Coincidence, said Albert Einstein, is God's means of remaining anonymous. In which case, we have saw you, huge guy upstairs.

Naturally, the Audi A7 RS7 wasn't sudden. It is, essentially, the RS6 Avant re-packaged in a slipperier, squashier bundle - equipped, naturally, with similar 4WD and dizzying collection of gadgetry and differentials.

There are not many 550bhp automobiles you'll be able to handle as a Corsican hire vehicle, however the RS7 feels almost fool proof. Jam the brakes midcorner, barrel into a hairpin 50 miles per hour faster than you supposed to, whatever: the Audi smothers all of your stupidity beneath an enormous blanket of digital cleverness and constant grip. It's a freakishly powerful device to get down almost any route at close-impossible rate, immediately transforming you into a much better driver than you actually are.

There's a tradeoff. The steering system's blurred, and striving to assess what is happening with the tyres is similar to playing the piano in oven gloves. Ride quality to the steelspring suspension provided within the Dynamic Ride Control bundle is upsetting on a deeply psychological level: better to stay with all the conventional air suspension and keep your money for the optional carbonceramic brakes, that perform a reassuringly pitiless occupation of hauling the Audi RS7's close-twotonne bulk to a stay.

Nevertheless, you spec it, the A7 RS7 stays less open and interactive than that pesky rearwheel-drive BMW M6 GC (which, true, begins some GBP14,000 over the Audi) or even the thunderous, likewise slidey MercedesBenz CLS63 AMG. But if you really are joyful to trade in engagement and crisis for a dose of flattery along with devastating, accessible rate, the Audi is king.

Nevertheless, if we were in the weirdly unique industry for a hyper - Audi, we would not choose the Audi RS7. Him up there - useful family-man he is - would absolutely agree...

The verdict

The Audi A7 RS7 is improbably quick, improbably grippy, but somewhat distant to generate instead of so Q - because the RS6 car awesome. Great, but not amazing.

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