The Audi A6 is one of the safest cars you can buy today in the US in two very important areas: side impact crash protection and driver death rates. To put it another way, nearly every other car on the road will crush more when t-boned than a current generation Audi A6, and the Audi A6 is also one of only four cars (along with its stablemate the Audi A4, the Mercedes E-Class sedan and Subaru Legacy) to have ever been estimated to have had zero driver deaths in a three year period by the IIHS. In other words, this is one of the safest cars you can buy.
With that said, it’s no surprise that the A6 competes favorably with other large luxury cars sold in the US, including the aforementioned Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5-Series and 7-series, and Volvo S80. It’s also chosen by a surprising number of families interested in luxury, style, and safety for spouses and little ones. To that end, I borrowed one from a friend to figure out how well it does when it comes to the practical and often frustrating task of fitting 3 car seats safely across the back seat. Before we go into which seats worked and which seats didn’t, it’s worth reviewing what kinds of seats are best for certain ages of kids.
First of all, infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are safest when rear-facing. I recommend rear-facing as long as you can (ideally until 4!), before forward-facing them in harnessed convertible or combination seats (ideally until 8!). Once they outgrow their harnessed seats, I suggest keeping them in high-back boosters until they’re physically and psychologically ready to use adult seat belt systems (which typically happens between 10 and 12). What we want to do is keep our kids restrained in the safest positions for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving crash forces.
Keeping these ideas in mind, I set to work to find which infant, convertible, combination, and booster seats would work best in 3 across combinations in the Audi A6. I found several good options and a few great ones. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Audi A6
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Foonf, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Clek Fllo, Graco Contender, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Graco Contender, Graco Head Wise 70.
Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Tips and Tricks:
The current generation of the Audi A6 is 194 inches long and 74 inches wide, which means you’re going to have an easier time with 3 across installations than you would in most other cars, including the E-Class sedan to which it’s frequently compared. You’ll want to use your seat belts on all three seats to get the most space, however, and leave LATCH for times when you’ve only got one or two seats to install.
If you’re looking for the most reliable seats to make 3 across work in the A6, and don’t want to struggle with scraped knuckles and difficult installations, I’d just go with 3 Fllos, 3 Foonfs, or 3 RXTs. They’re among the narrowest seats on the market and I’ve yet to find a vehicle that can’t make them work in 3 across setups. All of these seats can be used to rear-face from birth (the Fllos and Foonfs will require the Infant-Thingy insert to do so) until your kids weigh 50 pounds (45 with the Radians) and can then be turned forward-facing for additional time.
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Audi A6
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Foonf, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Clek Fllo, Graco Contender, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Graco Contender, Graco Head Wise 70.
Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Tips and Tricks:
The 2005-2011 generation of the Audi A6 is 194 inches long and 73 inches wide, or only 1 inch narrower than the succeeding generation. In other words, for 3 across purposes, the cars are going to be very similar in feasibility, although you’ll have an easier time in the following generation than you will in this one. As always, focus on seat belt installations and leave LATCH behind if your goal is to get all 3 seats to work together.
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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.