Audi A7 Sportback Review

Audi A7 Sportback

The Audi A7 Sportback combines sporty looks with practicality to offer a superbly enjoyable driving experience. It's 48V mild hybrid system will also improve fuel consumption.

Overall Verdict

The A7 Sportback is a stunning car. It offers an executive 'coupe' look without sacrificing practicality. This is the kind of car you can feel good about driving to a business meeting but also feel confident in its ability to conquer the much-loathed school run. In terms of interior quality and styling, it easily competes with the likes of the Mercedes CLS.

Technology in the A7 is excellent, even on the basic Sport trim. It has everything you could possibly want from a car, and also includes things you didn't know you wanted. The MMI touchscreen infotainment system is excellent, and once you start using the Audi Virtual Cockpit, you'll never go back. 

The A7 drives well - it’s incredibly comfortable and manoeuvres like a much smaller car. Audi's four-wheel-drive quattro system and an excellent range of engines ensure that you're going to get some nice power out of whatever A7 trim you opt for, particularly with the turbo engines. Every Audi A7 comes with an excellent automatic gearbox, and you've got the choice between a seven-speed or an eight-speed. 

All A7 Sportbacks also feature mild hybrid technology, which helps improve the fuel economy.  In terms of handling, the A7 isn't the best. In the A7's defence though, it isn't designed to be a sporty car.

The unique sportback bodystyle has plenty of practicality, with 535 litres of boot space and spacious rear seats offering plenty of headroom. 

Running costs are predictably expensive, due to the cars high value and large engines - again though, that's a given if you're looking at a top-range Audi. Overall, the A7 makes for an excellent car - it knows what it is, a luxury executive car, and doesn't try (or need) to be anything else. 

Available Trims

Sport

The A7 Sport packs plenty of tech, especially for being the cheapest trim. The Sport includes a dual-screen infotainment system, three-zone climate control, LED headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, and much more.

S Line

The A7 S Line comes with a souped-up interior, as well as some extra features. Inside, there's a new leather steering wheel and metal trims on the pedals. The S Line comes with 20-inch alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights, as well as a lower suspension, to make for a more sporty driving experience.

Black Edition

The Black Edition offers pretty much the same tech as the S Line, but with a different look. It still has 20-inch alloy wheels, but with a different '5-double-arm' design. There are also black trims on the car windows and grille.

Vorsprung

The Vorsprung costs quite a bit more than the lower trims, but it's for a good reason. This trim comes with 21-inch alloy wheels, a heads-up display, 360-degree camera (to prevent blind spots), wireless phone charging, an improved Bang and Olufsen premium sound system and much more.

For more information on pricing head over to our Audi A7 Sportback lease deals page to see how much you can save on your next lease.

Exterior

The exterior of the A7 Sportback will appeal to most drivers. It has the sleek angles of a coupe, but the practicality of a hatchback. It's the perfect compromise between sporty fun and a good family car. The design of the sloping "Sportback" roofline is well-executed and it gives the car a distinctive and robust look. 

Driving Experience

The entry-level model is the 40 TDI, which has a 2.0-litre diesel engine and is equipped with 198bhp. The 40 TDI is the only A7 engine that doesn't come with quattro (Audi's all-wheel-drive system) as standard, but it's an optional extra. Performance is decent on this engine, with a 0-62mph of 8.3 seconds (or 7.0 seconds with quattro) and a respectable MPG of 57.6.

A popular mid-range model, the 45 TFSI offers a nice compromise between performance and price. This 242bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine is excellent, and it can reach 0-62mph in just 6.2 seconds. As expected with a petrol engine, the fuel economy suffers a bit compared to diesel counterparts. Still, with around 40 mpg, it's not too bad at all. 

If it's pure performance you're after, consider the 55 TFSI. This option comes with a 335bhp 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, and it packs a serious punch, going from 0-62mph in 5.3 seconds. With a fuel economy of 39.8 mpg, this isn't the cheapest car to run, but having such a powerful engine requires sacrifices! 

Driving Position

The driving position on the Audi A7 Sportback is exceptionally comfortable. At a glance, the A7 is low to the ground, but it's not hard to drive. There are very few blind spots in the front and side of the car. Rear visibility isn't the best, due to the sloping roofline. To be fair, with a reversing camera as standard, this likely won't bother you much at all.

Handling

The Audi A7 is a big car, so it's surprising that it handles so well. The steering is light, and Audi has a "four-wheel steering system." This means that the rear wheels go the opposite way of the front wheels, making it easier to nip around tight city corners. The A7 is definitely better suited to the motorway than fast country roads, but that can't be used too much as a criticism. The A7 is marketed towards those who want a smooth and comfortable drive. For what it is though, the A7 handles well. 

Suspension

The basic Sport trim has passive springs and dampers, which do the job, but the S line and up have a stiffer, lower suspension that prevents body rolls when driving around a corner. To do this though, you sacrifice a bit of comfort, due to the ride not being as firm. The optional 'adaptive dampers' lets you actually choose how stiff the ride quality it is - if you can afford it, we'd highly recommend it.

Audi A7 Sportback Interior

You’ll feel like a celebrity in the Audi A7 (although, you’ll need to drive yourself around). No expense has been spared on the interior - it looks good and feels even better.

