2012 Detroit Motor Show marks the return of Audi Allroad to the American market.

The Allroad offers something between a SUV and a station wagon. It is basically a jacked-up wagon, not as tall as a proper SUV, but a bit more versatile than an ordinary family wagon.

The A4 allroad destined for the America, replacing the A4 Avant, gets a revised face with a unique single frame grille design with vertical chrome struts, stainless steel skid plates and side sills, and raised aluminum-optic roof rails. The Allroad signature dish of matte finished lower bumpers and wheel arches is also there, but you can have it painted in the same color as the body.

The new Allroad is 185.9 inches in length with a wheelbase of 110.4 inches. Compared to its predecessor, the new allroad has a longer wheelbase for ride comfort and more headroom for front passengers. 18-inch wheels are standard, and 19-inch wheels are optional.

The European A6 Allroad meanwhile is 4.94 meters (16.21 ft) long, 1.90 meters (6.23 ft) wide and 1.47 (4.82 ft) meters tall, making it a few millimeters bigger than the Avant, and sits six centimeters (2.36 in) higher than that of the A6 Avant.

The luggage compartment of the new A6 allroad quattro has a capacity of 565 liters (19.95 cu ft). Latches in the luggage compartment make it easy to fold down the rear seats, increasing luggage capacity to 1,680 liters (59.33 cu ft).

Going with the tough image of the Allroad’s exterior, the interior gets carpeting and the instrument panel, which are black throughout. Other refined details include the interior color Santos Brown and the optional aluminum inlays. The door sill trims are also made of aluminum and are emblazoned with “allroad.”

The Allroad is amazingly well-equipped car with Standard MMI Navigation plus with touchpad operation (MMI touch) and whole-word voice control. Other technology features include Bluetooth car phone online connects it to the Internet via UMTS, and a WLAN hotspot, plus Google Services.

Engine-wise, the A6 comes with the choice of a 3.o liter petrol unit with 228 kW (310 hp) and 440 Nm (324.53 lb-ft) of torque, and three variants of the 3.0 TDI produce 150 kW (204 hp), 180 kW (245 hp) and 230 kW (313 hp); torque values are 450, 580 and 650 Nm (331.90, 427.79 and 479.42 lb-ft).

To make it pretty much unstoppable on any terrain, the Allroad’s quattro permanent four-wheel drive system is paired with torque vectoring. During dynamic driving this system brakes the wheels on the inside of the curve, which are under a reduced load, before they can slip. A range of electronic controlling systems are also at hand to keep yo on track.

Audi Allroad is a great car, but we still don’t see why you should have it over a proper SUV.