Treacherous Test Conditions Bring out the Best in Audi’s Slick and Sophisticated new A7 55 TFSI quattro
A7 55 TFSI is a Systems Tour de Force
My long-way-round detour worked a treat and I was soon in the regular N2 morning glut. It did stop and started a bit and gave me the chance to explore the A7 a bit further.
A systems tour de force, the big, sleek Audi has two large, haptic-touch acoustic-feedback high-resolution displays. The top 10.1-inch MMI Navigation screen runs the infotainment system. The bottom 8.6″ lower one runs the car’s climate and comfort functions. MMI touch response infotainment replaces the old button and knob system of control too — just like a smartphone.
It’s a revolution, to be honest. Unlike other oversensitive car touchscreens, you must properly prod the screen to elicit a response, then it responds to your touches with a click. So it’s far more effective to control and unlikely to select the wrong functions on a rougher road. Our car’s optional voice control also brings natural speech dialogue processing. (It should be standard though.)
Which is one of the areas MMI still falls short of systems like that in rival BMWs and the grotesque market-leading My-Mercedes system. The Merc kit stands out by its left and right multifunction steering wheel stalk touchpads. None of the otherwise state-of-the-art Audi systems would be huge upgrades to match its rivals. Never mind, Audi is probably paying full attention to them in those Igolstadt labs right now …
There’s also more to A7’s convenient and comfortable central armrest than meets the eye. Pop it open to reveal your personal interface center. There’s an inductive charging phone box in there with smartphone interface for easy Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Plus a couple of USB, HD card and other ports. Oddly no new C port though, which is becoming a must. That’s all that Apple uses these days. Come on, Audi!
Good Old-Fashioned style Instruments
Talking displays, the A7 has 12.3-inch Audi virtual cockpit dials. Ours had the optional head-up display too. I like the new instruments. My preferred mode’s dials were analog enough in appearance. And the clear little warning lamps light up in good old-fashioned rainbow colors too. Much better than those idiotic Star Wars themes we’ve had to put up with of late.
A selection of safety assistance systems make things even easier for the driver. Best of the lot is adaptive cruise control, a must for driving in the traffic. Its expanded start-stop function now activates at 15 mph and works with the A7’s front camera. It predictively restarts the engine as soon as the vehicle ahead moves on.
Other improved and adaptable assistance functions include swerve, night vision and turn assistants; a speed limiter and lane departure warning. The park assist has a handy 360˚camera, while energy assist is a really cool feature. It taps the sole of your shoe and shines a green ‘lift your foot’ icon on the HUD to prompt you to go soft on that throttle.
I still collected my two guests I went to fetch on time. They were impressed. Cabin length grows, so it’s more spacious and the A7 gains a welcome bit more rear passenger head and knee room too. The trunk gobbled up their baggage. The wider bay adds even more capacity at 18.9 cubic feet (535 liters). It now accommodates two golf bags.
The trunk increases to 49 cubic feet (1390 liters) with the rear seats folded down. Our tester had the handy optional foot motion deployed rear hatch opener and closer.
We were too busy catching on the free-flowing N1 back to add too much more to my observations. Besides to summarise my thoughts on this special car thus: It’s by no means the quickest or the fastest. But the Audi A7 55 TFSI quattro has all the performance and style you will ever need.
And it leaves enough room above it in the range to allow for a compelling step up to the S7, and soon another to the hedonistic next RS7 too. The old RS7 was way ahead of the game five years ago. But that was five years ago. I promise I won’t miss that one!
I can happily report that even though I never saw it coming, the new 2020 Audi A7 is pretty faultless in its own right. $79,700 including Audi’s 4-year/50,000-mile US Warranty is not cheap. But then A7 55 TFSI quattro Prestige is a hell of a lot of latest tech car and style for the buck.
Images: Michele Lupini
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