AUDI S7 EARNS THE ‘S’ IN ITS MONIKER
Don’t need your ego massaged or licence revoked? David Booth’s got the car for you
If sales of Audi’s mid-size luxury sedans are any indication, Canadians are a more stylish lot than their American counterparts. While Americans buy more than two and a half times as many of the company’s stodgy A6 sedan than they do its svelte and gazelle-like A7 four-door coupe, we in the Great White Frozen North buy more A7s than A6s.
The margin of the A7’s victory here may be small, but I will credit it nonetheless as proof that we Canadians have better taste in automobiles. And, yes, you can opine that my opinion is biased, having gone on record saying the RS version of Audi’s “four-door coupe” is my favourite car of the past five years. Nonetheless, I’ll stand by my contention.
More of a surprise, at least to me, is that the latest rendition of the RS 7’s less sporty cousin, the S7, is frankly almost as tempting. Powered by a softer version of the RS 7’s twin-turbo V8, the S7 nonetheless pumps out a stellar 450 horsepower, an increase of 30 ponies compared to the original version I drove four years ago. That may pale when compared with the 560 claimed by the RS 7, or the seriously stupid 605 hp boasted by the RS 7 Performance, but on what public road can 450 horses be considered anything less than stellar?
Acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h is right around the 4.5-second mark, the top speed is a very illegal 255 km/h and the shove into the seat as you mat the loud handle is more than satisfying enough to justify the “S” moniker. Anyone needing the RS 7’s extra surge is either heading for a race track — nonsensical, since the RS 7 is still a 2,040-kilogram sedan — or trying to humiliate a Chevrolet Camaro through stoplight banditry — even more childish, considering the demographic that buys $100,000+ luxury sedans. Far be it from me to preach moderation, but I’ll take it as a sign of creeping maturity that I found myself completely satisfied by Audi’s “lesser” S7.
There was much to appreciate other than motor. For instance, because the RS 7 pumps out 516 poundfeet of torque, it has to make do with ZF’s eightspeed automatic transmission, the only transmission in Audi’s lineup that can handle all that torque. The S7’s 406 lb-ft, on the other hand, is within the scope of the company’s dual-clutch transmission, so the S7 gets Audi’s seven-speed DSG. Who’s sportier now, brown cow?
There’s one last difference between the S7 and the RS 7 powertrain that is, depending on your take on attracting attention, either a pro or a con. This more mildly tuned version of the Audi’s TFSI engine, itself a de-stroked version of the R8’s 4.2-litre normally aspirated V8, is whisper quiet, with none of the sturm und drang of the RS 7’s lightly muffled monster.
Personally, I’m partial to a throaty roar. On the other hand, even though there is a “stealth” version of the top-of-the-line RS 7, anyone choosing the RS 7 over the totally competent S7 and then complaining about the attentions of the local constabulary — like Madonna protesting the intrusion of the paparazzi — doth protest too much.
Likewise, the S7’s suspension is calibrated softer than the RS 7’s, but that’s not to say the S is a porpoise through the corners. Roll is still well mitigated and the steering, especially if you opt for the torquevectoring rear sport differential, is plenty precise.
What hasn’t changed is that the S7’s interior is all but as luxurious as the RS 7’s. The leather is exquisite, the S7 has Audi’s latest MMI updates and, for $6,500 extra, you can get Bang & Olufsen’s top-of-the-line 15-speaker stereo, which is still the best audio system I’ve tested.
Although my base car didn’t have the full TFT-screened gauge set, the combination of analogue gauges and computer readouts was just fine. The MMI’s handwriting recognition software is also improved, even recognizing my normally illegible script. Better yet, the S7 retains the disappearing screen rather than the cheaper-looking fixed affair on lesser Audis.
A7-based foibles remain, the most notable being lesser headroom than the A6 in the rear, thanks to that dramatically sloping roofline. That said, because the S7 is a hatchback, there’s excellent cargo space and access, especially when you fold the rear seats and the capacity expands from a middling 399 L to an almost commodious 1,040 L.
One last practical matter: Audi rates the S7 at 11.4 L/100 km overall, the 0.5 increase from the 2013 model I last tested not so much the result of the increased power but Transport Canada’s new, more stringent testing regime. That said, while the S7 — like all turbocharged cars — can be made to sip fuel by baby-footing the gas pedal, any time you call for all 450 hp or 406 lb-ft of torque, the big V8 starts sucking back the high test like a sailor on his first shore leave in six months.
Lastly, the S7 makes some sort of sense fiscally. Its $97,250 price tag is $23,150 less than the RS 7, and $45,850 less than the aforementioned silly Performance version. For those not needing their egos massaged — or their licences revoked — the S7 is more than enough.