Compare the2024 Audi A6VS 2023 Chrysler 300

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A6 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Chrysler 300 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The A6’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The 300 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A6 and 300 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A6 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 300’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.

The Audi A6 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The 300 doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The A6 has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The 300 doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The A6 Prestige has standard backup collision prevention system that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The 300 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the A6. But it costs extra on the 300.

The A6’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the 300.

The A6 offers an optional Top View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 300 only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the A6 and 300 offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the A6 with Rear Cross-Traffic Assist also has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The 300’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the A6 and the 300 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras and available blind spot warning systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi A6 is safer than the Chrysler 300:

	A6	300
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	30%	31%
Leg Forces (l/r)	292/435 lbs.	617/568 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.9 inches
Neck Compression	98 lbs.	113 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	263/331 lbs.	504/415 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Audi A6 is safer than the 300:

	A6	300
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Steering Column Movement Rearward	0 cm	9 cm
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Femur Force R/L	1.2/1.3 kN	3.7/3 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	1%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	POOR
Tibia index R/L	.38/.47	1.21/.58

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi A6 is safer than the Chrysler 300:

	A6	300
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	135	236
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1.4 inches
Abdominal Force	174 lbs.	315 lbs.
Hip Force	262 lbs.	433 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	50 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	14 inches
Spine Acceleration	39 G’s	47 G’s
Hip Force	514 lbs.	910 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the A6, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 2.4% less likely to roll over than the 300, which received a four-star rating.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A6 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 128 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 300 is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”

Warranty

The A6 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The 300’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The A6’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the 300’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the A6 have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of some of the engines in the 300.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the A6 third among midsize premium cars in their 2023 Initial Quality Study. The 300 isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Audi vehicles are better in initial quality than Chrysler vehicles. With 29 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Audi higher than Chrysler.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Chrysler With 8 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Audi higher than Chrysler.

Engine

As tested in Motor Trend the A6 55 TFSI 3.0 turbo V6 hybrid is faster than the Chrysler 300:

	A6	300S	300 V8
Zero to 30 MPH	1.8 sec	2.5 sec	n/a
Zero to 60 MPH	5 sec	6.4 sec	5.8 sec
Zero to 80 MPH	8.1 sec	10.6 sec	n/a
Passing 45 to 65 MPH	2.5 sec	3 sec	n/a
Quarter Mile	13.5 sec	14.9 sec	14.2 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	102.7 MPH	97.1 MPH	n/a

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the A6 gets better mileage than the 300:

			MPG
A6
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	23 city/33 hwy
		3.0 turbo V6 Hybrid	22 city/30 hwy
300
	RWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/30 hwy
		5.7 OHV V8	16 city/25 hwy
		6.4 OHV V8	15 city/24 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/27 hwy

Regenerative brakes improve the A6’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The 300 doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the A6’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The 300 doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Audi A6 higher (5 out of 10) than the Chrysler 300 (1 to 5). This means the A6 produces up to 39 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the 300 every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

The A6 offers an available 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 300 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the A6’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the 300:

	A6	300
Front Rotors	13.3 inches	12.6 inches
Rear Rotors	13 inches	12.6 inches

The A6’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs standard on the 300 are solid, not vented.

The A6 stops much shorter than the 300:

	A6	300
60 to 0 MPH	107 feet	121 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	137 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A6 has larger standard tires than the 300 (245/45R19 vs. 215/65R17). The A6’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the 300 (255/40R20 vs. 245/45R20).

The A6’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the 300 Touring’s standard 65 series tires. The A6’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the 300’s optional 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the A6 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the 300 Touring.

Suspension and Handling

The A6 Prestige handles at .93 G’s, while the 300 pulls only .83 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The A6 Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.3 seconds quicker than the 300 (24.9 seconds vs. 27.2 seconds).

Chassis

The A6 is 4.2 inches shorter than the 300, making the A6 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Audi A6 amounts to more than styling. The A6 has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .29 Cd. That is lower than the 300 (.32) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the A6 get better fuel mileage.

Cargo Capacity

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the A6 easier. The A6’s trunk lift-over height is 27 inches, while the 300’s liftover is 30.1 inches.

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the A6 offers cargo security. The 300’s non-lockable folding seat and non-lockable remote release defeat cargo security.

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the A6’s trunk can be opened just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The A6 (except Premium) also offers an optional power trunk, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button or just by kicking your foot under the back bumper. The 300 doesn’t offer a power or hands-free opening trunk.

Towing

The A6’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the 300’s (3500 vs. 1000 pounds).

Servicing Ease

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Chrysler. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 57% lower rating, Chrysler is ranked 31st.

Ergonomics

The A6’s standard easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. An easy entry system costs extra on the 300, and is not available on all models.

The A6’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The 300 does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The A6 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The 300 doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The A6’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The 300’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The A6’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The 300’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the A6 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the 300 can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The A6’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The 300’s power mirror switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The A6’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The 300’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

The A6’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the 300’s standard projector halogen headlights and light instantly. LED lights also last over twenty times longer than halogen. The A6’s LED headlights produce a white, bright light using less electricity than the 300’s optional xenon high intensity discharge (HID) headlights. HID headlights can be slow to reach full brightness or power cycle, causing issues when flashing them to signal other vehicles; LED headlights light instantly. LED lights also last about three to four times as long.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The A6’s headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the 300’s headlights are rated “Poor.”

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A6 Premium Plus/Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The 300 doesn’t offer headlight washers.

A power rear sunshade and manual rear side window sunshades are standard in the A6 Prestige to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The 300 doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The A6 Prestige offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the 300.

The A6 Prestige’s Park Assist Plus can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Park Assist Plus will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The 300 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the A6 is less expensive to operate than the 300 because typical repairs cost much less on the A6 than the 300, including $1109 less for a muffler, $453 less for front struts, $99 less for a timing belt/chain and $635 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A6 and the Chrysler 300, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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