Audi’s twin-turbo diesel V6 hits Europe

UPDATED: 08/02/2012AUDI in Europe has released a grunty new 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel engine for its A6 and A7 and two frugal ‘TDIe’ 2.0-litre diesel units for the facelifted A5 coupe and Sportback.

The Ingolstadt-based luxury brand’s Australian outfit could not confirm whether it will introduce the high-performance diesel engine here, and it has no plans to introduce TDIe variants of the A5 at this stage.

It is also too early to confirm whether the new V6 diesel will end up under the bonnet of other products such as the A8 limo or Q5 and Q7 SUVs.

Dubbed ‘BiTDI’, the new V6 diesel unit offers some impressive statistics, producing peak power of 230kW between 3900rpm and 4500rpm and 650Nm of torque from 1450rpm to 2800rpm.

That is 50kW and 150Nm more than the standard 3.0-litre V6 TDI fitted to the Australian-delivered A6 and A7, with UK pricing reflecting that with a premium equivalent to around $6000.

It also eclipses the 220kW/440Nm produced by the supercharged petrol V6 of the 3.0 TFSI variants that continue to serve as performance leaders here until the V8-powered S6 and S7 arrive around October.

Left: A6 Avant and Biturbo TDI engine. Below: A5 TDIe.

As such, the BiTDI propels the A6 sedan from rest to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds, four tenths quicker than can be achieved by the 3.0 TFSI and a whole second swifter than the standard 3.0 TDI.

The extra punch does not come at much of a price at the pumps either, as the BiTDI consumes just 6.4 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres and emits 169 grams of CO2 per kilometre, making it 0.4L/100km more thirsty and 11g/km more polluting than the single-turbo unit.

Audi says the BiTDI also features a sound actuator in the exhaust system to give it a note more akin to petrol sportscars by using a speaker to “impose a defined oscillation pattern on the exhaust flow”.

Despite Audi’s impressive figures, they cannot match the ballistic power and torque outputs of BMW’s triple-turbo diesel that will go into M Performance Automobiles versions of the Australia-bound X5 and facelifted X6 later this year.

Other markets will also see the new engine in the 5 Series, which as a result of the new engine’s almost inconceivable 280kW peak power output and 740Nm of torque, will beat the A6 BiTDI to 100km/h by four tenths of a second and consume 0.1L/100km less fuel.

Models confirmed to receive the BiTDI engine in Europe are the A6 sedan, A6 Avant wagon, A6 Allroad quasi-SUV and the A7 Sportback.

At the other end of the spectrum, the A5 TDIe comes in 100kW and 120kW tune good for respective 0-100km/h times of in 9.5 seconds and 8.4 seconds when paired with a six-speed manual transmission.

Aimed at exploiting European tax incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles, both consume the same amount of fuel at 4.4L/100km, although the higher-powered variant emits slightly more CO2, at 117g/km compared with 115g/km.

Following another strong year of growth in 2011, Audi Australia has not started this year in the spectacular fashion it did last January, with sales down 9.7 per cent to 1334 units.

However the ageing Q5 SUV was up 61.8 per cent to 440 units and 50 sales of the TT sportscar represented a 28.2 per cent jump.