Audi A6 updated with revised engines, styling tweaks

Visually, the updated A6 differs little from the current model. The most noticeable changes centre around the A6's lighting package, with both the head- and tail-lights featuring T-shaped LED light bars. Depending on the trim level, the revised headlight design can be paired with either LED or matrix LED lighting arrays.

The company has also updated the front and rear bumpers, air intakes, sills, exhaust tips and grille, but those changes are far more subtle.

At the affordable end of the revised range is a new-to-the-A6 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol motor. Although smaller than the current car's 2.0-litre mill, the 1.8-litre churns out more power — 140kW versus 132kW. Under the European testing cycle, the 1.8-litre engine consumes 5.7L/100km.

At the top end, the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol engine has seen its power output bumped up from 230kW to 245kW. The S6's 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 now sports 331kW of power instead of 309kW. According to Audi, that's good enough for a 0-100km/h time of 4.4 seconds, which is an improvement of 0.2s on the current model.

Output from RS6 Avant's version of that V8 engine remains unchanged at 412kW.

For diesel A6 buyers, the high-power version of the 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel now features 200kW instead of 180kW; the low-power version, which currently isn't offered in Australia, has been boosted from 150kW to 160kW.

Meanwhile, the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 diesel has had its power increased from 230kW to 235kW. In Europe, a 240kW version of that motor will be used to power a limited edition Competition model.

Front-wheel drive models now feature a dual-clutch transmission instead of the outgoing car's Multitronic CVT.

There are no drastic changes to the Audi's interior, although A6 buyers can now opt for a flint grey cabin, while those stumping up the big bucks for the S6 have a new shade of red on the menu.

The 8-inch pop-up screen for the top-spec entertainment and navigation system is now powered by a Nvidia Tegra 30 graphics processor and can be paired with 4G LTE internet connectivity.

In Europe, the revised Audi A6 goes on sale shortly and will likely hit Australian showrooms in 2015.