Moneyed brilliance

Money can’t buy you happiness, we all know that. But, it can surely buy you style, great ambience and a lot of attention. And the new Audi A7 is a fantastic example of it. It’s a four-door coupe like the Mercedes-Benz CLS and to an extent the BMW 5-series. And though we are certain the A7 has better, and more palatable presence than the BMW, the Mercedes might run it close. But how is it to drive? We found out...

Highlights –

- The A7 looks more appealing in the flesh than in the pictures. It’s also surprisingly spacious.

- The Audi A7 comes with two engine options and though the 3-litre diesel here might not seem great on paper, it’s more than what you’d need on the road.

- But the best bit about the A7 is how well it marries ease of driving with fun, enthusiastic driving. Of course, a great chassis, driver select module and Quattro help this cause significantly.

The A7 is an outstanding design. It’s not just attention seeking but the design reeks of class and craftsmanship. No matter where you look at it from, the Audi A7 looks elegant; it’s something you’d love to look at every day and feel happy you bought it.

I know, these are things one generally associates with exotic cars, but that’s what makes the A7 even more special. It’s not exotic, so it’s not difficult, tedious or terrible. In fact, it’s just like a normal luxury car. So, it’s easy to get in and out of; it can seat four in comfort; and it has most luxury features one associates with a Rs 95 lakh car, if not all. We are of course considering the most expensive configuration you can have on the A7 in India with everything on the options list ticked off. There’s soft closing doors, night vision, heads up display, four-zone climate control, Bang and Olufsen sound system, keyless start and even a 20-way adjustable rear seat with ventilation and massage, to name a few!

These things are of course for the very moneyed lot. But, you can also buy a basic A7 for just Rs 64 lakh. And it might not be a bad idea to do so. Sure, it won’t have all the gadgets, but it would still be immaculately built. It would still exude richness. And it would still be as inviting and comfortable as the fully loaded version; which is to say, it will always feel like your study – personal, warm and away from all the worldly madness.

Audi has launched the A7 with two engines, both are 3-litre V6 engines, but one’s a diesel with 245bhp and 500Nm of torque and the other is a supercharged petrol. The petrol makes 296bhp and can complete the 0-100kmph run in about 5.6 seconds. Top speed as is with most German cars with performance packed engines, is limited to 250kmph.

But, it’s the diesel that we drove, and it’s all you need to be honest. It gets the A7 to 100kmph in about 6.8 seconds, it’s also refined and easy revving and inside the cabin, pretty quiet too. And being a diesel, it won’t dent your pocket either. The A7 on our fuel runs returned just short of 9kmpl in the city and about 14.5kmpl on the highway.

The engine is coupled to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox. So, instead of a conventional torque convertor, the ‘box uses two clutches to speed up the gear shifts. And gear shifts on the A7 in manual mode, it must be said, are very quick, both while shifting up or down.

Yes, the A7 is unbelievably well insulated on the inside. We have the diesel version of the car here, but unless you sit at 4000rpm all day, there’s hardly any noise that filters through. It’s calm and serene. The same is reflected in the way the car rides. One doesn’t exactly waft in the A7, so one can feel the suspension working thanks to a hint of jiggle, some muted noise and tiny bit of vibrations, but the ride is always pliant. It never gets to you or makes you uncomfortable even when driven in the firmer Dynamic mode. All the suspension does underneath is remind you that you have a component that’s working, and working well.

But the best bit for me, has to be the way the A7 handles. It’s still inclined more towards comfort than sportiness, but even so, with the Quattro system in place, the levels of grip are simply outstanding. So much so that one can get on the power sooner and harder around a corner, and instead of getting all nervous, the A7 seems to revel in it. It also responds to steering inputs with litheness and accuracy.

It’s very difficult to fault the A7. Unlike some of its competition, it doesn’t look quirky and it doesn’t try too hard to be something it isn’t. It’s a luxury car that rides well, has comfortable seats, is easy to drive and live with and is built with precision. That it handles exceedingly well or has a bomb for a diesel engine only makes it that much more eligible. It’s not perfect, of course – the steering, even in the sporty Dynamic mode lacks required feel and it has a shallow boot, which isn’t the most practical. But to me these shortcomings can easily be overlooked because for what the car is and what it offers, it’s brilliant.