Audi: Big unit surprisingly dainty

It takes some seriously hard driving hard to unsettle the A7. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

Audi led luxury passenger car sales last year and is gunning for a bigger share in 2011 on the back of more new models. Its first offering is the A7, a large and luxurious four-door coupe.

What's new
The A7 sits on the same platform as the A4 and A8, as well as the upcoming A6 with which it largely shares mechanicals.

The cabin owes plenty to its bigger sibling, too, but A7's character is far from derivative.

Under the bonnet there's a 3 litre turbo diesel with 180kW and 500Nm, or a 3 litre V6 TFSI with 220kW and 440Nm, matched to a seven-speed S-tronic auto driving all four wheels. Both are priced at $154,200; or more for the up-spec S-line.

The body uses aluminium to keep weight down - although at 1845kg it's still a heavy car.

That's because it's loaded, many of A7's features being lifted from the A8 - like the active cruise with its cameras and radar, or the touch pad that converts from numbers to a fingertip writing pad.

The company line
Premium brands grow sales by supplying a car for almost every taste. The A6, due in July, is a slightly smaller sedan, and the sleek A7 bridges the gap to the larger A8. None of them sell in large numbers, but they're important for brand integrity and profitability says Audi NZ general manager Dane Fischer.

What we say
This is a very smart car and more practical than its coupe lines suggest - the rear seat will accommodate a 1.8m bloke with ease and the boot is positively capacious at 535 litres, or 1390 litres with the seats folded.

On the road
The A7 feels luxurious while cruising despite a tad more noise than expected. Yet it's also happy to ramp it up when the opportunity presents - thanks to the broad spread of torque either engine delivers. The diesel's 500nm is available from 1400rpm to 3250rpm, while even the petrol unit's 440Nm comes in anywhere from 2900rpm to 4500rpm. As for handling, our back-road jaunt revealed the A7 is hard to unsettle, even when you throw it about a bit, and very easy to drive rapidly.

That said the driving experience feels a bit remote, perhaps because the car's so good. A keen driver likes to feel brisk progress has been attained due partly to human skill. With the A7, finding the ragged edge at which skill is required means going so far over the speed limit that, were you to get caught, the constabulary would throw away the key.

Why you'll buy one
You want a coupe, need a large luxury sedan, and like to drive it like a sports car when the opportunity arises.

Why you won't
The A7 lacks character; or your rear passengers are too tall.