Richard Solomon

Here's my honest and most practical advice: put your wife in the front passenger seat, two children in the outboard rear seats and keep the A7. (well, and go see the doc about getting the 'sport model' once #2 is born!) We could debate the philosophical reason for parents in front seats and kids in the back, but you've got a practical reason now too. Plus it "solves" your seating problem without buying another car.

FWIW, I felt the 550i xDrive had less rear seat room - it definitely had less legroom than my C5. My practical side can't stand the smaller trunk without even a well to hold a spare tire, and the idiotic turn signal drove me batty over an extended test drive. It's a very nice car, and if the local BMW dealer didn't have a showroom and service department stuck firmly in the 80's (early 80's I'd say) I might be willing to overlook some of the quirks, but for me it's a non-starter. If BMW hadn't nixed the manual transmissions from the 535i xDrive I might own one of those, but...

If you must look at another car, try on a Mercedes E550 - I was shocked at how well that drove. The interior isn't quite up to Audi standards, but it's probably more practical than the S6.

I'm definitely in lust with the S6 though, so I can't completely chide you for wanting to go that way, but seriously - keep the A7 and be happy. I don't believe the tiny possible improvement to go to A6/S6 seating is worth the cost delta - especially since you've got a fairly new A7 in the garage already.

ayap

I hear ya. The S6 seats 3 people at the back (by default) and the rear space is more roomy for 3 passengers, while the A7 only seats 2 people at the back because of that middle console (by default). I guess you didn't have that 3 passenger seat option when you got the A7.

Anyway, having test drove the S6, the S6 will propel you 0-60 MPH in 4.0 seconds. That was the time I achieved with 3 people (me, wife, and Audi manager at the backseat). The A7 is fast at 5.3 - 5.4 seconds, but the S6 is a beast and the driving dynamics will be more sporty. I also test drove the A7, and even my wife prefers the S6 - if ever I upgraded my S5. But I'm not in a rush to upgrade to an S6 since I still enjoy the V8 rumble and nimbleness of my S5 to weave thru traffic, and my S5 is also a tad faster than the A7. But you will feel a big difference between the A7 and S6.

amelen

Thanks - Yup, 2012 didn't have the 3 seat option - although it's now standard. The 2015 model (coming this summer) will be slightly faster than the current one, but definitely not as fast as the S6. Any other major benefits of the S6 vs A7 (other than the engine & sportiness)? The A8 4.0T seems to have the same engine as the S6 at a similar price point - has anyone cross shopped the A8?

Richard Solomon

If by "similar" you mean "$10K+ more", sure, I'll say "half-heartedly" in my case (from earlier in this thread):
Equipped about the same - and that's omitting the $3500 sports package from the A8, which seems like it might be "needed" to align with the S6 a quick Build-you-own on AoA put "my" A8 at ~$12K more than "my" S6, and with the aforementioned lack of more trunk space or more elbow room I quickly dropped the idea.

YMMV and all that.

amelen

The A8 takes a much bigger depreciation hit in the first year. Comparing them 1 year used the price difference is typically less than $5k. Having said that, I never test drove an A8 and am not sure if it would be as fun to drive.