2019 Audi A7 First Drive | Impressions, Images, and Specs

“The second era of Audi’s fashion image is off to a flying begin.”

Professionals

• Elegant, understated design
• Punchy V6 engine
• Clever driving aids
• Tech-led inside

Cons

• Evolutionary design to not everybody’s style
• Taller passengers will lack headroom within the again

As journalists, we continuously measure particulars once we take a look at vehicles. We all know which engine makes essentially the most horsepower, which automobile returns the perfect gas economic system, and which efficiency coupe is heavier than it should be. How do you quantify the extra summary points of a automobile, like curb enchantment, highway presence, and driving enjoyment? We’d use the all-new 2019 Audi A7 as a yardstick.

The second era of Audi’s driver-friendly fastback made its debut final October. Stylists took what individuals appreciated in regards to the unique automobile, such because the dashing design, and thoroughly honed it into a better, extra refined package deal. To our eyes, it really works effectively. It’s some of the aesthetically-pleasing vehicles to return out of the four-door coupe mildew. Intricately-styled lights on each ends assist the A7 stand out even when it’s pitch black outdoors.

Inside and tech

The A7 upholds Audi’s popularity for making vehicles with crisp-looking interiors. Horizontal items of trim on the dashboard emphasize the cabin’s width whereas including a contact of understated class, which matches the outside design. It’s all clear, purposeful, and characteristically Teutonic; you received’t discover a line, a crease, or a dip that’s superfluous or overly ostentatious. Designers neatly embedded the air vents into the highest a part of the dashboard, and hid the entrance USB ports out of sight beneath the armrest. We discovered the entrance seats softer than those within the Porsche Panamera, which places a much bigger give attention to dynamism than its cousin from the Audi clan.

The infotainment system appears daunting at first. Three separate screens; image that. That’s a minimum of yet another than you’ll discover in most vehicles at the moment within the A7’s aggressive set, just like the Mercedes-Benz CLS. Street testers within the Seventies needed to fear about humidity making its means beneath the distributor cap. In 2018, we solely pop the hood to fulfill our personal curiosity, and we don’t carry our personal instruments to launch occasions, however we have to work out combine a trio of small televisions into the typical commute. In actuality, the setup is quite a bit much less intimidating than it appears to be like as a result of it’s intuitive and, in the end, the whole lot is there for a purpose.

Sit down within the A7 and the primary display screen you see is behind the steering wheel, proper in your line of sight. It’s a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster Audi calls a digital cockpit. It shows the map and a pair of gauges, and buttons on the steering wheel provide the helpful possibility of zooming out and in. As an alternative of the map, the display screen can show data comparable to the skin temperature and real-time gas economic system, the media settings, or a connectivity menu.

We left the map on throughout our time behind the wheel. We discovered it’s much less distracting to look down on the instrument cluster for instructions than over on the heart console, and the digital cockpit was extra informative than the head-up show our take a look at automobile got here geared up with.

This brings us to display screen quantity two. It’s the usual infotainment display screen you discover in a majority of latest vehicles at the moment. It’s a ten.1-inch, driver-oriented haptic unit that simulates button presses, and Audi made it as simple to make use of as a smartphone or a pill. If you would like the navigation icon nearer to you, merely press down on it for a second or two and drag it in direction of you. The underside, 8.6-inch display screen shows the local weather management and seat adjustment settings. It additionally doubles as a notepad due to handwriting-recognition expertise the driving force can use to manually write in an handle. The A7 learn our handwriting, an astounding feat even we are able to’t usually pull off.

Tesla and Volvo eschew the dual-screen setup in favor of 1 immense display screen, so why didn’t Audi do the identical? We requested. It seems decision-makers concluded the two-screen look higher fits the sporty vibe they sought to create contained in the A7. Putting the underside display screen at a unique angle than the highest one additionally lets the entrance passengers use the gear selector as an arm relaxation after they write in a vacation spot.

Driving Expertise

The accelerator pedal summons 340 horsepower, which isn’t asking quite a bit from a 3.0-liter V6. Twin turbochargers – in lieu of the outgoing mannequin’s supercharger – assist the six-cylinder make 368 pound-feet of torque, whereas a seven-speed computerized transmission sends the whole output to the pavement. The masterstroke is the quattro all-wheel drive system, which Audi drew from the depths of its profitable rally division within the Eighties and has perfected since.

The 340-horsepower ranking locations the brand new A7 proper between the entry-level Panamera, which provides 330 horses, and the bottom CLS, whose straight-six engine turns the dial as much as 362. The Audi and the Mercedes are inside a pound-foot of one another within the torque division, whereas the Porsche lags behind with 331. After all, numbers hardly ever inform the entire story.

