carpedm1

It’s official: I’ve joined the A7 family.

And I couldn’t be happier. I just bought a 2013 Prestige CPO with 17k miles.

The car is just fantastic. I’m coming from a 2012 Audi A6 2.0 FWD that I traded-up from, just before I had to start thinking about new tires, brakes and extending its warranty.

Ironically, although I’m liking the difference between the two cars you might be surprised with what contradiction I find the most striking.

Believe it or not, it’s not the pick-up. I mean, the A7 beats the A6 to sixty in more than a second and a half. But in SPORT mode, the A6 could give me power whenever I really needed it. I wasn’t going to blow anyone’s doors off, but I could get myself moving - although sometimes those right-angled-turns-from-a-dead-stop were a little sluggish.

It’s not the efficiency either. With the A6, I usually pull in 400 to 425 miles of mixed Los Angeles driving ( 530-plus being the most I ever got from a highway road trip ); so far I’ve gotten almost 370 miles on my first tank with the A7.

I’m also pleasantly surprised with the ride - my A7 has the sports suspension with 20 inch-tires. The A6 had 18’s. I’m not going to lie to you, yes I feel bumps more. But it’s not the back-breaking experience I’ve been warned about. In fact, unless it’s there to slow me down on purpose, I don’t notice any difference with typical road imperfections or impediment.

The A7 handles well with all its Quattro goodness, but the A6 is still a sports sedan. It won't kick the A7's butt on any track, but around town it swoops around things like other autos with almost as much aplomb. It's not as awesomely-good, obviously. But the gap isn't as huge as one might think.

Things in the A7 do feel nicer. The buttons seem to take more effort to press ( in a good way ), the rubber coating on things feel thicker, the wood is nicer, etc. But those are not what won me over.

The climate controls are less intuitive. The A7 is Prestige with four zone climate do-dats. The A6 was a Premium Plus.
It took me forever to figure out how to raise and lower the fan setting in the 7. And the rear was making all sorts of racket until I figured out how to shut the damn thing off. The A6 was much simpler.

Still, the biggest, most perceptible difference between the two cars: the brakes!

I hated the A6’s brakes. Lovely car, but I couldn’t stand how it stopped.

To call them “grabby” is an understatement - they bordered on uncomfortable. And I’m sure they saved my life being that way on more than one occasion, but man they were an unpleasant experience. They were like driving in a stick-shift car and the driver accidentally hitting the brake instead of the clutch the switch gears - they were that bad.

And because if this, I could never really love my A6.

It was particularly painful because I had come from a 3 series before hand and still have an X5. And I have my wife’s Mercedes droptop with their great brakes. So the A6’s stopping comfort I took almost personally.

But the A7 - it comes to a halt just beautifully.

I’ll have more to say later, but for now I am curious: are there any easter eggs I should be looking out for with my new ride? Any bits of advice - tire pressure, oil changes, blahblahblah?

I know I could probably read through the entire forum but perhaps a few people have some cliff notes. Or maybe a link to an A7 Wiki.

Thank you!

jjsC6

Congrats. The 20" wheel/tire package is my only real complaint, and that just has to do with the roads we have and tolerance for it getting a little giggly. I love mine.

Peter B.

Please post some pictures!

looking@audi

Welcome to the A7 Club.

Interesting comment on the A6 brakes - I haven't heard of that complaint in the past. Is that common on the A6 or somehow unique to your car?

Maui19

I had an A6 (first year it was produced) and the brakes were HORRIBLE. They were so touchy it was almost impossible to stop the car smoothly. The dealer agreed but couldn't do anything to make them better.

carpedm1

It's something that always drove me nuts with the A6.

Perhaps it could've been the front wheel drive as the dealer theorized. It wasn't as pronounced on the Quattro A6 I test drove. But I still felt it a bit.

The A6 would lunge and be difficult to stop in short spurts - parallel parking was a pain in the butt.

The brake pedal just had no feel. It just stopped the car, harshly. Who knows, maybe I just have a lead foot.

But the situation seems to have corrected itself with the A7.

Pictures coming soon.

carpedm1

Here is a photo of my new ride.

It's not the normal black finish I found on the Premium Plus versions I drove but I don't know the name of the color. And it doesn't show up in photos.

In a week or so I hope to do a proper shoot and film of it.

My only regret with my A6 is that I didn't get a chance to properly film something about it. It was a wonderful companion for me and I really appreciated my 30 months with it.

I did film something for that 3 series I had before I bought the A6. If you're interested, you can find a link to it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eupb26kbpf...ale_1.mp4?dl=0

I'm looking forward to taking a morning to do something like this for the A7. When I do, I'll post it.

Baloo588

I wish my A7 had stronger brakes like my brothers 2014 A6. I know they are grabby but I like that for quick driving and stopping . However, the A7 has a nice feel to the gradual braking compared to the A6. I put beefier sway bars in the rear so my A7 corners more sharper and flatter then stock. The Michelin pilot sport as3 are great tires for this car: Smooth, quiet and great steering feedback.

tenspeed

Thanks for the review!

If it has a brown tint in the sun light, it's Havana Black. If it has a blue tint, it's Moonlight Blue. If it has a sparkle to it, it's Phantom Black Pearl Effect.

Audi has many fun "colors"...

ben_aip

It may also be Oolong Grey.