Everything We LOVE and 'HATE' About the 2024 Audi S7

Intro

Audi may be pivoting toward an all-electric future along with a new model naming structure (odds for gas-power; evens for electric). But here in 2024, the company's expansive gas-powered sedan lineup still resembles the previous decade Audi offers a sedan size and shape for everyone. From the compact A3/S3/RS3 to the flagship, full-sized A8/S8.

Today we're looking at the company's second most powerful version of its second-largest sedan. The 2024 Audi S7 Prestige, which was last refreshed for the 2020 model year, remains largely unchanged for this year. At 444 horsepower, the S7 is sportier than the 335 horsepower A7, but not as track-focused as the 621 horsepower RS 7 Performance. Compared to other S-model Audi Sedans, the S7 sits below the longer, more luxurious, flagship S8, and is very similar in terms of size and options to the S6. (Interior amenities are virtually identical.) However, the S7 is actually one inch longer than the S6 and boasts a hatchback instead of a traditional sedan rear window/trunk. A change, by the way, that adds a whopping $10,000 to the base price.

Speaking of which, let's discuss how our press loaner was optioned...

Price As Tested

Audi supplied a 2024 Audi S7 Prestige for review. The Prestige trim (package) includes more features than a Premium or Premium Plus variant. At $84,500 (plus $1,095 for destination & delivery), the base price includes a --

• 2.9L twin-turbo V6
• 8-speed automatic
• 21-inch wheels with summer tires
• Sport adaptive air ride suspension
• Audi virtual cockpit (digital gauge cluster)
• Dual-screen infotainment with haptic feedback, wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto
• 4-Zone climate control
• Matrix LED headlights
• Power sunroof & tailgate
• 10 airbags and several Audi safety systems
• 4-year/50,000-mile warranty
• Several other standard features

To this base pricing, Audi added the following options --

• Chronos Gray Metallic paint ($595)
• Prestige Package ($7,400)
• Bang & Olufsen 3D Sound System ($4,900)
• Luxury Package ($1,850)
• Black optic package ($750)
• Audi Guard Protection Kit ($350)

The total MSRP is $101,425.

For a little extra context, the Presitage Package includes or requires --

• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Daul plane acoustic glass
• B&O 3D sound system
• Laser versions of the Matrix LED lights
• LED interior plus package
• Heated rear seats
• Wireless phone charging
• Topview (360-degree style) camera
• Headup display
• Extra leather surfaces
• Soft-closing doors

The Luxury Package adds --

• Upgraded leather seating and individual front contour seats with heating, ventilation, and massaging. 

Is the Audi S7 the right sedan for you? What's it like to drive and own? Here's everything we loved and "hated" about our time with the 2024 S7.

LOVE: Hot Hatch Greatness

If it were up to me, the whole world would be driving station wagons like Audi's All Roads and Avants instead of SUVs because long roofs offer a wonderful blend of practicality and driving dynamics. The Audi A7 class -- along with the S7 and RS 7 -- is the next best thing.

From the side, it's a stunning, flowing sedan (more on this in the next slide). But it's also a hatchback, giving owners more flexibility for loading and hauling gear. Seriously, look at the trunk opening for most sedans and there's almost no way to get bulky items through the trunk opening into a space where they'd otherwise fit. But here in Audi Hatchback Land, there's an ocean of open space. And it's just the coolest thing, the way way the engineers and the designers managed to combine form and function. 

LOVE: Crisp Styling

Following up on the previous slide, the S7 blends the added masculinity of an Audi Sport model (the Black Optic Package always helps with this), improved capabilities with features like upgraded brakes and sportier wheel options, and one of the most stunning silhouettes and rear quarter views of any sedan on sale today.

Yes, that's purely a subjective opinion on my part. And German automakers like Mercedes have been making coupe-like sedans for almost twenty years. So it's not like the current A7 family is anything new or groundbreaking. Still, it's a handsome and stylish design exercise that's also practical. 

LOVE/HATE: Livable Luxury With Limited Rear Headroom

On the inside, Audi A/S/RS7 and A/S/RS6 models deliver almost as much luxury as flagship A/S8 sedans. This is especially true with options like Fine Napa Leather, the Prestige Package, the 3D sound system, and the Luxury Package.

The individual contour front seats are particularly spectacular because you can shape them to act like wide, luxurious leather couches OR more like hip-hugging Audi RS racing seats depending on your needs and preferences. The Bang & Olufsen sound system is also terrific. It leans a little too heavily on processing at times, which can add unwanted resonances. But it produces excellent low, middle, and high frequencies while delivering a wide soundstage. (It also has pop-up front tweeters that are a fun party trick.)

