David Finlay says the Avant's flexibility means safer driving

I suppose the day is coming when there will no longer be any car in production with the word ''estate'' in its name. Load-carrying versions of saloons have, over the past few years, increasingly tended to be given titles like Touring, Aerodeck and what-not, frequently backed up by assurances from manufacturers that they are ''lifestyle vehicles'' rather than suitcase transporters.

So the estate equivalent of the new Audi A6 which was launched last May is called the A6 Avant. A handsome machine, the Avant is by no means simply an A6 with a square hind. In fact, it has been redesigned from the windscreen back, and those of us who aren't at all convinced by the love-it-or-hate-it rear view of the saloon reckon that the stylists have made a considerably more elegant job of the Avant.

If such a major rethink seems like an extravagance, bear in mind that Audi is not planning to sell very many A6 Avants, and that the inevitable price premium is less of an issue in the prestige market at which Audi is aiming than it would be in a mainstream sector.

The Avant range follows the saloon one pretty closely, with each car costing about #1500 more than its saloon equivalent. The three engine options available to the press so far have been the 2.4 and 2.8-litre petrol V6s and the six-cylinder 2.5TDi turbodiesel, a splendid successor to Audi's five-cylinder version.

The Volkswagen Group, of which Audi is the most up-market part, has been developing a strong reputation lately for well built cars, and you can certainly add the Avant to that list. It's also very comfortable to drive, and not just because of the luxurious trimmings. The range of seat height adjustment is very large, allowing me, as a tall driver, to sit far lower in the car than normal.

This isn't simply a case of keeping my hair out of the sunroof (though that helps). It also means that I feel I am part of the car. This, and the fact that I can adjust the steering wheel to exactly where I want it, mean I can choose the driving position that suits me rather than accepting the limitations of the car.

I can therefore concentrate more on driving, and be happier and more relaxed as a result. Audi talks of the A6's safety features, by which it means passive safety, but this active safety aspect is perhaps more important still.

One unusual feature of the 2.5TDi is its six-speed gearbox, which in terms of the ratios used is a five-speeder with a super-high top added on. This is really only relevant on German autobahns where there are no speed restrictions. Because diesel engines don't rev very high the TDi might hit top speed embarrassingly early, so sixth gear lets it gallop along a little faster.

The coming 230bhp 2.7-litre biturbo quattro, which sounds like it might be rather fun, also has six gears, but those ratios cover the range of the standard five, which is clearly an aid to high performance.

Further down the range there is another diesel, the 110bhp version of the four-cylinder turbo engine (the 90bhp in smaller Audis and VW Group cars would run out of puff hauling a car of this size), and the least expensive uses the turbocharged 1.8-litre petrol.

That car costs #24,616 on the road, and the most expensive Audi available is the four wheel drive 2.8 at #31,780.