Audi clearly understands that luxury-car buyers like to indulge themselves a bit. Therefore, there's a choice of three different interior "atmospheres." These design motifs are dubbed "Ambition," "Ambiente" and "Advance," distinguished by the upholstery and the type of the wood/aluminum trim. Our test model came in Ambiente, featuring sycamore wood trim.

The leather seats were handsome and crinkly, and among the most comfortable we'd ever settled into. The dash flows elegantly across the front. Attention to detail makes the A6 a joy to live with: Map pockets snap outward, on hinges, then close with a smart click. Grab handles retract into little cubbies when not in use. Front and rear seats are heated, and heating/cooling vents offer separate driver/passenger temperature controls. The rear seat is equipped with heat vents, cupholders and cigarette lighter/power receptacle. A heated steering wheel comes as part of the cold-weather package.

Front-seat legroom was plentiful, and rear-seat knee- and legroom was prodigious. At 38.5 inches, front headroom was ample-about the same as the Catera's, and more than an inch better than the Mercedes C280.

The stereo offers excellent audio quality and the controls are well designed. The trip computer is a bit harder to figure out and may require a trip to the owner's manual.

At night, the red-on-black instruments are startlingly different. Once you become accustomed to them, however, they offer reduced glare for improved night vision. Fighter pilots have used red gauges for years for this reason. Legibility of red on black suffers slightly, but this improves greatly by adjusting the instrument lighting to about the halfway point.