Audi A8 L vs Audi RS7 Sportback [2015-2020]

It’s over 5 meters long, seats four in opulence and has quilted leather all over the cabin. Judging by its appearance and equipment list, I didn’t expect the Audi RS7 Performance – a 2 tonne sedan, to be up for a track day. In a way I was right – this isn’t a sports car by any measure. It was never meant to be. However, if you take it easy into the corners, the RS7 can decimate your internals with organ-shifting acceleration and a brutal soundtrack.

Who said a 2.0-tonne coupe can’t gulp supercars for breakfast? Of course it can and it is called the Audi RS7. With four doors, four seats and a large hatch opening for the boot, it’s as usable as any sports Coupe can be. Put your foot down though and it’s the kind of a car that you can go Ferrari hunting in, of course while facing an appalled mother-in- law, shrieking better-half and scattered luggage in tow. The Audi RS7 is a classic example of what’s possible when you stuff insane amounts of horsepower into an otherwise understated executive express. With a 552bhp twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V-8, the all-wheel-drive RS7 is devastatingly quick. But obviously this must be too slow for Audi, because it is about to launch the Performance version with 596 angry ponies under the hood. God save the egos of the Lamborghinis and the Ferraris.