The A7 serves its own audience that is not waiting for a stately limo, but also not for the regular A6. And not for an SUV like the Q7, of course. To make the car really distinctive, it initially only came with powerful six- and eight-cylinder engines. Later, more modest four-cylinder engines were also added to the range. What makes this article extra interesting is that the 300 hp of a 3.0 TFSI is not enough for a number of owners. More than once, this engine was boosted to 560 hp. Driving the A7 If we are going to talk about power, we might as well start driving it right away. We start with a 3.0 TFSI driver who had his car boosted to 561 hp. “I drive the car with great pleasure and often travel long distances between Veldhoven and Drachten,” he describes his situation. “But then again, what is a long distance with an A7, it simply takes you to your destination and you arrive fit and rested”. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like. “Even if you’ve driven through rain and downpours on a summer night, you don’t notice it, but I do stick to the speed limit.” The conclusion is clear: “Every trip I get behind the wheel with a big smile, it’s a wonderful car to drive!” And it’s because they don’t have a drag strip in Drachten anymore, but otherwise this Audi would certainly not have made a fool of itself. 560 seems like a magic number for the A7, because a second driver also drives around with such a power. The basis for that is stronger, namely an S7 with a 4.0-litre eight-cylinder. “Very comfortable and capable touring car”, the owner summarizes his experience. “(Very) fast when possible, but also very relaxed as a cruiser. It is not a short cornering knight, the car is simply too heavy for that (2000+ kg) and the engine is too far forward, but the sports differential makes long turns and motorway bends very smooth and confident.” Another S7 driver also indicates that this car is definitely not a sports car. “The car has been almost too refined by our friends from Germany,” he writes. “You only get an experience if you drive really antisocial, which I think is a shame. If you drive normally and go a bit too fast, this is much too easy. Everything is filtered out. The insulation of the car is also so good that even with the valve system open, which is almost straight pipe, you don’t even hear it loudly in the cabin.” Let’s conclude this topic with the experiences of a 3.0 TFSI driver who did not have his car modified, but did take it on holiday. “I was able to reach 230 km/h once, after which someone next to me started whining and moaning terribly that it was all going too fast,” he complains. “But of course that’s what the thing was made for; covering large distances in luxury and comfort at higher speeds, with Quattro as the icing on the cake for slippery and snowy situations.” Is it also a bit practical? An A7 or S7 therefore turns out to be a comfortable highway knight, no matter how much power you squeeze out of it. Speaking of squeezing, what about the trunk? “A huge trunk that, apart from the height, is almost the same as that of an A6 Avant, which is more expensive to buy than this”, the holidaymaker thinks. An S7 driver largely agrees with him. “An all-rounder, that is what the S7 almost is”, is his conclusion. But why can’t this car do everything? “I say almost, because the trunk is very long and wide, but not high. Suppose you want to get rid of a large dog crate, then that won’t work. However, the bench can be completely flat”, is the explanation. “This car is also set up as a four-seater. A fifth person fits in, but he/she will not have a seat belt at his/her disposal.” A 3.0 TFSI owner certainly disagrees with the above comments. “He has now turned 4 years old and he has never had an issue, except that the trunk is inconveniently small for such a large car. And for those who are curious about the seating comfort: we do not read anything particularly positive or negative about either drivers or passengers, Audi has probably got this right. Except for a single point of criticism from an S7 driver, that is: “For an adult in the back, the headroom will be borderline. If you are 1.90 meters tall, you will touch the ceiling. Below that, it is quite doable.” Maintenance, malfunctions and irritations An interesting aspect of such cars is of course the sensitivity to maintenance. And that is certainly the case with the Audi A7, if we are to believe its owners. Fortunately, a few owners have a considerable technical background, which allows them to give us a glimpse behind the scenes. The following 3.0 TFSI driver does this so extensively that posting everything would make this article unnecessarily long, interested parties should better read the review themselves. In summary, the brain of the DSG transmission is sensitive, which also applies to the oil pressure pump. Good news: the first is expensive, the second problem is fairly easy to preventatively solve. The intake valves also get dirty, as is usually the case with direct injection engines, and if the timing chain causes problems, the engine block has to be removed. An S7 driver is also a fanatic do-it-yourselfer. He indicates that a sieve in the crankcase often gets clogged, causing the turbos to die. So he gets to work. “This is not just any operation because the entire front of the car has to come off, half the engine also has to be dismantled due to the illogical construction,” he writes. “During this work, the turbos can be inspected, and yes: too much play on the axles of the turbos. So I had to replace them.” In the end, including a major service, this cost about thirty hours of work. This driver is quite realistic. “To be honest, I do not recommend this car to the ‘normal\ person, because repairs can be extremely expensive.” An indication: “Replacing turbos, which you often see with these cars, can cost up to 10,000 euros at a dealer. You also often read with the DSG that the mechatronic (the brain) breaks down, this is my 3rd Audi with the gearbox, never had any problems myself. However, this can also cost you a few thousand euros.” Owners who owned the car when it was younger report no to hardly any challenges: these only manifest themselves at a later age and with higher mileages. This striking Audi therefore mainly does what you expect of it. It is a limousine and remains so, regardless of how much power you give it. For most users it is more than enough, both for luggage and passengers. The only shortcoming is in the maintenance in the long term. If you are handy yourself, you can limit the costs considerably. If you are not, an A7 like this can be quite expensive.
Source: www.autoweek.nl