Like the larger A8, the A7 adopts electrification within the type of a 48-volt belt-starter generator completely related to the crankshaft and linked to a lithium-ion battery pack. The gentle hybrid system recuperates the vitality generated whereas braking. It additionally allowed engineers to suit a extra aggressive begin/cease system, which helps save gasoline. The Environmental Safety Company (EPA) hasn’t launched gas economic system figures but, nevertheless.

That’s the superb print; what does it imply in actual life? For starters, the A7 isn’t a hardcore, no holds barred efficiency automobile just like the RS 3 or the R8. It’s not the form of sedan that urges you to hit the observe for a session of scorching laps. It’s a real grand tourer, one which exists on the intersection of efficiency and luxury and thrives on a twisty again highway with the occasional lengthy, sweeping flip. Even when pushed exhausting, it stays composed and docile. The passengers don’t get thrown round like tennis balls in a cement mixer except the tempo actually picks up, and the amount within the cabin by no means exceeds indoor voice-like ranges.

You possibly can have it your means. The A7, like nearly all trendy luxurious vehicles, provides a number of driving modes that every carry out a unique side of its character. What shocked us right here is that the unfold between the modes is surprisingly massive.

Audi

Consolation mode, for instance, lightens up the steering to make the A7 a cinch to maneuver round city, on the expense of suggestions at greater speeds. It additionally reduces the V6’s chew by softening the throttle response and makes the suspension extra compliant. Think about it the mother-in-law-friendly mode for when it’s worthwhile to tread evenly.

On the different finish of the spectrum, patiently ready so that you can drop off your mother-in-law, is the game mode. It livens up the A7. The steering positive aspects weight and, in contrast to Elvis when he acquired heavier, turns into extra communicative. The suspension will get firmer to scale back physique lean in corners, and the V6 marches to a unique beat. There’s all the time a noticeable quantity of turbo lag however the automobile rapidly overcomes it and rockets ahead because the turbos reply roll name with a slight whine. Audi quotes a zero-to-60-mph time of 5.3 seconds; we didn’t time it, but it surely actually felt the half.

It’s attainable to shift gears manually by flicking the gear selector or the paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. We tended to agree with the transmission’s choices so we by no means used the previous and infrequently operated the latter. What, you need a handbook? Fuhgeddaboudit! These days are gone, auto-makers are more and more consigning the stick with the attic. The take price could be so low that Audi would by no means recoup its funding. It’s not a coincidence that not one of the A7’s rivals supply consumers the choice of a handbook transmission.

The errant springboks that nonchalantly dart throughout South African roads needn’t fear as a result of the A7 brakes in addition to it accelerates. We’ve pushed vehicles whose wheels have been smaller than the rotors Audi mounts on the A7’s entrance axle. The sizable {hardware} brings the A7 to a cease confidently and firmly, with a reassuring quantity of suggestions from the pedal.

Site visitors, like loss of life and taxes, is inevitable. Except you’ve the funds to purchase a rustic and kick everybody out, you’re certain to seek out your self dancing the stop-and-go waltz in the end. We did getting into Cape City. The A7 dealt with a lot of the driving, fortunately, giving us the chance to ogle a number of the locally-built vehicles enduringly idling round us. Do you know Volkswagen made the unique Golf till 2009? Google it; it’s fascinating.

Again to the highway: the A7 isn’t an autonomous automobile, and Audi properly doesn’t promote it as such, but it surely’s a well-mannered co-pilot in dense, low-speed visitors. Left to its personal units, it stays in its lane and mechanically follows the circulate of visitors. All it asks in return is that the driving force stay alert along with his or her arms on the steering wheel. It emits visible and audible warnings if it detects you’re not following directions.

Guarantee

Audi received’t launch guarantee data till nearer to the A7’s on-sale date, which is about for the fourth quarter of this 12 months. For what it’s value, the current-generation A7 (which has already entered its final mannequin 12 months available on the market) comes with a four-year, 50,000-mile guarantee and 4 years of 24-hour roadside help.

How DT would configure this automobile

We received’t see the record of ordinary and optionally available options for an additional few months so it’s troublesome to say how we’d configure the 2019 Audi A7. We didn’t choose the “product planning” possibility once we configured our crystal ball, sadly. Judging from what we noticed on the launch occasion, we’d choose triton blue paint for the outside and wooden trim inside.

Conclusion

In an period the place crossovers and SUVs reign supreme, Audi’s all-new 2019 A7 proves the four-door sedan doesn’t should be a mannequin of dullness. Its mission is to ally fashion, efficiency, and luxury. Whereas design is subjective, the A7 ticks the opposite two containers by adhering to the time-tested method of a grand tourer.

This all bodes effectively for the V8-powered fashions, respectively known as S7 and RS 7, which Audi will introduce within the coming months. The up to date 7 household is off to a flying begin.

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