Homer1946

Mesquite77

Enjoy, save money for new tires, lol...

KevinGary

bonafyd

Nice pick up.. I liked that car ever since i first saw it, it sucks they're discontinuing it.

AMDG75

Hopefully, no damage to you. Unfortunate method for your car's exit - an errant kid instead of you making the decision.

Homer1946

AMDG75

Sorry, wasn't clear - should have asked whether you sustained any injuries. Sounds like you are OK.

Always interested in other's experiences.... as for 'well gone' -- darn, if your wheels were in good shape would have asked to salvage as somehow the curbs find my wheels. particularly with icy conditions.

Homer1946

I was fine. My car was seriously bruised however.

So, I thought a comparison between my outgoing A6 and my new CT6 might be interesting to some here. I want to vary up my car experiences while I can and I have been wanting to do the Cadillac thing. There is nothing out there really interesting right now (from my standpoint) except for the new A6 (very impressive) and the Telsa (really worried about the company going out of business and my having a 6 figure paper weight…and I think this might be my last chance to have a gasoline powered car).

It is a bit of apples and oranges since I am comparing a 2014 car to a 2018 car but…that is what it is.

Both cars are comparable equipped. They both have the top engine choice, AWD, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, automatic emergency braking, parking sensors, 360 degree cameras, night vision with automatic detection of things of interest (the yellow or red box thing), head up displays, and sun shades. They are both connected cars with built in hot spots. They are both red with non-black interiors.

The CT6 also has supercruise, magnetic ride control, 4 wheel steering, and automatic parking assist (where it largely drives itself). The A6 has google allowing me to ask directions to anything google can find by voice (Audi connect) and the juke box. The Audi has rear zones for the AC, but I didn’t get that on the CT6.

The magnetic ride on the CT 6 is a little like getting the sports suspension on the A6. It is stiffer, even on normal (Touring) mode, than the base fixed suspension. Both cars nominally send 60% of the torque to the rear but that can be varied on the CT6 (understanding that the amount varies continually for both cars from that base point during driving).

The CT6 has a dual turbo 3.0 liter with 404 HP and 400 torque, the A6 (as we all know) has 310/325 (but with my stage I tune it is about 425 and 360). The CT 6 is about 10 inches longer and about 0.5 inches wider but weighs about the same as the A6 (I am going to confirm this when I clear the Audi for release and get it’s actual weight). The CT6 is more like the 2014 A8 in that it makes more lavish use of aluminum in an advanced design.

The very simplistic summary of the comparison can be: Audi A6: I’m amazing, you’re lucky your driving me. CT6: Your amazing, I’m lucky your driving me.

The longer version.

The CT6 is much quieter and a little softer and smoother riding than the A6. If you tighten the suspension up with Sport mode the CT6 feels very similar to the A6 (from a suspension standpoint). They both seem to handle about the same and, despite the CT6 being 10 inches longer, the CT6 has a slightly tighter turning radius (curtesy of all wheel steering).

The CT 6 has definite turbo lag that is evident coming from the A6. The A6 (especially with the Stage I) would hurt you from a dead stop and take your breath away if you weren’t used to it. The CT6 builds up it’s acceleration more slowly and you have time to adjust to it (bearing down to prevent you breath from being expelled) so you don’t notice it. You can really see the lag by watching the boost gage in the CT6.

The Sport mode on the A6 makes a big difference in throttle and transmission mapping transforming the A6 to feel like a different car. It really ups the fun factor. And you can get there by just pulling down on the shifter, and get out just as fast. Although the CT6 is supposed to make similar changes they are not nearly as evident (although I haven’t really pushed too hard). In fact, the CT 6 in Sport mode drives very similar to the A6 in Comfort mode and you could easily just leave the CT6 in Sport mode all the time (it is persistent through restarts). You would never do that in an A6 as it revs too high, which gets old, and destroys your gas mileage. Also, the CT6 is NOT quick to change modes. You have to press a mode button until you get to the mode you want (there are three) and then wait for 3 seconds until the system auto selects that mode and then changes. No quick changes.

So, for the A6 the sports mode is a dynamic thing you do on the fly as needed, and for the CT6 the modes are more of your preferred full time driving mode. You also cannot mix elements of the modes together on the CT6 to get a custom mode.

The CT6 is VERY automated. It automagically activate the seat heater or ventilation, the recirc, the steering wheel warmer, and the front and real window defog/defost. It also automagically locks the doors when you walk away and lights up when you get near. It has remote start (from the phone start) and leverages all this auto stuff to have the car ready when you get there. (All this stuff can be easily overridden with dedicated controls and the automatic behavior can be switched off). The car also has amenities such as cross traffic and pedestrian detection.

The A6 is basically “Are your fingers broken? I have a button for that”.

So, to bottom line it. Both cars are nice (luxurious), fast, and handle well. The A6 is more of a drivers car and can (could..sniff) at my discretion feel like a sports car. The CT6 is more of any occupants car that coddles the driver, but allows the driver to have fun when they want, but can’t transition to feeling like a sports car. A level 1 tune might modify this of course.

I wanted to go a little softer and (especially) quieter this time so I am good with the changes. I am really liking the CT 6 a lot. I really appreciate the ability to remote start/monitor it, and the more luxurious setting. I REALLY like the less road and wind noise.

I do wish the Sport setting in the CT6 resulted in more dramatic a change and was much easier/quicker to get to. That would seem to be a miss.

Supercruise is also a big part of what I wanted and that is great. It is like adaptive cruise control mixed with lane keeping done right. It works at all speeds, but only on selected roads. But that is a whole other writeup.

Oh, and lastly. Both cars have the mid level audio system, the one that is automatically upgraded to due to the upper trim level. For the Audi it was going from the generic audio system to the 14 speaker (I think) Bose. For the CT6 it was going from the base 8 speaker Bose to the 10 speaker Bose. I didn’t opt for the $6k top end audio in the A6 (and sort of regretted it) or the $3.7k top end 34 speaker Panaray Bose system in the CT6.

I absolutely hated the 14 speaker Bose system in the A6. It was muddy and that drove me nuts. It was not nearly as good as the identically priced top end system in the S4.

I can report (and I carefully checked ahead of time) that the 10 speaker Bose system in the CT6 is much better than the Bose system in the A6. I like it, and I can live with it.


Pictures coming…

gguy

Homer1946