Speed, it is said, is a question of money. How fast do you want to go?
Well, how about looks?
Audi's A7 is a much more dramatic-looking car than the A6 sedan it's related to. It has coupe-like styling, including a more rakish windshield and a lower roofline.
It's also about $15,000-to-start more expensive than the A6.
How good do you want to look?
What It Is
The A7 is a midsized luxury-sport sedan (styled Sportback by Audi) related to the Audi A6 sedan. Both are about the same overall size, but the A7 has a sleeker profile — at the cost of a little front and rear headroom. This is offset by its significantly increased cargo capacity, which it has because it doesn't have a trunk like the A6 sedan. Instead, it has a hatchback rear opening, which increases the available cargo-carrying space from 13.7 cubic feet (in the A6) to 21.6 cubic feet.
This makes it a more practical — as well as more dramatic-looking — car.
It's also a more expensive one.
Prices begin at $69,200 for the Premium trim, which comes standard with a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 engine and all-wheel drive. You can pick up an A6 for $55,900 to start.
But it doesn't come standard with the V6 (a smaller, less-powerful turbocharged four-cylinder engine is what you get), or the head-turning quotient of its stylish A7 relation.
A top-of-the-line Prestige version stickers for $81,250.
It also comes standard with the turbocharged V6 and AWD, but you can swap out the V6 for a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that ups the power — and gives you about 26 miles of range on battery power alone.
What's New
The big update for this model year is a larger — and now standard — digital instrument cluster for the base trim, and an available 21-inch wheel/tire package.
What's Good
It's a head-turner.
Standard V6 is becoming a luxury-car rarity.
Practicality to go with the looks.
What's Not So Good
Sleek roofline cuts down on headroom a bit.
Plug-in's electric-only range isn't much.
You can get the same V6 for much less in the A6.
Under The Hood
Unlike its A6 sibling, which comes standard with a four-cylinder, the A7 comes standard with a V6.
The 3.0-liter engine is turbocharged and paired with a belt-driven generator-starter system that quietly and quickly cycles the engine off when it's not needed, saving gas and reducing the output of carbon dioxide gasses, which all car companies are under regulatory pressure to reduce.
Output is 335 horsepower and 369 foot-pounds of torque — enough to get the A7 to 60 in 4.9 seconds. A seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel drive are standard. Gas mileage with this combination is 21 city, 30 highway — with a highway range on a full tank of 579 miles.
Speaking of range ...
If you'd like to be able to drive about 26 miles without burning any gas, Audi offers the A7 with a plug-in drivetrain that combines a version of the 2.0-liter turbocharged four that's standard in the A6, with a battery pack/electric drive that's strong enough to propel the car on its own for about that far, assuming a full charge.
In addition to that, you also get a bump in total output to 362 horsepower.
On The Road
The V6 A7 has the auctoritas — as the Romans once styled it — that's absent in the four-cylinder iteration of its A6 sibling. What's meant by that is not merely the prestige that comes with having an engine that's bigger than the engines that come in common cars but also the power and performance that you have a right to expect when you just spent nearly $70,000 for your new car.
The A7's handling is tenaciously neutral — a function of its standard all-wheel drive. Rivals like the Mercedes-Benz CLS come standard with rear-drive (AWD is optional) but the differences are much less pronounced than they once were — unless you're really pushing it.
The main accessible difference is the total absence of wheel-slip in the A7. If you disable the traction control in the RWD version of the Benz and stand on the gas while holding the brakes, you can get the rear tires to spin.
You can't do that in the AWD-only A7.
At The Curb
The A7 is slightly longer than the A6 (195.9 inches vs. 194.4) but the A7 is visually, and actually, much lower. The raked windshield tapers to a roofline that is 56 inches off the pavement vs. 57.4 inches for the more formally styled A6.
You pay a little something else for this, in the form of less headroom in both rows vs. the A6. Up front, the spec is 37 inches vs. 38 in the A6; in the back, 37.1 inches vs. 38.1 in the A6.
But it's a small price to pay for the sake of style.
The really big difference — beyond the looks — is what you can carry in the A7 vs. the A6. This being a function of the A7 not being a sedan — with a trunk. Instead, there's a hatchback, which opens up 21.6 cubic feet of cargo-carrying capacity vs. the 13.7 cubic feet inside the A6's trunk.
The Rest
All trims come standard with Audi's Connect system, which lets you monitor and even control certain car functions (such as the door locks) remotely, using an app on your smartphone.
One odd omission for a car with a base price of nearly $70,000 is the absence of a standard heating steering wheel.
It's available — but it'll cost you extra.
The Bottom Line
Can you put a price on good looks?
Audi just did.
Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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