the best roads around - Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Moonshiners Rd, etc). On the Friday drive to and on the Skyway I performed a "science project" with the ACC. The roads from the resort where QDM was held to the beginning of the Skyway were about 70 miles of nice curves and elevation changes. I set the ACC at 75 mph with a 2 second interval from the B8.5 S4 in front of me and began the drive. I only had to apply the brakes once during the entire 70 mile drive and only applied the throttle a few times (even with the transmission in "S", the car sometimes wouldn't accelerate quite as hard out of the curves as I wanted). The ACC performed very well and exactly as I expected. So I guess you could say that after 40k plus miles, I'm a very satisfied customer and frequent user of the Driver Assist features.

Hope this helps.

superswiss

Typical old fashioned car journalist who doesn't take the time to learn new features. I don't have all of these on my RS5 and my ACC doesn't have stop & go, but it sure is convenient on longer drives and in traffic. Regular cruise control IMO is utterly useless and I rarely used it on previous cars. The brake guard feature is nice, too. It has reduced my reaction time on a few occasions. Yes, it occasionally picks up a car that is turning off the road, but in my experience simply maintaining proper distance is all it takes. There's been only 1 or 2 times where it actually applied the brakes on me, most other times it just gives acoustic warning and if you take the foot of the accelerator and slightly tap the brakes it's happy and won't go into panic mode. But most of all these features can be disengaged if you find yourself on an open country road and wanna have some fun. For example putting the ESP in Sport mode (single press) turns off the brake guard feature, so it won't slam on the brakes during canyon carving when accidentally mistaking a moving object for a car. All these assist features have their use in mundane daily driving, but as long as they can be turned off when they are unwanted, I don't see what the problem is. Of course if you find yourself turning them off all the time, then $2800 is a waste of money.

KevinGary

After having a car with it for the last 9 months, I will never buy a car without it.

DB22

Adaptive cruise is a must, Active Lane assist is very good but if this is an indication of Audi's autonomous cars then carnage is imminent. Pre-sense is good but errs on the side of caution to the point where it may emergency stop for reasons unbeknown to itself.

I like toys and put them through their paces, understand their idiosyncrasies and work around them but most car reviewers do not have the experience with them and tend to dismiss them when they misbehave. As previously stated, there are conditions where turning them off is wise but if you don't have the features then you will never know.

The A6 and S6 are toys, get everything and go play.

trmills

When a car in front of you either slows down abruptly or starts turning right onto a side road or to make a U-turn (for example), Audi braking only sees an object that was moving forward and is now not. A car turning is not seen as going forward anymore.

I've had the braking surprise me twice now. Once was a car turning right onto a side street. I was judging the distance to just breeze right by and Audi braking saw the car as not going as forward as it was and hit the brakes.

The other time was when I was turning left in a turn lane. The car in front of me made a u-turn and I was going to shoot right by it. Once again Audi braking saw the car as not going as forward as it was and hit the brakes.

I have modified my driving to not be as aggressive and to leave room between myself and other cars. If I don't, Audi does it for me!

irenesbob

How aggressively did it brake in that right turn situation? If it was a hard braking, it could cause issues with a following vehicle whose driver has likewise assessed the vehicle two cars ahead of them to simply be turning right, and accordingly not be prepared for you to brake heavily. Sounds sketchy to me.

snagitseven

These situations are pretty rare. I've only had it happen once where the car actually braked on its own. On the other hand, I have have several insrtances whereby the visual alert and subsequent chime sounded to warn me of a car stopping in front while I was apparently too close. While it may not be perfect, I believe Presense front can save your bacon.

jr'sAudiA6

Realize that the Audi collision avoidance system works off being able to detect moving objects in front of you. I believe, based on how the ACC works that if the object in front is not moving it probably is not going to do anything. That has been my experience. So, I am not sure how those tests were conducted. Other manufactures have implemented different designs that probably work differently to the Audi system. I think those tests results are misleading since they do not talk about how each system is designed. I can tell from my track experience that collision avoidance definitely works. Sometimes when you do not want it to and it can not be disabled unfortunately.

TheHeadFL

For what it's worth, the Drivers Assist package stuff has been my favorite things about my new A6:

Top View Camera - This is huge for me since I do a lot of parallel parking... it is great to be able to see where you are in relation to the curb and the street markings
Adaptive Cruise Control - Worked beautifully on a long drive I did last weekend, barely had to touch the pedals for nearly 200 miles
Lane Assist - Already caught a few instances of me being momentarily distracted on the highway and gently nudged me with the wheel, however I have had to be more disciplined with my turn signal usage

I hope to never test the Pre Sense stuff!