The Driving Woman

    

We were going from New York to Washington, DC for the weekend and I decided to test drive a sedan instead of a large van or SUV. My teens are used to three rows and a home entertainment system. That wasn’t going to happen this trip. I was keen to try out the 2008 Audi A6 Sedan. They weren't pleased.

"What’'s up with this Mom?” they inquired, eyeing the Audi.  “Have you lost your mind… where are we going to fit?”

"Just put your stuff in the trunk and let’s get on with it,”I quipped, expecting to have to do a major squish job with our luggage. Not so!

The trunk was deep and cavernous with room to spare after we loaded our various bags and equipment in. Even my kids were impressed.  I can't remember loading so much into the trunk of a sedan--—families take note!

Getting behind the wheel of the Audi A6 was another treat. The interior was awash in hand-crafted amaretto –colored leather with grey birch wood trim and an instrument panel covered in a coal colored metallic-like surface.  The three-spoke multifunction leather sports steering wheel with a color-contrasting double stitch had a nice heft to it and slid easily through my hands. A convenient plus-- the reach and height of the steering wheel was power adjustable.

After settling in to the seat I adjusted the outside mirrors, punched in the route to Maryland on the nav system and pushed the start button. My husband, not used to using a nav system, was clutching a google map. Thank goodness we didn’'t use those directions—. We never would have found the college in Maryland that we were checking out for my son. The system was so accurate that it redirected us back to a highway from a small town in the middle of nowhere.



And the ride--- sweet, just the right amount of soft and so supple you feel that the car is driving you. A sedan, yes, but it drives small. Even though we had a mighty engine-- 4.2 liter FSI V8 with 350 hp and 325 ft. lbs. torque—it didn’'t  feel like too much torque. The car drives smooth—--no sudden surges of power, no hitching between gears.

My husband, a long distance cyclist, compared the Audi A6 to a precision carbon racing bike, “ultra responsive to the touch, sensitive to the driver’'s movements and glides into a turn.’

For the 2008 A6 and S6 you can choose between quattro permanent all-wheel drive or FrontTrak front wheel drive. Standards for the A6 4.2 and S6 include headlight washers, SIRIUS® Satellite Radio, a crisp seven-inch color display, electromechanical parking brake, a tire pressure monitoring system, a light and rain sensor/ automatic climate control sunroof,  heated front seats with memory and BOSE Surround Sound.

Now as for the kids—--not a word from the back seat. Apparently, space was not an issue. They thought the car was really “cool”. Coming from a teenager used to taking trips in large vehicles, that’'s a big deal.