2013 Audi S7

From the December 2014 issue of Car and Driver

A couple of weeks driving any car as gifted as Audi”s S7 is never enough. So, after our initial fling earned this five-door hot rod its 2013 10Best award, we signed up for a more meaningful relationship: a 40,000-mile test, ultimately lasting 13 months and traversing more than a dozen states. The joys and woes from our long-term logbook follow.

The S7 arrived two years ago as the higher-cali­ber version of Audi”s A7 mid-size coupe/sedan/hatchback (take your pick). This is where the apogees of style, comfort, versatility, and driving verve converge. A sturdy aluminum-and-steel unibody armed with a ballsy twin-turbo V-8, a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, and Audi”s Quattro four-wheel-drive system give the S7 stellar perform­ance. The air-spring multilink (front and rear) suspensions with variable dampers are tuned for sporting comportment. Audi”s “drive select“ controller provides four different settings for steering effort, throttle response, transmission shift speed, and shock firmness. Unlike other brands tempting customers with “four-door-coupe“ styling, Audi”s A7/S7/RS7 interpretation combines a French-curve roofline with easy entry and minimal loss of rear head-, leg-, and shoulder room. Adding the hatch, which many Americans foolishly shun, yields an impressive 25 cubic feet of luggage space, 11 more than the Audi A6 sedan”s trunk provides.

The fact that S7s are luxuriously furnished with four leather-trimmed seats, a sunroof, navigation, four-zone climate control, and power assists galore didn”t stop us from ticking a few option boxes. Adding $9825 to the $79,695 base price: $5900 for a Bang & Olufsen sound system, $1400 for LED headlights and running lights, $1075 for Estoril Blue paint, $500 for carbon interior-trim inlays, $500 for side assist (radar beams that ease lane-change anxi­ety), and $450 for rear-seat and steering-wheel warmers. Heated front buckets are standard.

Like a Dodge Omni, the S7 is a hatchback. Like Northern toilet paper, its interior is quilted. Like other Audis, it's beautifully finished.

Our first test of the buttwarming Audi brought home heartwarming performance results: zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds, a governor-limited 152-mph top speed, and 0.88-g cornering grip. That said, the 171-foot 70-to-zero stopping distance was disappointing. Things improved markedly as the car broke in. After 40,000 miles on Pirelli P Zero tires at the end of their service life, this S7 topped the last Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG we tested with a run to 60 in only 3.8 seconds, a 12.3-second quarter-mile, and a more acceptable 159-foot stop from 70 mph.

S7 exterior aesthetics are about perfect in our eyes thanks to the frameless door glass, four exhaust outlets, matte-finished trim in the grille and wheels, and red accents (ID badges on the brake calipers, grille, and decklid). Some of us did long for the optional 20-inch wheels and tires, which would have tacked another $1000 onto the window sticker. They would also surely have been casualties of Michigan”s weather-ravaged roads.

Through the summer months, our long-term Audi was the weapon of choice for one- to four-person road trips. The 420-hp thrust, svelte profile, comfortable seats, and tasteful interior trim drew lavish logbook praise. The potent driveline accelerated this luxury capsule to illegal cruising speeds with a biz jet”s effortlessness. Highway ride motion is serene and directional stability is keen. The vastness of the cargo hold drew kudos, and several of us enjoyed the 400-plus-mile range provided by the 19.8-gallon fuel tank and greater-than-20-mpg highway mileage. Former editor-in-chief Csaba Csere and current copy editor Jennifer Harrington each logged more than 25 mpg on long trips. Overall, we beat the EPA”s 20-mpg combined rating by 1 mpg, proof that there is hope for sports sedans with up-to-date engine technology.

As predicted, Michigan”s dastardly 2013–2014 winter was spiteful to our S7. Potholes broke a suspension-height sensor and flattened two front tires. Following service stops to fit winter rubber, reset the wheel alignment, and replace the trashed tires, we kept rolling to enjoy this four-wheel-drive, all-weather interceptor.

A few staffers pined for the optional 20-inch wheels. The rest of us knew that the 19-inchers were plenty big for the real world.

The jet-aircraft analogy mentioned earlier also applies to the wealth of electronic gear built into the S7”s cockpit. Teaming with Google Earth and SiriusXM, Audi ­provides the most-advanced connectivity we”ve seen in any car. After the seven-inch screen rises out of the dash, the nav system provides 3-D satellite and aerial views with shockingly accurate real-time traffic reports. Also, 3G internet service can feed Wi-Fi to as many as eight smartphones or laptops. Fairly easy-to-master voice command of the communication and navigation functions is available to summon local weather, traffic, and accommodations info. Up to 50 destinations can be downloaded from Google Maps. If a shower and closet were included, S7 owners would have no need to return home.

