The article was originally produced on May 7, 2012, some facts and prices may have changed since then.

Audi S7 Sportback

If you think sporty hatchback and sedan models are crazy for bachelorettes, the Audi A7 Sportback in S-skrud is the right tool for your comfort and design criteria and not to forget, sporty nerves without forgetting the environment.

To familiarize ourselves with Audi's new luxury wagon S7 has Cars Collection made it to a summer-hot Munich where the international test drive was held. The pace that Audi and the Volkswagen group are keeping in launching new models must be seen as quite impressive. A figure of forty new models per year has circulated and it is nothing surprising when you start counting. The Audi S7 Sportback was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show last fall at the same time as the S6 and S8. You could read about the S6 test drive in the previous issue as it took place at the same time as the S7. However, Cars Collection chose to put a little extra focus on the S7 Sportback as it is a brand new model in Audi's candy bag.

The first sight of Audi's 7 series is that it is big, long and wide, all the attributes required to classify it as a real luxury loaf. This is a so-called four-door coupé, a body model that has become a big hit since Mercedes launched its CLS model about ten years ago. With a sloping roofline rearward from the B-pillar, reminiscent of classic coupe lines, the entire car's shape gains momentum and feels sportier than a traditional sedan. The doors are frameless, which gives a luxurious feeling when you open them, as the glass pane is the only thing sticking out of the door. The rapidly sloping roofline naturally leads to certain comfort deficiencies when entering the back seat, but the back seat does not feel cramped inside. As usual, Audi has spared no expense in choosing materials and everything feels incredibly premium. A new interior detail is the choice of panels with pressed wood and aluminum, a look that brings to mind pinstriped suit fabrics. To achieve the appearance of these panels, equal amounts of thin slices of wood mixed with aluminum have been pressed and then thin pieces have been cut crosswise. Fantastically stylish and sober. As usual, there is no shortage of technology in this Audi either, navigation takes place on a 6.5-inch screen where Google-Earth has been integrated into the map window. 

Let's for a moment leave the luxurious and technology-packed interior and enter the heart of this beauty. Here, there has been a change since previous S models of this size. Audi's 7-series is based on the same base plate as the 6-series and the previous Audi S6 had a good-sounding V10 signed by Lamborghini. With the downsizing trend among car brands, Audi has also followed suit and is now cutting out a cylinder row for a more traditional V8 of four litres. However, this is anything but a traditional V8 engine. To begin with, two turbo units have been installed to ensure that the engine receives extra air for increased power. At 5,500 rpm, maximum power output of 420 horsepower and 550 Newtons of torque is achieved. But this is not what makes this engine anything but a regular V8 but the "cylinders on demand" technology. The technology has Cars Collection wrote about earlier when we tested the Audi A1 Sportback, but then it was in a four-cylinder engine with considerably less power than the engine in the S7. What the technology is all about is that the engine shuts down four of the eight cylinders to save fuel. The whole thing only happens when driving calmly and the shutdown happens completely automatically without any noticeable signs apart from a message in the screen between the gauges. When you then press down on the gas, the four cylinders wake up in a flash and full power is available again. Clearly a very flexible and efficient way to save fuel on long journeys. However, Audi is not the first with the technology, as Cadillac has had similar systems on its cars for a long time.

Let's return to the comfortable cabin and what makes it so comfortable on long journeys and in noisy environments. Audi's engineers have not only stuffed the walls full of sound deadening material but also added a technique to remove unwelcome sounds into the cabin. This has all been achieved through microphones in the interior ceiling that pick up sound in the passenger compartment and then, simply described, reverse sound that should not be in the passenger compartment and return it through the speakers. The result is similar to what is found in some headphones with so-called "noise reduction" which can be advantageously used on airplanes and removes the noise in the background. In order not to make the cabin sound completely lifeless, Audi's technicians have been kind enough to also mike up some of the engine sound and also let this flow into the cabin through the speakers. The result is a very different digital engine sound but oh so lovely. Turbo engines can otherwise have a tendency to lose the lovely rumbling sound when the exhaust gases have to go through the turbo unit, but in this way you recreate the lovely soundscape that belongs to it.

However, the Audi S7 is not just a luxurious comfort loaf with an efficient engine and smart sound solutions. With the letter S before the model designation, there are also some performance-enhancing factors not to be forgotten. As previously mentioned, we are in Munich to see what the S7 has to offer. It is when you press the gas pedal at the bottom that you are happy that the speed signs on the side of the road have a gray background with four black diagonal lines and mean that free speed prevails. Something the Audi S7 takes very seriously and speeds away with a primal power and sound that brings to mind completely different cars than the one we are currently sitting in. Reaching the speed limit of 250 km/h goes so fast that you hardly have time to understand what happened, when you turn off the gas and slow down to 200, the behavior of the car is as undramatic as a normal car at 50 km/h on newly asphalted road. To really test the negative speed resource of this S7, which is equipped with the optional ceramic brakes the size of LP records, the brake pedal is planted in the bottom position with a subsequent braking effect that is difficult to describe. 

The Audi S7 is undoubtedly a perfect tool for those who want to ride in maximum comfort, always have speed resources in abundance, be able to go from speeds well above our limits to a standstill in no time. But it's also a car for the conscious buyer who actually thinks that a powerful and thirsty twin-turbo V8 may not be a politically correct option in development for the environment, but thanks to new technology, a lean four-cylinder engine is when needed. The Audi S7 is a good example of car companies trying to combine sportiness with environmental awareness and it's a development that puts it high on the list of cars to want.