2012 Audi A6 3.0T Quattro vs. 2013 Lexus GS350 - Car and Driver Comparison Test!

Interestingly, if you read the article, the Lexus actually did better than the Audi in most drive dynamics except steering feel. Look at the score for "fun to drive" category-- Lexus won.

Not sure what C&D's obsession with the Audi is, and I agree with pondosinatra that the model is even more bland than the last one. Maybe they ranked it first because they need to defend the 10Best award they just gave it. The Audi front has no brightwork on it and looks unfinished without fog lights or any chrome strips. Panel gaps also seem wider than the Lexus.

— 280SE (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2012 11:33:25 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Even though the Lexus was more fun to drive, I felt like the article was struggling to find excuses to give it to the Audi. If it were the other way around, they would've just bashed the *hit out of the Lexus. That's why I base all driving experiences on my own test drives and not these bias guys.

— SSP350 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2012 2:39:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Weird article, they seem to have enjoyed the GS more but the Audi won, nor did it explain the first and second finish. The GS won every category except for the "steering feel" and still lost. Looks are subjective so was the win based on that they liked the Audis design more?

— PlanB (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2012 4:18:02 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

American magazine always manipulated comparison so German car win. Call it an inferior complex. :)

— dlin (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2012 10:50:28 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

The bmw 5 has lost it's styling appeal to me. It looks dated. I'll take the new GS in and f-sport with rear wheel steering and all the goodies.

— knowitall1985 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/18/2012 11:29:31 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

Unfortunately after BMW switches to elec steering that magic is lost. Forever.

— dlin (View Profile)

Posted on 2/20/2012 12:30:20 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

So even if a car is more fun to drive, you'd give it to the competitor because it has more panache and subjectively think it has better looks? Doesn't sound like a car enthusiast to me. I'm not defending Lexus by any means, I drive a WRX STi. It just doesn't add up, that's all I'm saying.

— SSP350 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2012 11:50:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

This is another typical stupid Car and Driver review where the only thing reviewed is performance, handling and steering feel. How pathetic is this magazine? The average consumer out there won't give a damn about these aspects.

All cars in this class are good performers. So who cares of one car is 0.5 seconds quicker? Seriously? Who cares? Nobody will ever drive these cars on a track. They're to heavy and comfort-biased, no matter what sporty pretensions they might have.

I've said it before, I find it stupid how carmakers are responding to magazine demands that their cars become sportier. For whom? The 5% of people who demand sport? What about the other 95%? BMW has made the F10 5er more comfort-oriented because the majority of buyers in that class demanded it. I read that BMW was loosing customers to the E class, which provides a nice blend between sport and comfort. Hence, the F10 5er, in an effort to win back customers, took the E class route, but with a little more focus on sport to stay in line with BMWs philosophy.

The Lexus GS has always had terrible sales because the ES is perceived to be better value, more spacious and far more comfortable. This shows you what buyers in the premium segment actually want.

The Audi A6 is an appealing car. AWD, beautiful understated design inside and out, great engines etc. What's not to like? I could care less if the A6 feels a bit heavy in corners. So what? It's not meant for the track. Period.

Car and Driver...what a failure of a magazine. Anyone remember when they pitted the Toyota Corolla against the Mitsubishi Mirage and treated both cars to some serious track driving? Pathetic.

I stopped reading Car and Driver a long time ago...

— Willis (View Profile)

Posted on 2/18/2012 9:21:47 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

I was at the Cincinnati Auto Expo last night and checked out all the Benz, Audi, BMW, and Lexus models on display. The GS was much nicer than I expected, inside and out. I still don't think the exterior is as nice as the German three, but it's good looking, and in my opinion it's nicer inside than the Benz and the Audi.

While we're on the subject, I would like someone to honestly and objectively explain to me why Audi keeps getting so much credit for their interiors. The A8, I'll give credit, was beautiful inside. Very rich and classy looking. The A6 was nice but no nicer than the others (there's a lot of exposed hard plastic on the center console and doors in the A6). The biggest letdown was the A7 interior, though. Maybe it was missing an optional interior upgrade, in fact I'm hoping it was because the alternative is that every reviewer thus far has just been regurgitating the "Audi interiors = best" groupthink mantra without actually paying attention. It had black leather with aluminum trim. After everything I'd read about how great the interior was (how it's so much like the A8 inside, etc.) it was a massive, massive letdown. The interior of the A6 was nicer. The entire door is hard plastic, with some kind of squishy neoprene-esque insert in the middle. The door handles are hard plastic. The entire center console aft of the aluminum trim is hard plastic (and the console is loooooong, so there's a lot of plastic -- look at the fully leather covered center console of a 5-Series to see this done properly). The rear seat divider is hard plastic. I mean, even a base 328i Coupe has leather on the door pulls, door inserts, and wood trim as part of the rear seat divider. I don't get it.

This isn't flame bait, I'm not Audi bashing, and I don't need Audi fanboys to attack me. I really, seriously, legitimately want to know what the deal is, because I just don't see it.

— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 2/18/2012 10:53:00 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

the S5 does have a nice interior. And so did the A8, and the A6 was good enough (though I still think the 5-Series and GS were nicer, and that's coming from someone who has never thought Lexus interiors were anything special, even on the LS). I just didn't get the A7 at all. It was the same reaction I had the first time I sat in my friend's R8 (he runs a high line used car lot and routinely up in everything from Bentley's to Rolls' to Ferrari's and Aston's). I expected the R8 to be as special inside as it was outside. Instead the dash seemed to be covered with some kind of square stamped rubber material that reminded me of the non-slip pads they put on the floors of restaurant kitchens, there was a TON of hard plastic everywhere (again including the door pulls, which amazes me on a $100k car), etc. Outside, the car was a knockout. Inside, blah. The A7 was the same way (though I'm not nearly as sold on the A7 exterior as the media wants me to be -- I think the CLS looks better, and the 6-Series Gran Coupe absolutely crushes it, though it's a lot more expensive). If you took the entire interior door off the car and showed it to someone who didn't know what car it was off of, I guarantee you they'd never guess it was out of an Audi. In fact they probably wouldn't believe you if you told them. Because "Audi interiors = best", and that door wouldn't look out of place in an economy car. Some of it may have been the black leather/aluminum trim color combo, but all that plastic would still be there regardless of the colors.

Audi, if you're listening, wrap your door handles. Toss some leather on the door trim. EARN the kudos you keep somehow getting, because outside of a couple of your models, it looks like you're just riding on your reputation instead of actually building it forward. BMW and Benz (and now Lexus) are making huge strides in their interiors, to the point that I believe they've eclipsed you. You might want to do something about it before the media starts telling everyone, instead of focusing so much on your LED running lights that everyone else has nowadays anyway.

— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 2/18/2012 4:18:12 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3