Audi RS7 Sportback review

The Audi RS7 undercuts the Mercedes-AMG GT 4dr as a cash buy, as well as the more powerful versions of the Porsche Panamera and Taycan. There are cheaper versions of the latter two available, though. It won’t hold on to such a big percentage of its list price as the Taycan after three years, though. 

As with all fast petrol cars, the RS7’s fuel consumption isn’t for the faint hearted and nor will your benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax payments be if you’re a company car driver. Again, those areas are where an electric car, like the Taycan, will save you huge amounts.

One thing you can’t complain about is how much equipment the RS7 comes with. On top of things such as the Matrix LED headlights and infotainment features we’ve already covered, the entry-level RS7 has 21in alloy wheels, metallic paint, privacy glass, heated and ventilated front seats, four-zone climate control, cruise control and power-folding door mirrors. We reckon that model is the pick of the range, because the Carbon Black trim adds mainly styling changes and bigger wheels, while Vorsprung trim adds just about every feature Audi can muster, but ends up very expensive.

Safety kit includes automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, traffic sign recognition, and, on Vorsprung trim, extras such as blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, the latter drawing your attention to hidden traffic in your path when you’re reversing out of a parking space, for example. The Audi A7, on which the RS7 is based, has been crash tested by EuroNCAP, and it came out generally very well. There were some issues highlighted, such as a modicum of risk of adult chest injuries in a side impact, and the potential of whiplash injuries for kids in the rear.

Audi finished 20th out of 31 manufacturers in the 2019 What Car? Reliability Survey. That’s not a great result, but puts it above BMW, Mercedes and Porsche in the rankings. The three-year or 60,000-mile warranty isn’t spectacularly generous, either.

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