18 April 2011
New car report; A car for every occasion
Audi’s new five door A7 Sportback is said to be aimed at a new kind of buyer. With strikingly sleek lines, Audi tells us the A7 brings together the best of three worlds; the sporty elegance of a coupe, the comfort of a sedan and the practicality of a station wagon.
An exciting visual proposition, this is the second four door coupe to come from the Audi stable in the past 12 months, the first being the smaller but equally stylish A5 Sportback we tested in early 2010.
Those who argue that a coupe cannot have more than two doors should take a look at some of the high end product coming from the likes of Aston Martin and Porsche in recent times. It’s hard to argue that the Rapide and Panamera are not coupes, and in many ways the Audi offerings emulate the design concept of some of those heavy hitters, but rather than stratospheric supercar-esque pricing levels, retail in at a price point slap in the middle of the upper-medium size luxury European sector.
At almost 5 metres long and 1.91 metres wide, the coupe-like proportions are accentuated by a height of just 1.42 metres. And the practicality of the giant lift-back, coupled with the visual wow factor place the A7 in desirable territory. And that’s before you even climb into the driver’s seat!
The standard Audi drive select dynamics system allows the driver to dial in his or her preferred vehicle settings for vehicle dynamics, and despite the capacious dimensions, on-road performance is impressively brisk, with handling that is nimble and highly tractable.
High tech, light weight and one of the hottest lookers around
With extensive use of high-tech, high strength steels and light weight aluminium, weight and safety levels have been optimised, while hydraulic damping in the axle and drivetrain mountings make for very low vibration, noise and comfort levels.
All models feature fuel saving start stop technology, and fuel efficiency is pretty frugal for a luxury car of these proportions and performance.
Two V6 engines are offered to New Zealand buyers; one petrol and one diesel. The 3.0 TDI produces 180kW of power and 500Nm of torque, while the petrol powered 3.0 TFSI delivers 220kW and 440Nm. The TDI sips 6.0 litres of fuel per 100 km and produces CO2 emissions of just 158 g per km, while the petrol powered TFSI consumes 8.2 litres of fuel per 100km and emits 190 g per km of CO2.
The petrol A7 accelerates to our open road speed limit in 5.6 seconds while the oil burner gets there in 6.3. Both cars are limited to a top speed of 250km/h. 18 inch, seven spoke alloys wrapped in 255/45 R18 rubber are standard equipment, or tick the S-Line box and get, amongst other things, 19 inch alloys.
Both models are equipped with a seven speed S-Tronic double clutch automatic transmission and both deliver power to the tarmac via Audi’s latest quattro set-up, featuring a crown-gear centre differential and torque vectoring, which can distribute up to 85 percent of the power to the rear and 70 percent to the front without delay, should the need arise.
The rear hatch incorporates a retractable rear spoiler which raises at speeds above 130km/h, or can be lifted manually at lower speeds at the flick of a switch. Upon lifting the giant hatch, there’s an easily accessible luggage compartment offering a 535 litre capacity, expanding to 1,390 litres with the rear seat backrests folded down.
With technology advancing at warp speed at present, we’re used to seeing cutting edge systems filter down from top of the line models into the lower echelons. While the A7 is no entry level model, we are impressed by how many of the systems we first saw in Audi’s quarter million dollar flagship, the A8, launched late last year are featured in the new A7.
Robbed from the A8 are features such as an MMI touch system which combines a hard drive navigation system with a touch pad for finger-tip writing of navigation destinations and phone contacts for example.
An eight inch colour monitor displays a vast array of vehicle information including the high resolution reversing camera and an optional night vision pedestrian recognition system is available along with numerous advanced safety systems such as the Audi pre-sense, which can mitigate the severity of an accident.
Both petrol and diesel models are priced at $154,200, with the S Line versions carrying a $7,000 premium at $161,200.
Audi really has pulled the rabbit out of the hat with this one. The A7 fulfills practically every purpose any car was designed for. Its luxurious, practical, a great driver's car and very pretty too.