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In a flashback to women we have loved and left, stunning looks might not be everything, says Damien O’Carroll. At the local launch the Audi A7 impressed us with its imperious ride quality, sharp handling and, most particularly, its startlingly good looks. But after living with it for a week, it is those stunning looks that actually prove to be the big Audi’s most significant weakness. Why didn’t I just turn on the rear wiper and clear the water? Quite simply because the A7 doesn’t have one. Neither does it have a backing camera as standard. It does have parking sensors, but personally I like to see where I am heading... One particular experience concerned a car park on a very dark and wet evening, and which saw me getting saturated while having to lean out the door to see where I was going, after I had offended a woman who thought I was going to back over her, even though the parking sensors were telling me I was nowhere near her. This closed the deal for me: the A7 is simply not very good going backwards. On the upside however, it is extremely good going forwards. Our test car had Audi’s brilliant 3-litre turbo diesel V6 behind its sexily aggressive nose, meaning that it had by far the pick of the engines in the A7 range. Not that the only other option - the 3-litre supercharged petrol V6 - is in any way a poor engine, it’s just that the diesel is so flexible, torquey and frugal, that there simply isn’t a particularly rational reason as to why you would actually need the petrol. The diesel engine produces 180kW of power and 500Nm of torque and Audi claims it sips fuel at a combined average of 6L/100km and produces CO2 emissions of just 158g/km. This seems to be pretty much on target too, with the A7 proving to be remarkably frugal in around-town motoring. Navigating heavy city traffic had it drinking at around the low eights, but a bit of open road travel quickly saw the average drop to Audi’s claimed figure. This kind of frugality, combined with the diesel engine’s muscular lump of torque make the A7 a true pleasure to drive in any situation. Except going backwards, that is. Audi’s 7-speed S-Tronic dual clutch transmission is hooked up to the diesel power plant and again proves itself to be a slick, smooth and smart gearbox. The power is delivered to the road through the company’s latest quattro set-up, which can distribute up to 85 percent of the power to the rear or 70 percent to the front without delay, should either be called for. All of this technology comes together on the road in a combination that manages to be both remarkably comfortable and surprisingly sporty at the same time. The A7 can boast a ride that, while not soft, is pliant and extremely agreeable, contrasted with an ability to simply go around a corner with imperious ease at whatever speed you desire (within reason, of course) and actually manage to be sharp and a bit fun too. Okay traditional motoring journalist whinge time - like the newly released A6 and, well most other Audis really, the steering is a bit dull and remote. Whether this is all part of some Audi master plan to make everything in their cars - including going around corners - as effortless and technologically impressive as possible is hard to say, but it does steal some of the simple tactile pleasure you get from driving a car, especially one that goes around corners as good as this one. So, like trying to reverse it in the rain, the steering feel is a disappointment, but as it stands the rest of the ride/handling package is simply startlingly good. In fact, both these annoyances do tend to pale into insignificance when put up against the rest of the A7 package. Big, bold and sexy, yet still somehow maintaining a degree of subtlety and understated grace, the exterior styling is a true triumph. Similarly the subtle and understated feel carries on through the interior, which is as sleek, high-tech and beautifully put together as you would expect from a high-end member of the VW-Audi Group. Priced at $154,900 the A7 is very much a premium-priced proposition, yet remains convincing because it is simply a top-class package. But only when going forwards. |
Specifications: Body type 5-door hatch Through Life Cost Report
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Hindsight Bias
Executive Cars, Road Report
Friday, 30 March 2012
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