The Audi A6 gets mid-model-year upgrades in almost all departments, from more power and torque underhood, along with a more rigid steering system with progressive ratio, and what Audi calls an optimized infotainment experience, with an updated multifunction steering wheel with MMI interface.The improvements straddle the balance between sport and luxury.The improved A6 will be available in Q2 starting at $65,395.Depending on how you define an Audi A6, and how far back you trace its roots, like, all the way back to the Audi 100, say, Ingolstadt has sold 10 million of these things over the course of nine generations. So they have figured out at thing or two.All that time it has done battle with Euro-sedan stalwarts BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class, and lately the Cadillac CT5, carving out its own unique balance of sportiness and luxury in the C-segment sedan class. The 2026 model leans a little more to the sporty side of the luxury/sports equation. It gets 27 more hp—up now to 362—and 37 more lb-ft of torque, to 406. Routed through a sporty seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and a torque-vectoring rear diff in the car I drove, that moves the 4,310-pound A6 from zero to 60 mph in a respectable 4.5 seconds and to a top speed of 130 mph. Audi calls it “near S model performance, standard,” and it’s not far off.Add to it numerous steering and suspension tweaks both standard and available the more money you spend, and you might have a real European sports sedan on your hands. Mind you, this is before an S6 comes out.Exterior refinements give the new A6 a distinct look.For instance, the new A6 has electromechanical progressive steering mounted to a more rigid rack, a stiffer torsion bar and control arm bushings, and increased front axle camber (where the tops of the front wheels lean a little more into the body for better cornering). The rear wheels now steer up to two degrees with the fronts for high speed stability on fast curves, and up to five degrees opposite the fronts at low speeds for ease of parking.If you get the Prestige trim with the Sport Plus package that I drove, you get standard adaptive dampers that can raise the car almost an inch, and lower it by a half inch.Inside, there are luxury features galore, from standard wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto to a Bang & Olufsen 3D audio system with 20 speakers, including two in the driver’s headrest to really freak you out the first time the nav comes on.You control many of the features through the new 14.5-inch infotainment screen that blends seamlessly into the 11.9-inch digital gauge cluster, controlled by a new MMI user interface that features “fewer lists and more graphical representations.” A helpful HUD display is another option. There’s even an Audi high-resolution dash-cam to record the action in front of you. Passengers can even have their own screen.Audi notes that its Reverse Assist is now able to take over steering for the last 150 feet (50 meters) when backing towards a spot, though I did not try this out (sorry).My car had everything.Thus equipped, off I set, up the famous Palms-to-Pines highway from Palm Springs into the Santa Rosa Mountains. At first, the progressive steering rack kind of freaked me out. You really notice the change in ratio at slower speeds in city traffic. If you take a test drive, keep this in mind. As with most of these progressive systems, you get more used to them the more you drive, and when you go back to a fixed-ratio car you miss them, especially when parking.Since my car had the optional Sport Plus Package, the cornering on the new A6 was surprisingly flat for such a large luxury sedan, and on the best curves of the Palms-to-Pines it hunkered right down and held on nicely. There was no need for small corrections going through long corners and no fidgeting from the back end. On long straightaways like they used to have at Riverside (which was only a short drive away from this road, RIP), the A6 reverted to a luxury European touring sedan. Indeed, the interior was an entirely pleasant place to spend a day. The Bang & Olufsen audio delivered distinct sound across a very wide range, and the extra two inches of headroom was appreciated by those of us with longer torsos. There was even a Digital Curtain glass roof that you could change from varying degrees of opaque to somewhat-mostly-darker. I’m not a fan of sunroofs in general but you might be.Back seat should make any executive happy, even 8-year-olds.I even sat in the back and luxuriated in the power soft-close doors, dual-pane acoustic side window glass, and four-zone climate control. There were even acoustic dampers in the tires.The A6 with all the updates will arrive in showrooms in Q2 of this year. You can get into a 2026 A6 for $65,395 to start, though you can quickly and easily crank that sticker up to almost 20 grand more. The car I drove with all the features listed above was $83,490.Should you get this, a 5-Series, an E-Class, or a Cadillac CT5? If this is your conundrum, I envy you. The A6 strikes a nice balance between luxury and performance with which you will not likely be disappointed, especially if you can get used to the progressive-rate steering, which I know you can. But drive everything and decide. You’ll have fun no matter which you choose.
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