Overall rating:

Audi's coupé-cum-saloon gets the S treatment thanks to a twin-turbo 420hp V8 engine with cylinder deactivation, active engine mounts and noise cancelling, but it's all a bit too clever and not as much fun as it ought to be.

Key Facts

Pricing: £61,995
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol
Transmission: four-wheel drive, seven-speed automatic
Body style: five-door hatchback
Rivals: BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo, Mercedes-Benz CLS 500, Porsche Panamera S
CO₂ emissions: 225g/km
Combined economy: 29.4mpg
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
Power: 420hp at 5,500 - 6,400rpm
Torque: 550Nm at 1,450 - 5,250rpm

In the Metal:

Of all Audi's recent identikit offerings the A7 Sportback is perhaps the most distinct, extrovert and appealing and the S additions only add to that. It's no coupé, but the Sportback's tapered roofline and wide shape do appeal, the 19-inch alloy wheels (20-inch items optional) and lowered suspension improving its stance further. Around the back there are quad tailpipes and up front there's an S grille, further S changes including the silver-capped mirrors and some subtle badging.

Conspicuous it's not then, but that's arguably part of the appeal. Inside it's the usual Audi tactility and build quality fest, with a new pinstriped wood and aluminium veneer finish offered (the jury is still out on that) and masses of equipment befitting its range-topping status.

Driving it:

Like the Audi S8, with which it shares its engine (if not output), the S7 seems to fulfil a slightly confused brief. Slotting in at the top of the range it's the performance flagship until any possible RS 7 arrives, though Audi is talking up the refinement, economy and comfort a great deal. Odd, insomuch as there are plenty of other A7s that fulfil that brief so adeptly. Active engine mounts and noise cancellation feature, allowing the S7 Sportback to go about its business of going quickly quietly.

Not always though; pin the accelerator to the floor the 420hp V8 gets a bit more vocal, but it's never a guttural street-fighting wail, more a cultured, oddly distant sound that could be coming from another car. Not that you're left in any doubt as to the performance on offer if you ask more from the engine, the S7 proving very rapid indeed. Sixty-two mph arrives in 4.7 seconds, though the power delivery is so smooth, and the gearshifts so imperceptible, that it doesn't feel as mighty as it perhaps should.

Fiddle with the car settings and there's a chance to have sharper responses to almost everything, be it gearshifts, the throttle or steering, but it loses its composure slightly if you set it up so, it working better when you leave them in softer settings. Which is a conundrum in a car that's purportedly the sporting flagship in the A7 range. It feels big too, though it isn't actually any bigger than any other A7, and to have any fun in it you need to be travelling very quickly indeed. And roads begin to feel smaller as margins for error decrease.

It's undoubtedly a quick, capable car, with masses of grip and plenty of performance, but it's lacking the sort of feedback and precise control that incentivise and reward you for driving it as it's designed. On an autobahn it's mighty, but unless you spend all day chasing big three-figure speeds (the 155mph 'limiter' not limiting we found) it's all a bit too clever, and too refined to be truly involving and enjoyable as a driver's car.

What you get for your Money:

You get lots for your money, which is a good thing, and necessary to justify the sizable premium over its non-S relations. UK-bound S7s even get the Sport Differential as standard, this trick piece of equipment helping make the S7's S4 relation feel rear- rather four-wheel drive. That's no bad thing, but drive is not so evidently rear-biased here. Leather upholstery, satnav, Bluetooth and electrically adjustable seats are all on the standard equipment list.

Worth Noting

So the S badge may not necessarily translate to the sort of driving experience you might expect, but it's impossible not to be impressed with a combined economy figure of 29.4mpg from a 420hp turbocharged V8 engine. You'll never achieve it, but it's an impressive stat.

Summary

Introduced alongside a new S6 saloon and Avant the Audi S7 fulfils its role of giving more choice to customers, but as a genuinely sporting, engaging proposition it is lacking. It'll sell well in the USA and beyond, but where fuel is expensive and opportunities scant to exploit its performance then a host of 'lesser' A7 models offer everything the S7 does for less.