Mark P

Chris Miller, on behalf of ACNA worked with the Audi Tech Training Center to give us an informative evening on the new C6 A6. It was a great time. The center (Marlboro, MA) is new as of April and most of New England techs that get trained while working for dealerships come here. It's just around the corner from where I work, so quite convenient for me to attend last night (and hopefully in the future!).

Overall, the new A6 has a ton of goodies and improvements in it. While I'm still into a bit of a sportier car, I can surely appreciate this one. Personally, I was pretty neutral on the C5, but the C6 is appealing, primarly due to all of the new gadgets and systems. There's no way I could cover (or remember) them all, but here are a few...

KEYS:
- Each key can be associated to seat positions, mirror positions, steering wheel position, climate control, radio, and rear shade control. Depending who is driving, these will adjust appropriately.
- The key doesn't need to be in the ignition (with that option package), just in the car. Antennas on each door and front/rear determine if the key is in the car somewhere, and if so, a button on the console will let you start the car (one touch of button, don't need to hold it to crank).
- The car can sense when the key is just outside the door and will unlock so you don't need to find the key. There's also a button by the door latch that allows you to lock the door, so in theory you could lock, unlock, start and drive all with the key never leaving your pocket/purse.
- If the doors are locked, and you put the key in the trunk (forgot it was in your bag, etc) and go to shut the trunk, it won't shut! If your doors are unlocked, it will allow to shut since you can still get in the car.
- Bidirectional key - When out of range of normal locking distance, you can query your key to see if your doors are locked or not.

- Headlights adjust 7-15% side-to-side as you turn going around corners - speed and steering angle dependant.

- Rain sensing windshield sensor turns on wipers if in Auto mode.

- Also, if sensor realizes it's raining, brakes squeeze slightly every 3 minutes to keep rotors/pads ready to brake appropriately in the wet.

- Bluetooth - allows connecting cell phones to the car's handsfree system without wires.

- MMI and other systems work of MOST/CAN/LIN buses, with fiber optic system capabable of 21Mb/s. Voice activated radio, etc.

- Electric parking brake

- Battery in trunk

- 6/8 Airbags with 2-stage deployment based on impact sensors. Passenger seat weight analysis to determine if pass airbag should be auto-disabled. Impact head restraints on front seats.

- new 3.2 engine option

- Oil Filter cartridge on top of engine - easy maintenance

- etc...


Ok, let's get to the pics...

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00912.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00913.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00914.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00915.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00916.jpg">

Got VAG electrical diag tools?
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00917.jpg">

Flat underside reduces wind turbulance:
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00918.jpg">

Talk about a spot for everything (each peg has a hang tag with P/N and image of tool):
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00919.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00920.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00921.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00922.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00923.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00924.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00925.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00926.jpg">

Got specialty tools?
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00927.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00928.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00929.jpg">

<a href="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00930big.jpg" target="_blank">Click Here to see large image of bus photo below</a>
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00930.jpg">

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00931.jpg">

Would you like to take the Red door or Blue door? )
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00932.jpg">

Battery in trunk with grounding post for jump starting:
<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00933.jpg">

Mark P

oh and 3.2 has FSI, but it's not 3.2L at 3123cc, so just "3.2 model"

yourk

<center><img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00923.jpg"></center><p>this and the caliper... never seen them this big.

oatzel

<center><img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/events/040908a6tech/dsc00920.jpg"></center><p>almost makes it look like 2 grilles, rather than a unigrille

Mark P

well, these were euro-spec, or to some degree, so that might not be what the US gets

oatzel

a euro requirement. the cars in the press pics and on the audi website (including Audi UK) don't have the orange reflector. interesting

TurboJew

a different piece could snap in the grill area perhaps?

Mark P

and they made reference to it having a different part for US plates, but I never bothered to look

LCP

...or what if one person who's driving the car has their keys in their pocket, but there's also another set of keys in luggage in the trunk, how does it handle that? I bet not so well. Good grief, I wish carmakers would stop spending money on worthless features they can brag about that do nothing in real life but add cost, expense and complication to something that is cheap and simple.