saw1

I am 3 years in to my S5 cab with 36k miles. I really enjoy it but my kids are starting to feel cramped in the back seats. The S5 is purchased but I am considering an S6 lease. Did anyone make the switch from an S5 to an S6 and if so, are you happy with the move? Thanks in advance for your input!

gee2dasahn

Not completely relevant experience but I'll drop my 2 cents anyhow...

1st thought going from a B8.5 S4 to the C7 S6 was "Wow this is BIG". Definitely a cruiser (especially as I was also coming from a Boxster S).

The other thing I miss is the ability to drop the top (you mention a cab and I happened to have the Boxster). Not having a roof does wonders in making it feel roomy, open, and unique.

Now to the reasons of why I switched.

The interior... Personally, its one of my favorite interiors and a step up from the S4/S5 interior. For the kids, it's a major upgrade (their own doors, leg/head room, heated seats, separate climate controls). I opted for the diamond stitch and personally really like them (YMMV).

The engine is pretty sweet. Nice kick-in-the-pants haul to 100 without breaking a sweat. Exhaust note is certainly better. If you choose to tune, potentially one of the largest bang for the buck improvements.

The air suspension is pretty awesome as well. 1st time riding on 20's and I was expecting a jarring, kidney-punching experience but was pleasantly surprised. In light of the snow covered and icy roads, the suspension gobbled up the constant bumps and kept its composure beautifully.

LED headlamps. Really like them. I'll admit that I'm an ignorant lumen-*****. The brighter the better haha

No soft-top. No crazy obsessing if a bird was going to do its biz while I'm indoors (actually had an emergency bottle of seltzer at work and at home for this). No going nuts that the pollen changed the color of my top. No more worrying about the random creases or rub marks on the canvas. No more Raggtopp cleaner and sealant every 3-6 months.

And maybe its my old age, but I seem to be getting better fuel mileage out this honking V8TT (compared to the S4). DD this bad boy about 80-90 miles 5x a week and generally avg 21-22mpg.

As long as you can live with the size and without the ability to enjoy mother nature as closely, I'd say go for it.

tmiele

While I loved my S5 cab (for 4.5 years), the S6 has been a fantastic replacement. To me, it's really a 2 car upgrade - it's a wonderful German luxury car when you want to be that and it's a great German performance sedan when you want it to be that. Call me "very happy" with the S6.

saw1

Thanks for the response, very surprised to hear about the 21-22 MPG. With the tank size your range must be close to 400 miles! The dealer is putting some lease numbers together on a 2016 prestige, black optics, MSRP 81k. I'll post the deal once I have more information on residual, MF, etc.

saw1

Oolong gray is a great color. Its funny that you mentioned the 2 car upgrade, the S5 cab replaced 2 cars, a Miata and a G37s sedan.

tmiele

True, True True! I had a 911 cab and a Boxster S in the past (as 2nd cars) and while both of them were great cars, the S5 cab was pure fun 365 days a year (with the addition of 4 snow tires). I had the 911 and M35x and replaced them both with the one "Audi car" solution - with my first S6 (2007 V10). Traded the S6 for the S5 cab in 2010.

The newer S6's are 100x better than the V10 models.

saw1

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to take an S6 for an extended test drive. I was generally impressed with things I knew about ahead of time like interior quality, tech, exterior looks. Performance was great, super quick! However, and this is completely my opinion, and very subjective, but the steering feel was not what I was hoping for. The steering on my S5 is my only complaint, it feels way too loose for a sporty car. The steering on the S6 in dynamic mode was even lighter than my S5. The S6 had the cold weather package so the steering wheel was thin and identical to the A6. I had an A6 as a loaner recently, and the S6 felt too similar to justify the extra cost.

ZCD2.7T

Having recently made a similar switch (tuned B8 S4 to stock C7 S6), I'll add this: While the S6's steering is indeed a bit lighter overall, I also find it to be extremely accurate - even more so than the S4's steering. I also think that it's in keeping with the S6's mission, which is to provide a great blend of luxury and performance.

As for fuel economy, I've experience the same - MPG is virtually identical, despite the extra 500 lbs and 100+ hp, which is a nice bonus.

I loved my S4, but am overall equally fond of my S6.

WausauS8

I have owned a long list of Audi's. The S6 is by far my favorite. It's a great sports cars. Very comfortable. Room for teenagers although the middle seat is too hard for more than an hour I'm told. My most recent two were a S8 and S4 respectively. I liked both but the S6 has what I liked most about each one. Good luck.

WausauS8

Btw. The S6 Sport package is a huge part of my comment. For sure worth the $3000.