As an update, I test drove a Q6 e-tron yesterday and I also got some feedback from a friend of a friend who has already received his Q6. I enjoyed driving the car a lot and the acceleration was impressive, even though the test model was the one with the lowest power (225 kW or 306 PS) - the same motor that I will get. I believe that the seats were the S Line Sport Plus seats in microfibre and leather (NB these are not available in all markets) - they were very comfortable, it felt like sitting in an armchair. These seats have a massage function; I've never tried massage seats before but that didn't impress me although I'm also not particularly a fan of massages in general (they're pleasant but not worth the money IMO). Although the main screens (console and MMI) are big, neither I nor my son, who also drove the car, found them too big or distracting. The quality seems very good, with a high resolution, and the navigation maps are beautiful. I wasn't put off by the climate controls being on the screen - they are always accessible at the bottom of the MMI screen, and the screen is large enough that this doesn't make the other items too small. The passenger MMI screen is also quite nice, with some handy functions (for example, the passenger can launch the massage function for his or her seat from there). It's certainly not a necessity, but it has its uses. It can be turned off, either completely or with a subtle pattern on the display. We briefly tested the voice commands for the panoramic sunroof (which is great although more of a benefit for rear passengers). We were amused when the car refused to open the sunroof when my son made the command from the passenger seat, saying that only the driver can do that. When I tried, it worked perfectly, even though the car was set up in French so I said the command in French ("Hey Audi, ouvre le toit ouvrant!" - evidently the car doesn't mind being addressed informally as "tu"). Otherwise, the main sunroof controls are physical buttons (yes, really!) in the roof of the car, just above the windscreen. The test car did not have the HUD which was a shame as I wanted to try it, although the friend-of-a-friend said that he finds it very useful. It had air suspension, which we weren't especially impressed by - we hadn't checked and we were trying to guess while we were driving, and our conclusion was that it didn't have air suspension so we were surprised when we checked the boot and found the buttons to raise and lower the car. You can also raise or lower the front or back independently when you are in off-road mode (not sure if it's only there), which felt rather freaky while we were parked. I did not go for the air suspension since it's not something I've ever really missed and I'm not planning to go off-roading, and it increases the maintenance costs. We tried the regen modes, including the one-pedal driving, and they all work pretty much as I expected. I did not notice any awkward transition between the regen and physical braking. There are blind spot indicators (lights on the wing mirrors) which are big and very visible but not so bright to be distracting or problematic (at least during the day; we didn't drive it in the dark). We also tried the automatic parking which didn't work particularly well in the parking area of the Audi garage, but it was a slightly non-standard parking configuration so I'll forgive that. However, the surround cameras are very useful, particularly the lateral cameras which show you the view of the sides of the car - I wished I had that last night when reversing through a long and very narrow driveway after an evening with friends. Apologies for the long post but I wanted to update this video with our impressions from the test drive. Overall, I was impressed and am very happy with my choice. The other good news is that I should get my car earlier than expected, perhaps in early December. I plan to make another video shortly after that with my early thoughts as a normal driver rather than a professional car reviewer - let me know if there's anything specific that you would like to see in that video!
Great research! Looking forward to seeing more detail on a local (Australian) Q6 release. It has been "confirmed" for our market but no date, details or price available yet.
I hope you get it soon! I'm sure I'll see some of the Australian reviews on TH-cam when it gets there, since I've watched quite a few reviews of other cars from your side of the planet.
As an update, I test drove a Q6 e-tron yesterday and I also got some feedback from a friend of a friend who has already received his Q6. I enjoyed driving the car a lot and the acceleration was impressive, even though the test model was the one with the lowest power (225 kW or 306 PS) - the same motor that I will get. I believe that the seats were the S Line Sport Plus seats in microfibre and leather (NB these are not available in all markets) - they were very comfortable, it felt like sitting in an armchair. These seats have a massage function; I've never tried massage seats before but that didn't impress me although I'm also not particularly a fan of massages in general (they're pleasant but not worth the money IMO).
Although the main screens (console and MMI) are big, neither I nor my son, who also drove the car, found them too big or distracting. The quality seems very good, with a high resolution, and the navigation maps are beautiful. I wasn't put off by the climate controls being on the screen - they are always accessible at the bottom of the MMI screen, and the screen is large enough that this doesn't make the other items too small.
The passenger MMI screen is also quite nice, with some handy functions (for example, the passenger can launch the massage function for his or her seat from there). It's certainly not a necessity, but it has its uses. It can be turned off, either completely or with a subtle pattern on the display.
We briefly tested the voice commands for the panoramic sunroof (which is great although more of a benefit for rear passengers). We were amused when the car refused to open the sunroof when my son made the command from the passenger seat, saying that only the driver can do that. When I tried, it worked perfectly, even though the car was set up in French so I said the command in French ("Hey Audi, ouvre le toit ouvrant!" - evidently the car doesn't mind being addressed informally as "tu"). Otherwise, the main sunroof controls are physical buttons (yes, really!) in the roof of the car, just above the windscreen.
The test car did not have the HUD which was a shame as I wanted to try it, although the friend-of-a-friend said that he finds it very useful. It had air suspension, which we weren't especially impressed by - we hadn't checked and we were trying to guess while we were driving, and our conclusion was that it didn't have air suspension so we were surprised when we checked the boot and found the buttons to raise and lower the car. You can also raise or lower the front or back independently when you are in off-road mode (not sure if it's only there), which felt rather freaky while we were parked. I did not go for the air suspension since it's not something I've ever really missed and I'm not planning to go off-roading, and it increases the maintenance costs.
We tried the regen modes, including the one-pedal driving, and they all work pretty much as I expected. I did not notice any awkward transition between the regen and physical braking. There are blind spot indicators (lights on the wing mirrors) which are big and very visible but not so bright to be distracting or problematic (at least during the day; we didn't drive it in the dark). We also tried the automatic parking which didn't work particularly well in the parking area of the Audi garage, but it was a slightly non-standard parking configuration so I'll forgive that. However, the surround cameras are very useful, particularly the lateral cameras which show you the view of the sides of the car - I wished I had that last night when reversing through a long and very narrow driveway after an evening with friends.
Apologies for the long post but I wanted to update this video with our impressions from the test drive. Overall, I was impressed and am very happy with my choice. The other good news is that I should get my car earlier than expected, perhaps in early December. I plan to make another video shortly after that with my early thoughts as a normal driver rather than a professional car reviewer - let me know if there's anything specific that you would like to see in that video!
Had the exact same thoughts and now I'm waiting my Q6 to arrive in late October🎉
Great research! Looking forward to seeing more detail on a local (Australian) Q6 release. It has been "confirmed" for our market but no date, details or price available yet.
I hope you get it soon! I'm sure I'll see some of the Australian reviews on TH-cam when it gets there, since I've watched quite a few reviews of other cars from your side of the planet.