A6 Avant vs A4 Avant for family of 4?

You need to mentally prepared that modern automatics left in "Drive" will change up very early early to conserve fuel. If you want a forceful burst of acceleration for an overtake, be prepared to use the steering wheel paddles or snick it into "Sport".
I don't think you will find much practical difference between the two 190PS engines with an Automatic box.

Both cars should have parking sensors, reversing cameras can be retrofitted. If you can find one with Park Assist, that is helpful.

My wife likes driving my A6 Avant.

Not sure how old your children are but the room in the back seats of the A4 is quite restrictive when dealing with children.
My advice would be check the size of the rear seating in both with your children before making the choice. When I was in this position we opted for the A6. Good luck


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Alternative suggestion....maybe frowned upon on an Audi forum, but I currently own both of these cars and use them for similar family duties so can offer an informed opinion....have you considered the Skoda Superb? We have a current generation 4x4 Superb estate, and a C7 Allroad.
Despite both cars being about the same exterior size, the Superb has noticeably more interior space. The boot is bigger and more useable, and the rear seat legroom is absolutely immense, kids struggle to touch the drivers seatback with their feet even when I'm driving with the seat right back - I doubt there are any cars with more rear legroom. We have two kids and have used the Superb for all family duties & holidays for the last 5 years. It's never missed a beat (can't be said for the Allroad unfortunately!) and it's way ahead in terms of value & standard tech IMHO. My Allroad BiTdi is a year newer than the Superb, and probably would have been double the price of our well-optioned-up Superb when it was new.

Just my 2p...running away now

I have two young kids (6&4). We had an A4 B8 Avant. Did plenty of holidays with them even when they were little.

However, if your budget can stretch I’d go A6 Avant all day long. It doesn’t feel that much bigger than the A4 tbh.

Familyguy81 said:

Really interesting you mention the Superb estate, as this is the other car I’m considering that is front of mind. Do you mind me asking what version you have - SE L, Sportline, L&K? Kids are 3 and 5, and with prams on the way out I was wondering if we need all that boot space, hence the smaller A4 Avant being considered. The wife also isn’t the most confident driver, so thought this might be more managble as our only family car. However, in your view, is it too verging on too small? The Superb estate Sportline and L&K are about the same price as the A4 and A6, so lots of options to consider for us. Struggling to come down on a decision, so you’re ideally placed to guide based on experience. It seems the Superb estate in whatever version/spec has your vote...

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Ours is a MY16 SE L Executive 4x4 TDI 150 Estate, which was a generous spec to start with (eg satnav, radar sensor/cruise etc, fancy multi-segment HID lights), plus we specced the following options (some of these may have been in standard spec, I can't remember now):

Crew Protection Assist & Rear Side Airbags
Rear view camera
Heated windscreen
Heated washer nozzles
Towbar (folds completely away) - use this a lot for carrying family bikes on holiday
Smart light assist
Lane Assist
Blindspot detection
Travel assist with traffic sign recognition
Sunblinds in rear doors
Net luggage partition (great if you're loading right up with gear on holiday)
Variable boot floor
Colour maxidot trip computer
Media Command
Smartgate Mobile Phone interface
Backrest release from boot
Hill hold control
Front parking sensors
Powered tailgate
Isofix on front passenger seat
18" alloys
Leather
Additional 2 years warranty (so 5 years total)

With all those options, extra warranty, on top of the good standard spec, we paid around £26k through a broker (this was very end of 2015).

If I were buying again, I would:
- opt for at least sport suspension or the DCC suspension - the standard suspension floats like a boat and is most definitely "comfort" orientated
- go for a DSG/auto model, that way the radar-guided cruise can control the car right down to standstill in traffic jams (with the manual, it can obviously only do so much before it would stall)
- consider a higher power engine. The 150 is perfectly fine for a family motor, and performs well even when fully loaded + roof box + bike carrier, but if you're more of an enthusiastic driver I'd go up a level. IIRC the car is only around 1500-1600 kg so it's not massively heavy considering its dimensions and the 150 pulls it around pretty well.

It's true that most of the time the space in unused, but when we go on holidays, we don't travel light (especially when camping) and are glad of the space!

It's my wife's daily driver 95% of the time, I tend to drive it mainly on holidays. Tends to average around 50mpg.

My car is a 2016/66 A6 C7 Allroad BiTdi, which I've had for just over a year.

