SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


Review: 2015 Audi A7 3.0 TDI bi-turbo Quattro Tiptronic

Effortlessly easy

Posted: 22 September 2015

The numbers
Base price: R1 040 000
Engine: 2967 cc, commonrail, 24 valve V6, biturbo diesel
Power: 235 kW between 3900 and 4600 rpm
Torque: 650 Nm between 1400 and 2800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 5.2 seconds
Maximum speed: 250 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.8 l/100 km
Tank: 73 litres
Luggage: 535 – 1390 litres
Towing capacity (braked): 2100 kg
Warranty: One year / unlimited km
Maintenance plan: 5 years / 100 000 km

The Audi A7 3.0 TDI bi-turbo Quattro Tiptronic looks, and makes you feel, like a million bucks. Which is fortunate because that’s what it will cost you –            R1 040 000 before extras, to be precise.

It’s long (4.97 metres), low (1.42 metres) and sexy. It takes the popular four-door coupé styling theme one step further by merging its long, sloping rear window into the boot lid. That’s where the name Sportback comes from, apparently; not just a fastback - it's sportier.

The interior is sumptuous. There’s part-leather upholstery, keyless entry with pushbutton starter, four-channel climate control with full adjustability for the boss and her PA working in the back, drive mode select, MMI (multimedia interface) Navigation Plus with touch screen, wireless cellphone connectivity, advanced parking distance control with rearview camera, a powered tailgate, cruise control and electrically adjustable “everything” including the front seats.

Our test unit arrived with R120 850-worth of options; some of which we felt were superfluous - like added-cost alternative 20” wheels to replace original rims of the same size, a front-view camera to supplement the rearview optical assistant that’s already there and a “sports” differential to replace the self-locking diff. you have as standard. 

Other personal preference items included a couple of styling packages, a smarter sound system and lowered, sports suspension.

Then there were the driver aids we reckon should be included upfront in a million bucks’ worth of car – Matrix LED headlamps that let you stay on high beams outside built up areas, but “dip” themselves selectively around other road users, Audi Connect (the internet connectivity feature your kids play with in the back) and Park Assist with autonomous parking. They’re free in cars costing significantly less, so at R28 050 for all three, it surely wouldn’t hurt at all.

But that’s enough whining. The extra 35 kilowatts of power (235 in total) and 70 Nm of torque (650 vs. 580) that comes with Quattro makes this car so effortlessly easy to drive, allows one to overtake without thinking and to climb hills so easily. Its eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox (the others make do with a seven-gear S-Tronic) seems always to be in the correct ratio without having to “think” twice.

A window shows which gear has been selected - whether the chosen mode is normal, sport, eco or manual - and the ‘box never overruns itself. It will hold a lower ratio while coasting downhill for example. And you have a choice between paddles and stick when it’s time to get your sportiness on.

Things we became resigned to, in previous Quattro models, were hard suspension and stodgy steering. Even the sport setup, included as an option on this car, was no more than gently firm. That was a pleasant surprise and to cap it all, the steering was nicely weighted and responsive – proof, if needed, that muscular sport sedans do not have to be hairy-chested and thuggish.

Practical features on this executive express include a long and wide, but fairly shallow, boot supplemented by seatbacks that lay down flat - for when its your turn to take the presentation equipment along. And, unlike its main competitors, there is actually a (space saver) spare under the floor board. Then there are the autonomous aircon repeaters mentioned earlier, a lidded tray for small office items and a pair of 12-volt sockets for recharging stuff.

Less practical, unless the occupants are pretty short, is that the sloping roofline is stingy with headroom. Remember the old saying about “style” shoes and “smile” shoes? It sort-of applies here. There’s lots of knee space, however.

As an effortless and economical-to-fuel long distance runner, with almost all the necessary kit, this A7 Sportback is hard to beat. It also looks and feels like a million bucks, so the price is about right.

Test car from Audi SA press fleet


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
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