Audi is known for making cars that fit every single market segment starting with the small and relatively affordable A1 to the behemoth moving wall known as the Audi A8L. Every other car in between falls into a specific market segment, and fortunately for us gearheads Audi makes performance versions of all of their models. This time I was excited to test the new Audi S7, which is the performance version of Audi A7 Sportback. This car is meant to fill the gap that lies between premium sedans such as the Audi A6 and full sized luxury sedans like the A8. Let’s take a look at how it fared:

Style

There are very subtle changes Audi has made to the S7’s exterior to differentiate it from the A7. The main ones would be dual exhaust tips that are on either side of the S7’s rear end and “S7” badges that are found in the front grille, tail-gate, and the steering wheel. The S7 has an expressively angry looking front end with the silver line going through the air intakes and the extra lip that is under the grille which provides an extra 30 kilos of down force. This along the perfect curve in the head lights makes it one of the most gorgeous front ends in the sportback segment. The S7’s side view gives off somewhat of a different vibe than the front where the roof swoops down to the tail and it gives it a somewhat bloated look that somehow still looks amazing! The S7’s rear end is the most impressive; this is all thanks to the automatically rising spoiler. You can imagine this car driving past you on the highway and the rear spoiler rising up and you can tell it means business.

Interior

The interior of the 2014 Audi S7 is exactly the same as the Audi A6 interior where you have the automatically rising screen in the dashboard and the controls located in the central console behind the gear. The way Audi S7 differentiates itself is by having sportier seats which are “racing seat inspired” along with the fabulous off white leather seats contrasted by the red cross-stitching. When it comes to comfort, the S7 excels in more areas than others. The legroom for the driver and passenger is good when they take up space for people in the back, and legroom in the back is good only when people in the front are uncomfortable, in other words, you'll have trouble seating four average sized people comfortably. The headroom in the front is excellent, but for the rear passengers it is inadeqate, even with the added head room bubble by Audi. I have a friend who is considered short, and he mentioned that rear space is tight. This is rather expected given the shape of the car and the way the roof slants downwards.

Technology

My favorite feature in Audi S7 is the head-up display, which can also be height adjusted and have the brightness increased and lowered. The great thing about this feature is it not only displays the speed, it also displays the navigation information with full color which I found to be much better than having to constantly look at the screen. The S7 also has blind spot indicators which are designed in a much more elegant fashion than most other car designers. Usually the lights from the blind spot indicators are rather annoying, but in the Audi they are great. The navigation system on the S7 was flawless, where it recognized every place that I enter into the system, and Audi’s MMI touch pad input system made it a lot easier where you can write the location you wish to go to using your finger. For driving, the S7 has several modes; economy, comfort, dynamic, and individual. The individual setup can be modified to suit the driver to their preference, where the driver can modify, the performance, air suspension, car’s sound, and steering softness. Audi’s steering in general is very soft on their newer models, so the same could be said about the S7.

Drive Performance

And now to the best part! The Audi S7 is powered by a twin turbo charged 4.0 liter V8 engine which spews out 440 horses of power and has an insane torque figure of 550 Nm! This engine is connected to a seven speed automatic S-Tronic (DSG) Dual-Clutch gearbox. This setup accelerates the S7 from 0-100 in a whopping 4.7! Keep in mind that this thing weighs more than 1.9 tons. When flooring it, the S7 is the kind of car that is able to make you wonder “what happened and how did that happen?” While testing the S7 a friend of mine conveniently showed up with a Porsche Cayman S, and like any responsible gearheads we decided to put them head to head just for fun, keep in mind the Cayman weighs 600 KG less than the S7, to our disbelief the S7 out ran the Cayman on both of our runs by a considerable distance! This is by no means a comparison of the two cars it is just to give you an idea of what the S7 is capable of doing.

Handling and Fuel Consuption

In the handling department, the S7 is employee of the month, where Audi’s excellent Quattro All wheel drive system is flawless. Take the A7 into a corner at speeds that would be seen as insane and the S7 hugs the road and sticks to the ground. Like most all-wheel drive cars over steer is present but it is considerably less. The S7’s engine makes an amazing sound with a deep throated gurgle that is heard inside the cabin when you accelerate, although on the outside it seems like it is heard less. When it comes to fuel efficiency the S7 falls short but that is expected of the V8 that is powering it. I got a highway consumption of 9.7 L/100KM and a city figure of 17.5 L/100KM, keep in mind that it was driven with a passion at times.

Suspension

As this car is the performance model of the A7 this means that the suspension is tuned for a more sporty drive, therefore it is rather firm. Small bumps in the road will be clearly noticed. On the other hand, the S7 is fitted with air suspension that the driver can raise and lower to suit the need. This was an excellent feature because when the car is raised the suspension is softer and makes for a more comfortable drive. The air suspension is made to be adjusted so smoothly that it would take a very keen eye to notice the car rising while sitting inside of it but from the outside it is clear to see that the ride height is changing. Given the fact that the S7 has a phenomenal torque figure, you can move the car from a standstill without feeling it jerk at all, this made the car even more appealing and excellent to drive for those slow relaxed drives.

Verdict

The S7 that we tested had a price tag of 370,000 AED which in my books is a good price for the car that you get. You get a car that has all the gadgets that you need in a car and enough power to tear the street apart! Having said that I feel obligated to say that the S7 is very seductive and tempting to speed in, you are constantly feeling the urge to floor the pedal and fly past every car in the street which can be done pretty easily in the A7. Therefore, if you have an itchy right foot, avoid the S7 because you will rack up multiple fines if you cannot control your urge!

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