Compare the2025 Audi A6 AllroadVS 2024 Porsche Cayenne

The A6 Allroad’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Cayenne doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A6 Allroad and Cayenne have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A6 Allroad has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Cayenne’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

Both the A6 Allroad and the Cayenne have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available night vision systems, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

There are over 54 percent more Audi dealers than there are Porsche dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the A6 Allroad’s warranty.

On the EPA test cycle the A6 Allroad gets better mileage than the Cayenne running its gasoline engine:

The A6 Allroad offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Cayenne doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the A6 Allroad’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the Cayenne:

In an emergency stopping situation, many drivers don’t press the brakes with enough force to stop the vehicle in the shortest distance. The A6 Allroad has a standard brake assist system to detect emergency braking situations (by how hard and how quickly the brake pedal is pressed) and then automatically apply maximum braking immediately in order to help prevent a collision. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a brake assist feature.

The A6 Allroad’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Cayenne’s standard 55 series front tires.

The front and rear suspension of the A6 Allroad uses air springs for a smoother, controlled ride than the Cayenne, which uses coil springs. Air springs maintain proper ride height and ride more smoothly.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the A6 Allroad’s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Cayenne (115.2 inches vs. 114 inches).

The A6 Allroad is 7.5 inches shorter in height than the Cayenne, making the A6 Allroad much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

The design of the Audi A6 Allroad amounts to more than styling. The A6 Allroad has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .29 Cd. That is lower than the Cayenne (.3 to .35) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the A6 Allroad get better fuel mileage.

The A6 Allroad has .2 inches more front legroom and .5 inches more rear headroom than the Cayenne.

The A6 Allroad has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Cayenne with its rear seat up (30 vs. 27.2 cubic feet). The A6 Allroad has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Cayenne with its rear seat folded (63.8 vs. 60.3 cubic feet).

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the A6 Allroad easier. The A6 Allroad’s trunk lift-over height is 25 inches, while the Cayenne’s liftover is 31 inches.

The A6 Allroad’s cargo area is larger than the Cayenne’s in almost every dimension:

Pulling a handle automatically lowers the A6 Allroad’s rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Cayenne doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The A6 Allroad has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the A6 Allroad has standard extendable sun visors. The Cayenne doesn’t offer extendable visors.

The A6 Allroad has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the car heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the Cayenne.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A6 Allroad and the Porsche Cayenne, based on reliability, safety and performance.