Is this just fantasy?

The Audi Sportback is my dream car... now I just have to save up hard!

THE question I most frequently am asked is: what car would you buy yourself? In many ways, it’s a piece of string question. In the real world, I’d have to take account of my less than frivolous budget, while in a Lotto-win world, I’d buy something fast, red and Italian, and so flat to the ground it would look like a very elegant pancake.

If I were to narrow it down to a more sane money-no-object realm, there are plenty of BMWs, Jaguars, Lexus and Mercedes I could opt for, but the car I keep coming back to always has been the Audi A7 Sportback.

I first drove it in 2010 on a test route in Sardinia, and while the location certainly helped – the Costa Smeralda remains one of my favourite places, and it’s rather appropriate that someone from the Emerald Isle would be so fond of the Emerald Coast – it was the car that truly impressed.

I loved everything about it, from the coupé styling to the big liftback, and the terrific virtual instrument panel that displays Google Earth images of the route you’re driving.

There have been a couple of facelifts since, but this A7 is the true second generation of the car, and it only has reinforced my love for it. The A-pillar seems to be further set back, the bonnet is vast but not oppressive, the tail remains as pert as ever though slightly more rounded, and the LED strip running from the rear lights across the tailgate is swoonsomely sophisticated. I found myself opening and closing the electric tailgate solely to see the lights playfully expand and contract across their full width. This is expressive design at its very best, flamboyant without straying into camp territory, while remaining rock solid to the ground, as if it had been hewn from a single piece of metal at the hands of a master sculptor. It truly is a beautiful car, though personally I wouldn’t choose the deep blue of my test model when something brighter would allow light to play more capriciously on the side panels and bonnet creases.

Inside, there is good and bad. The leather seats, with great lumbar support, make this a car you just don’t want to leave, and the nighttime ambient lighting softens the cabin, making night driving just as pleasant as it is in daytime. There is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and your Spotify playlists never are going to sound better than they do on the epic Bang & Olufsen sound system. Many of the functions can be controlled from the steering wheel, but I have a massive problem with any car, not just Audi, that requires you to look at a touchscreen to operate the climate control. Yes, the car comes with lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control, but if you need to change the temperature on a country road and have to look at a screen to do so, it can be terrifyingly distracting. If I were in charge of the EuroNCAP test, I would dock a star for any car that did not offer temperature control via the sort of twiddly dial you can operate, sight unseen and just by muscle memory alone, without ever taking your eyes off the road.

The car is a mild hybrid, using a 48-volt battery system for the ignition, at speeds up to 22kph, and even for a few seconds at a time when you’re coasting at up to 160kph.

There’s lots of power on tap, and acceleration from 0-100kph clocks in at just 5.7 seconds. The eight-speed automatic transmission is a delight too, with no perceptible lag, and even a high speeds, there’s a welcome hush in the cabin.

The steering is light, maybe a little too much so to get a real driving feel, but anyone buying this very likely is doing so for comfort rather than for anything even remotely challenging.

I could rattle off a list of the 39 driver aids present here, and of the all the kit and caboodle you get for your money, but it’s an Audi, so you probably know most of them anyway. Suffice to say that between standard equipment and the extras on my test car, it lacks for nothing in comfort or safety.

Fuel economy is decent at 5.4 litres per 100km in the combined driving cycle, and motor tax is €390 a year.

You will, however, gulp a little at the price. It’s not excessive for what you get, but it’s still €81,800 without extras, and €104,527 for the test car. So, yes, while I loved the A7 – and still love the A7 – it remains an expensive fantasy.