Styling

Let's face it, part of the reason you're interested in the Audi A7 is the incredible interior design. The car looks like a limo inside, with lovely premium soft plastics, chrome accents, and just an overall solid feel. The leather surfaces add a nice bit of sophistication, and every switch on the car feels weighty and well-made.

Tech

As in the Audi A8, the A7 uses the Audi MMI system, which comes with two main infotainment screens. The top 10.1-inch screen is where you'll find sat-nav and smartphone mirroring options, while the 8.6-inch screen on the bottom is for your climate control, heated seats, and other admin tasks. 

As if 2 screens wasn’t good enough, the Audi A7 technically has 3. The 12-inch Virtual Cockpit comes as standard on every trim, and it's incredible. This replaces traditional dials with digital information, and you can easily customise what you want to see at any given moment (using buttons on the steering wheel). 

Practicality

The Audi A7 is a practical car, mostly thanks to the clever Sportback design. The boot is decent, and there’s plenty of space for passengers. There’s nothing class-leading about the practicality here, though.

Dimensions

4,969 mm L x 1,908 mm W x 1,422 mm H

The A7 is almost 5 metres long, so it's a good thing there's plenty of parking-assistance tech. While driving the A7, it actually doesn't feel like a big, clumsy car. It's weighty, but it nips around town with ease when it has to. Ultimately though, this car is much more suited to a long motorway drive, which is where people spend the majority of their time driving anyway.

Boot Size

The A7 has a boot space of 535 litres (seats up) which isn't bad at all. You could easily fit around 4-5 large suitcases in the back. Thanks to the Sportback design, the rear seats have a 40/20/40 split, so you've got a bit of extra space if you need it (when you refuse to pay an overly-expensive delivery charge from your furniture store of choice.)

There's plenty of spacious door bins, cup holders, and the glove box is pretty big. Unfortunately, the lower touchscreen means that there's no spot to stick your keys and phone - so you'll need to put these in your cup holder or locked underneath the centre console armrest. 

Audi A7 Sportback

Passenger Room

There's plenty of space inside the A7 Sportback. In the front, two tall adults will find it really comfortable, with highly adjustable seats and plenty of headroom. In the back, the two main seats will again be fine for tall passengers. Whoever is stuck in the middle, though, won't find it as pleasant as the sloping roofline limits headroom here - but it's tolerable. 

Passengers in the front and back won't be wanting for legroom. As this car is nearly 5 metres long, there's plenty of space to stretch out and get comfy. 

Audi A7 Sportback Rear Seats

Safety Features

The Audi A7 has received a maximum 5 star Euro NCAP rating. It's also got plenty of preventative safety kit, like radar sensors, cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and more - all intended to prevent a crash actually happening in the first place. For instance, this tech can be used to put you back on course if you start to wander out of your lane.  If you fail to brake in an impending collision, the A7 will take over and do the braking for you. Last resort though - obviously! 

Running Costs

The running costs of the Audi A7 Sportback are expensive, but that’s not a surprise. In its defense, it has decent fuel economy for a car of its size. In terms of insurance, you better hope you’ve got a good few years of no-claim bonuses! 

MPG

Audi's A7 Sportback is big, so you can't expect a miracle on the fuel economy front. However, all A7 engines use Audi's mild-hybrid technology, so it's actually better than you might think.

For the most efficient option, you want the four-cylinder 2.0-litre diesel engine (40 TDI). This can return around 60.1 mpg (with 19-inch wheels), which is an incredible fuel economy for such a large car.                               

On the thirstier side, the 3.0-litre V6 55 TFSI petrol engine only returns 38.7 mpg. In reality, though, that's not too bad considering the car’s excellent performance and hugely powerful engine. 

The Audi A7 is only available with an automatic transmission. Still, you can choose between a seven-speed and an eight-speed gearbox. The latter is definitely better if you have fuel economy in mind, albeit, it's more expensive upfront. 

CO2 Emissions

CO2 emissions aren't too bad for the A7. The 40 TDI we mentioned emits 123g/km of CO2 with 19-inch alloy wheels - which places it in the 32% benefit-in-kind band. 

Mid-range options like the 45 TDI will generate around 150g/km of CO2. This isn't a good shout for those looking for a company car, as the diesel surcharge on top of the emissions will make for expensive BiK rates. 

Insurance Group

"Cheap" and Audi don't really go, so it's not surprising that this is an expensive car to insure. The A7 Sportback is big and powerful, so even the entry-level Sport 40 TDI is in group 40. For the 45 TDI, you can expect group 43, and the more powerful models can go all the way up to 44. 

Reliability

The A7 Sportback is a reasonably new model, so it's challenging to get a good idea of how reliable it is. It should be noted though that Audi has emphasised (more than usual) how rigorously this luxury car has been tested for potential faults. In general, however, Audi reliability isn't the best in class.

Warranty

With the Audi A7 Sportback, you get a 3yr/60,000 mile Audi warranty. With brands like Kia offering huge 7-year warranties, this is admittedly nothing special. It's much in line with BMW, who provide 3 years but with no mileage limits. It's better than close rivals Mercedes, who only provide a 2 year/50,000 mile warranty.

Servicing

Audi recommends you service your A7 roughly once every year or two, but it depends on how many miles you're driving.

When you buy a new car from Audi, you can opt into the 'Audi Complete Plan'. This lets you pay monthly instalments for scheduled maintenance.