Given both cars were new around the same-ish time, you can see where the Mk3 Superb is a later generation and ahead in technology compared to the C7 platform that's been around for some years.
I think if I'd been the original purchaser and spent £55-60k (with the options it has got) on the Allroad when new, then driven our Superb costing half of that, and found for example:
- Allroad headlights are non-swivelling standard HIDs with 25w D5S bulbs that aren't the brightest, yet Superb has adaptive/swivelling multi-segment headlights as standard
- Allroad has no front radar sensor, so no automatic braking or radar-controlled cruise (it was available as an option for the Audi.....but standard on the Superb and works really well)
- Allroad has no rear view camera as standard (it was an option on the Superb too, but....disappointing not to be there as standard on a £55-60k car)
- Allroad doors shut with less of a satisfying quality "thunk" than the Superb
- All the tech options like smart light assist / lane assist / blindspot detection were ticked and included on a £26k car, but not standard on a £55-60k car
- I can't fit my mountain bike through the hatch of the Allroad with its front wheel on - as the roofline is lower and floor is higher so the handlebars foul, yet it goes in the Superb OK....I only found this out when proudly demonstrating my "new" Allroad to the Mrs and showing how I could fit my bike in with ease having researched the cargo length with the rear seats down and then found it didn't go through the damn hatch!!
- I still have to scrape the ice off my unheated Allroad windscreen
....I think I'd have felt a bit short changed. Luckily I bought the Allroad at 3yo for an awful lot less than new (it had lost ~£30k in three years - more than the Superb cost to start with!)

Granted there are huge differences in powertrain and suspension tech between a 150 TDI Haldex 4x4 Superb and a 320 BiTdi Quattro Allroad, so obviously apples and oranges...but even so, with a ~£30k difference you do feel you're paying a hefty badge/image premium for the Audi when you see what you can get from another brand in the same group.

Anyway, waffling now.

If you're ditching the pushchairs, and aren't likely to be lugging masses of gear, probably the A4 or A6 would be big enough. But you can't deny the value and kit to be had elsewhere.

Sounds like I'm Audi bashing, far from it, I love my Allroad, it's ****** quick, a nice place to be, and with the suspension raised gives me decent ground clearance for Peak District snowy commutes. Just can't help that nagging feeling it's a bit lacking in tech whenever I drive the Superb!!

Family of 4 here with 2x children 7 & 9. Before baby number 2 arrived I had an Audi A5 3.0TDI Quattro Sport Coupe and tried convincing myself I could make it work (and putting my back out!), but decided to go sensible and changed to a Passat SE. Dull but load swallowing and had it for 5 years covering the pram and pushchair phase, then started putting small bikes in the boot and going on european winter skiing and summer camping holidays. Now the children are a bit older, I changed the Passat for the above A6 C7 (facelift version 2018). A lot more refined and once you've had the flexibility of estate space, its just so easy and practical. Children grow up quickly and love the space in the back of the A6, plus if you stick a couple of Amazon Fires on the back of the head rests, you need the extra space the rear offers. As you can see, even with a very full car, still needed a roof box for more camping equipment (we simply take what will fit into the boot and roof box, its not the boot is too small, we take too much!)

I went for the 2.0TDI Ultra (190PS) and its perfect for blatting across europe with ease. Or without the roof clutter, a daily (not in covid!) office drive or fast B roads.

As for size, it is big so would recommend parking sensors (think they are standard) and a rear camera (retro fitted in my case by @DJAlix), and stay away from kerbs!

Skoda Superb is better value for money when comparing options kit and I think had a larger boot but I like Audi's styling and refinement.

A4 Avant = you may regret lack of space when the children get a bit older.
A6 Avant = next size up, perfect in my opinion.
Superb = If space is your priority.
SUVs = don't offer the same practical boot size/space and if you want to put anything on the roof, you need a step ladder!

Just my take on things.

SBJ said:

As you can see, even with a very full car, still needed a roof box for more camping equipment (we simply take what will fit into the boot and roof box, its not the boot is too small, we take too much!)

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Same here...2 adults, 2 kids, boot full, stuff in rear footwells, roofbox plus 1 bike on roof, 3 bikes on towbar carrier....with hindsight a combi van might have been a better option. To be fair we don't really need to take things like a camping fridge etc, but we do, because we can.
We generally expand to fill whatever space is available, whether that's luggage in the car or stuff in the house & garage!

Incidentally that's a plus point I found for the air suspension of the Allroad - even when massively laden down and with bikes hanging off the back on the towbar, the suspension pumps itself up so the car remains level and at normal ride height. Together with the 320 engine, you forget the car is actually fully laden.

This summer we decided to use the Allroad for the family holiday instead of the Superb (because that still had its winter tyres on and the summer tyres need replacing....not worth it as we were barely using the car through summer during covid). It was harder to pack everything in, mainly due to shape/volume of boot. Then it broke down on holiday (crankshaft pulley failed, common issue, but took 4 weeks before parts were available to fix) so we still ended up having to go home and fetch the Superb to continue the holiday with...

A6 over the A4 everyday!

The A4 is basically the A3/VW Golf with a little extra boot space.. the A6 is the family wagon