What’s this now? Another Audi? Another sleek and slippery A-something that’s irritatingly close to the other A-something that came out not too long ago? I know, and I agree. Audi’s on some weird trip to confuse us, and it’s working.
Here’s the new A7 Sportback, and yes, it looks a lot like the A5 Sportback launched last year. But it’s simple to decipher really. Think Venus and Serena Williams, the pro tennis players. They’re remarkably similar – they’re both designed for the same purpose, they come from the same family, their genetic makeups are nearly identical and they look like twins. But, one is a little bigger than the other. Don’t ask me which one because I don’t know.
What I do know is that the A5 Sportback is a curvaceous body-style mounted on an everyday A4’s underpinnings, and this new A7, similarly is a curvy body mounted on a larger A6 platform.
Thus, the A7 is bigger. The A6 sedan platform concerned is, of course, the all-new one, not yet available in SA, but one we drove at its international launch in February. At the time we headlined it as “The best built Audi ever” so we know this A7 is of extremely high quality.
True, the interior ambience, like other modern Audis is cold and clinical with cool white LED lighting that makes the cabin feel like an operating room. In a good way. An obsessive compulsive brain surgeon would love it in there. All panels meet with scalpel precision and the attention to detail seems even more impeccable than even Audi’s unusually high standard. I too love interiors like this. Maybe I’m in the wrong job...
You get all the usual electronic goodness found in high-end German saloons these days, like a rather large 6.5-inch display that electronically folds in and out of a neat hidey-hole in the top of the dash. This screen provides the interface for almost every controllable feature in the car like radio, navigation and climate control settings, and perched up high like that reminds me of a floral centrepiece on a bedazzled formal dinner setting.
There’s also Audi’s new claim-to-fame touchpad in the console that’s intended as a quick link to radio presets and navigation destinations when you trace letters onto it with your fingertip.
In all honesty it’s more trouble than it’s worth. It’s finicky in operation, is more of a distraction and I hardly used it. But it does come as standard equipment anyway and provides some entertainment for first time passengers.
Tested here is one of two engines available, a 3-litre, 180kW/500Nm turbodiesel (the other’s a petrol 220kW/440Nm supercharged V6). We know this engine well from many other previous Audis including a long-term test Q7 SUV, but in this car it really shines.
Could be because it’s now mated to a brilliant 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, or the fact that special attention’s been put into engine and transmission mountings, but I’ll go so far as to say it’s the smoothest diesel I’ve ever driven.
Acceleration happens with a buzz-like sensation that comes right through the steering, pedals and seat. Feels like a diesel-powered bumblebee under the bonnet.
It performs like a demon too. Test results revealed a best 0-100km/h time of 6.6 seconds and the quarter mile was covered in 14.8 seconds, which is nothing to sneeze at among current performance vehicles.
Handling is good too, most thankfully to such a long wheelbase, and even with those ridiculous (and optional) 20-inch wheels the ride is comfortable. Nowhere near as cush as, say, BMW’s 7 Series, but a nice mix of elegance and precise sharpness just as the body style suggests.
That said, the electronic steering system’s not great. While stopped you can jiggle the wheel and feel a sort of nothing-ness between 11.57 and 12.03 o-clock, and out on the road the feedback is best described as wooden. You can’t beat good old hydraulic steering systems for feel, but in the name of efficiency we’re stuck with these newfangled electro-mechanical thingies.
Rival German brands seem to be better at ironing out the servo-assisted numbness though.
VERDICT:
I don’t think there’s a slinkier 4-door saloon for sale today, barring Aston Martin’s Rapide which isn’t in the same solar system price-wise. Oh wait, there’s an Audi A5 Sportback that looks almost identical and costs around R170 000 less.
Is the A7 worth R717 000? This question has me stumped. You’ll get slightly more car with slightly more features but 170 large is a heck of a lot of money.
I know, wait for the new A6 upon which the A7’s based, and it will surely cost a bit less. That is, unless the A7’s sexiness is too irresistible. Which it is. -Star Motoring