While waiting for my long delayed Audi supercar I managed to come to a deal with my Audi dealer that I could have a loan car until it arrived. Good idea too as I have just learned my car won’t now be built until July… only 9-months since ordering it. Anyway, I was expecting a nice A1 or maybe at a push an A3 but instead I was told I would actually be getting their ex-showroom A7 with a grand total of 40 miles on the clock. Reluctantly I accepted, but what actually is an A7?
The A7 is classed as a four door coupe, very much like the Mercedes CLS and is based on the Audi A6. So basically a lower, sleeker A6 which costs a lot more and maybe feels a bit more expensive and also it has the name ‘sportback’ which basically means it is a cross with a hatchback. With 21’ drug dealer rims, blacked out windows and full leather interior it certainly feels the part, but surely I am too young and hip to be driving around in such a serious executive car?
Well for the first few weeks I certainly thought so, but recently after a few long journeys I am actually finding myself looking forward to driving it. I even find myself looking out at the window at it and wondering if I would prefer it over the R8, and that really an RS7 (supped up A7) with the 560 bhp V8 would be a better choice? It certainly wouldn’t cost any more than the R8, and while the RS7 would depreciate like a bomb it would be no worse than the R8 which is due to be replaced next year. They even have the same finance incentive for it.
So it would be more practical than the R8 – I have managed for example to ferry parents and friends around in it, transport bikes (the back seats fold down so there is lots of room) and has many newer technological features, I of course love. Options like the head up display or adaptive cruise are brilliant, especially when you spend a few hours on the motorway going between home and London. But the real clever feature is the lane assist which actually steers the car back into the lane should you start to wonder. So that coupled with the adaptive cruise basically means I have a car that can self-drive… all of this is not possible on the order R8.
Yes it doesn’t have much soul but as a car to get you from A to B with minimum fuss, maximum comfort and makes you feel special this is a heady mix. Or maybe it is that I have been without a car for so long, that any car would have the same effect. Suffice to say while I didn’t initially warm or understand this car, I now can see its charm and why Audi thought such a niche existed.
Welcome to old age……