Mumbai:
Rating: 8/10
If we’re honest, Honk has given quite a bit of stick to Audi. Some of their cars like the Q5 and the RS 5 are spectacular. But the A6 is about as interesting as the people that bought it, the Q3 is a Skoda Yeti in drag and the S6 damn near killed me with its diabolically-dead steering. I’m only going to go out on a limb and say that Audi couldn’t have been too pleased with this.
In what was probably their ‘allow us to retort’ moment, they sent round the A7 to show yours truly what’s what. And I’m going to come straight out and say this; humble pie eaten. Lesson learned. The A7 is the best Audi there is. How have they managed to sway us so definitively you ask? Read on.
To begin with, just look at it. There is no angle from where it won’t make you sit up and beg. The low roofline, the stretched back headlamps, the massive grille, the hatchback… erm… fastback tail (Audi calls it Sportback); they all come together to create the kind of visual drama that is the essence of what every Audi should be.
The drama extends to the inside as well. Like the Mercedes CLS, it has four doors and they all have pillarless windows like a coupe. Unlike the CLS, when you get in and turn on the ignition the Bang & Olufsen tweeters rise from the top of the dash, the steering wheel drops down into your lap, the mirrors fold outwards and the screen folds out and flips upwards.
We’ve seen each of these things separately of course but together, they’re S-Class cool. Make no mistake; you could impress Angelina Jolie with all this. Once the robotic Cirque de Soleil has done its thing, you’ll find that the cabin is distinctly Audi - festooned with more buttons than a Blackberry phone.
The thing is, all those buttons become intuitive in about 15 minutes and you never feel like you’re trapped in Bill Gates’ closet. The front seats are fairly comfortable until you discover that they can be heated or cooled. Then they’re very comfortable. Then you discover that you can have six different kinds of massages while they cool you down on a hot day and you’re in heaven.
The ride is really good for the most part, but it does tend to crash over sharp bumps. You can barely feel them, but the harshness does filter through more than you’d like. But, like most new expensive cars, the faster you go, the better the electronic air suspension gets.
Like most Audis, the A7 isn’t really a proper driver’s car. And that’s perfectly fine because what it lacks in driving dynamics, it makes up for in just about everything else.
The engine, for example is Audi’s 3.0 V6 TDI. That means 240bhp and 500Nm of double cream. I love the torque spread. It makes the delivery nice and progressive.
It’s also got what is probably the best gearbox on the planet — the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic that they call S-Tronic.
The result is 0-100kmph in a claimed 6.3 seconds and a limited top speed of 250kph.
But in reality it means progressive, relentless power, complete stability courtesy of Quattro and biblical long distance abilities in supreme comfort. Do you see why the below-par dynamics can be forgiven? Because it does everything else brilliantly.
And unlike the A6 of the Q3, the A7 communicates the best of Audi’s strengths to its customers. It costs just shy of Rs 90 lakh ex-showroom and for that you get a really unique car that costs as much to run as a Suzuki Swift. Is it the best car that Audi make? No. That’ll be the RS 5. But it is the best Audi that Audi make.
