We love a good station wagon. Audi has just pulled the wraps off its sleek new 2012 Audi A6 Avant, and we're already swooning over the capacious cargo-hauler.
'Lightweight' seems to be the buzzword for the latest A6 wagon. The body is comprised of bits of aluminum (20 percent of it in fact), and the A6 benefits from composite construction that integrates high-strength steel where needed to keep passengers safe. The lightweight approach to construction has helped the 2012 A6 Avant drop 66 pounds versus the previous model, and depending on the powertrain installed, the new car is as much as 154 pounds lighter than the one it replaces. The base A6 2.0 TDI Avant, for example, weighs just 3,616 pounds.
The A6 Avant is available with a choice of six engines and four transmissions. The base unit is a 2.0-liter TDI turbo-diesel four-cylinder that produces 177 horsepower, and is rated to consume approximately 47 miles per gallon when paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. A larger diesel is offered in the form of a twin-turbo 3.0-liter TDI mill, available in 204-, 245- and 313-horsepower configurations. That last one will push the A6 Avant from 0-60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds.