Audi's triple screens (a digital gauge cluster, an infotainment screen, and digital HVAC controls) are also well laid out with smooth interfaces. And the haptic feedback on the two touchscreens that are almost as good as having real buttons. 

The only real downside to the A/S/RS7's interior is that the sloping rear roofline limits headspace for passengers that are in the 6-foot-plus height range.

LOVE/HATE: Air Ride or Boat Ride?

I adore the way Audi tunes suspensions. They're soft and supple but offer a planted sensation that makes the driver feel like the car is hugging the road. In the 2024 Audi S7 Prestige, the base suspension is an adjustable air ride setup that combines different firmness levels with different heights. (Taller and softer for Comfort, shorter; firmer for Dynamic mode; Normal splits the difference.) For those who want something a little closer to RS tuning, there's also a coil spring S Sport Adaptive Suspension option, which should firm things up a touch.

In my household, the air ride suspension was the source of a few debates and why it earns a "Love/Hate" rating. If it were me, I'd probably go full Love. My wife, on the other hand, said the S7 made her feel seasick when cornering, accelerating quickly, or hard braking. This was true in all modes, but most apparent in Comfort where the S7's nose rises and falls with stabs of the throttle or mashing of the brake pedal. 

To be fair, most people don't drive mid-size-plus executive luxury sedans like a track toy, so some of the blame is probably mine. Still, she is right to point out that the experience can be very boat-ish at times. Dropping the driving mode into Dynamic (or the Custom suspension settings into Dynamic) stiffens things up a bit, which helps body movement. But then it allows more road perfections into the cabin.

HATE: Chronos Gray Metallic Looks Like a '70s Fridge

As a child of the 1980s, I grew up in homes built in the 1960s and 1970s where it was common to see endless shades of beige and avocado greens on walls, linoleum flooring, kitchen appliances, and bathroom fixtures. This isn't something I think about often, but when this Chronos Gray Metallic Audi S7 pulled into my driveway, my brain hyper-fixated on the way this color sneaks in an 1970s refrigerator vibe to an otherwise plain gray. In short, for me, the color is both dull and kinda awful. Thankfully, the rest of the 2024 S7 color options -- all metallic variations of red, blue, black, silver, white, and even a pearl grey -- look pretty killer in person. 

LOVE/HATE: Should Have Been a V8?

I'm fascinated by how automakers like Audi use and reuse different parts like powertrains across their lineups. For example, the base engine in the A7 and A6 is the sporty engine in the SQ5. Or, the A5's flagship motor -- a 444 horsepower twin-turbocharged 2.9L V6 in the RS 5 -- becomes the middlechild S6 and S7 sedan powerplant.

Make no mistake, the S7's twin-turbo V6 delivers a thrilling amount of power. Sure, the S7 is a hefty mid-size-plus sedan. But when the turbos are spooled and the 8-speed auto is in the right gear, it's a freakin' rocket ship. Engaging launch control also delivers roller-coaster-style thrills.

So what's the problem?

An unfortunate amount of lag when starting from a stop (NOT in launch control), or after aggressively downshifting while cruising.

To be clear, the 8-speed auto shifts up and down crisply and quickly. But then there's this pause... Where the shift hits... The engine starts to rev... Then the turbos... and one, maybe two, seconds later, then the S7 turns into an all-wheel-drive rocket. A moment later, unless you're on a track or don't care about speeding tickets, one needs to lift the throttle to avoid traveling at wildly illegal speeds.

This Jekyll/Hyde transition, where the car is pivoting from regular car to super sedan, makes the S7 feel awkward and jerky and, honestly, a little slow. Because, by the time all 444 ponies arrive in the stable, it's time to turn them back off again. 

Which makes me wish the S7 featured a detuned version of the twin-turbo 4.0L V8 (ala the SQ7 SUV, or the previous generation S7) or that it was all-electric like the e-tron GT. Both powertrains deliver smoother, quicker, and more linear power while transitioning from quiet to aggressive moments with more force. 

In that sense, the S7 is brilliant in almost every sense -- even if it makes my wife seasick, hehe -- but the way this engine builds power is underwhelming. At least for now. Rumors indicate that next-generation versions of Audi's 2.9L twin-turbo-powered vehicles will add a plug-in hybrid system, something currently offered in the S7's cousin, the Panamera. And if that fixes the issue with low-RPM power delivery, maybe it'd be worth another look.