There”s more. A touchpad lets you scrawl destinations, phone numbers, and radio stations into the infotainment system with an index finger. And a nifty driver-info center between the tach and speedometer delivers trip, temperature, and telephone data without the loss of crucial miles-to-empty and ETA information.

Unfortunately it was not all bliss. Our S7 log also bristled with way too many gripes for any $90,000 car: excessive wind noise, pavement-slapping sounds over expansion joints, no cool breezes through the seat upholstery, and door handles that can pinch unwary fingers. Several drivers felt the electrically assisted power steering was too heavy, especially on crowned roads where constant guidance is necessary.

Two items topped everybody”s annoyance list: a binding sensation during full-steering-lock parking maneuvers, and a ­distinct lack of coordination between throttle commands and engine and transmission actions. In response to these complaints, our local service provider deemed such character flaws normal and unfixable. The binding was a minor irritation, but the lazy throttle, lurching during around-town up- and downshifts, and the occasionally rowdy rollout from rest are unacceptable. Blame most of those foibles on the dual-clutch automatic, a technology that some manufacturers hesitate to employ because of how difficult it is to perfect its all-around behavior.

At least we suffered no reliability issues. There were four scheduled service stops‘the first was free‘costing $2637. (The smart alternative is an $880 Audi Care package that covers all service through 45,000 miles.) Two extra stops were prompted by a fuel-line recall and faulty windshield-washer-fluid-level sensor. Given this car”s complexity and performance, the service fees and stops were reasonable.

At the end of the day, we still love the Audi S7, warts and all. It”s like the child who”s a soccer star, a piano prodigy, and an A student in every class‘except social studies. If he were perfect, wouldn”t he be more annoying?

RANTS AND RAVES

Jared Gall: Two paragliders, including motors, fit nicely with the back seats folded. Normally a pickup is required for such a task.

Mike Sutton: The S7 is classy, comfy, and quick. And one of my all-time favorites.

Angela Kujava: While I love you dearly, K.C., would you object to a polygamous relationship with this car?

Jeff Sabatini: The throttle is soft and laggy, and shifting to sport mode doesn”t remedy that.

Eric Tingwall: The engine”s restrained demeanor disappears when you stomp the throttle and this turbo V-8 wakes from its slumber.

Csaba Csere: While I”m not a fan of four-wheel drive for sporting cars, the Quattro system came in handy while passing on two-lane roads in the rain. It was comforting to know that a puddle wouldn”t produce a momentary fishtail or a skid.

Jennifer Harrington: This thing just floats over road imperfections, but it isn”t boaty. And I”ll take the 27 mpg I got on a 400-mile trip with this V-8 beast.

Austin Lindberg: Too much wind noise and tire slap for my $90,000. Also, both the MMI connection and Bluetooth refused to play my iTunes files.

Tony Swan: Throttle tip-in at low speeds or a standing start can be quite abrupt. It”s touchy and requires care to avoid unseemly bounces in everyday traffic.

Eight into Four

Audi engineered the S7”s EA824 V-8 with half-liter cylinder sizing, a bore smaller than its stroke, and two turbos fed by inboard exhaust ports (commonly known as a “hot-V“ design). This V-8 also has direct fuel injection, aluminum block-and-head construction, four valves per cylinder opened by dual overhead camshafts, and variable intake- and exhaust-valve timing.

Cylinder-on-demand technology improves cruising fuel economy. The center two cylinders in one bank and the end cylinders in the other bank work harder while the four others rest, improving instantaneous mileage by up to 10 percent.

Two noise and vibration countermeasures support V-4 operation. Electromagnetic coils in two engine mounts produce opposite-phase forces to counteract shaking. Four microphones hidden in the headliner listen for unseemly noise, which the S7”s stereo system cancels with out-of-phase waves.

The V-4 mode is so smooth that none of our reviewers made note of it in the logbook. The engine must be warmed up and running between 960 and 3500 rpm in an upper gear for cylinder shutdown to occur. The hardworking holes get a break after seven minutes of V-4 operation to prevent overly high temperatures.

Versions of this 4.0-liter V-8 also provide sublime propulsion in Audi S6s, RS7s, A8s, and S8s, plus the Bentley Continental GT V-8 and Flying Spur. For 2015, the little guys (S6, S7, and A8) get 420 or 435 horsepower and 406 or 444 pound-feet of torque, while the high rollers (RS7, S8, and the Bentley boys) enjoy additional torque and 500 or more horsepower.

12.12.2014
ID:1365

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