Next Audi A6 spied

Next year’s revised Audi A6 will be the first to get Ingolstadt’s new direct-injection V6 petrol engine, Autocar can reveal.The ultra-modern supercharged 3.0-litre unit will allow the facelifted A6 to offer more performance and better fuel economy than the current car. It’s the same engine that will be used to power the next S4.These latest spy pictures reveal in detail the revised 2009 A6 testing in Germany, but its exterior modifications are slight. Audi’s controversial LED day-running lights are an added feature, and the A6’s rear bumper and light clusters have been neatened and sharpened up. It’s what’s under the skin of the revised A6 that’s most important. Two versions of the new supercharged 3.0-litre V6 will be available - a base model with 290bhp and a range-topper with 320bhp. Audi’s new seven-speed ‘S-Tronic’ gearbox will also be available.Interestingly, although it’s supercharged rather than turbocharged, the new engine will still be called a TFSI. The current crop of common-rail diesel engines will be carried over from today’s A6 range to the updated 2009 line-up. Expect to see the facelifted Audi A6 in finished form at the Paris motor show in November.

Will Powell