A7 Test Drive-long
 

It was a lovely day yesterday, so I dropped the top on the S5 Cab and drove the 100 miles to my Audi dealer. The offer to be the first to take their brand new A7 demo out for a spin was too compelling.

As I pull in I see it sitting in front of the store. My first thought, and one that remains, is that the A7 looks much, much better in light colors. This one was black and just didn't knock my socks off. Now I know why there isn't a single picture of a dark or black A7 online in any of Audi's marketing materials. Every picture of the car in Ice Silver, or even the Dakota Grey, makes the lines of the car really stand out.

This demo also had a black interior, which I really can't stand. So again, the real thing didn't look as good as all the pictures I have seen with brown, or beige interiors.

I spent a bit playing around with various things. The cargo area is quite large even with the 2nd row seats up. However, one odd thing is that even with the black interior, the cargo cover is the same light grey color as the headliner, so you get some unfortunate reflections in the rear glass when driving.

The B&O stereo, which I have on both my S5 and Q7 TDI, just did not sound as good as I expected. Now I will admit that the only source I had was Sirius, which generally sounds dreadful due to all the compression they use, but I would have to assume it sounds better with a better source. The B&O in the Q7 is absolutely incredible, if you like it loud. At low to moderate volumes it's quite average.

The interior is really a perfect mix of A8 and A6. It's considerably roomier than the current A6, but not quite as roomy as an A8. Works for me. The lack of a fifth seatbelt is still nagging me though. While I don't think the interior really shines in black, it was certainly well put together. The dash itself mimics that of the A8, and that's a good thing.

The head's up display is cool, especially with the adaptive cruise and navigation. It was a bright sunny day and it looked great.

As for the ride itself, it was nice. The torque does not match the A8 and the horsepower does not match the S5 Cab, but without wanting to accelerate too terribly briskly on a 25 mile demo, it did seem to get about its business. I would imagine it feels quite a bit better with a broken in engine as all cars do.

Ride quality was great even in dynamic mode. There was a bit more wind noise at over 80 mph than I would have expected; surely not in A8 territory here. And, the 20" Yokohama tires do seem to be a bit noisy. Tires can make such a huge difference in road noise. When I first drove a Q7 demo, the road noise was brutal. When mine came many months later, I was elated to find almost no road noise. Different tires...

In any case, I am ordering one. My Q7 lease is up in a few months and I am ready to be SUV-less for the first time in about twenty years. I have decided on all options, but I just can't decide on the exterior between Quartz Grey or the Dakota Grey. My S5 is dark blue and I have to wash it constantly. I need a much lower maintenance color for the A7 and am leaning towards the Quartz. Strangely, every picture of the Dakota that I see makes the car look entirely different. In some pix it looks too dark, while in others it looks like it would hide dirt well between washes.

I would love to see a Dakota Grey car in person, but that's not going to happen so I just have to make up my mind. Decisions, decisions...

I think Dakota Grey is a very nice color, especially with the 20 inch sport alloys. I would pair it with the Nougat interior personally. That being said, our Q7 is Quartz Grey which is one of my all time favorite Audi color. Even when dirty, it looks clean. It does vary from looking silver, to grey-green to blue-green. You can pair it with beige, but to me it looks best with the titanium grey or black.

Dakota Gray is Not Gray.

It's more bronze/brown and it would look great with the beige or nougat interior.

Perhaps you mean Daytona Gray? Its a dark gray with a pearl effect

I had a Daytona gray a6. Daytona gray is true gray pearl.

Dakota is a newer color. It's a bronze / brownish color.

Dakota gray should be calked Dakota beige.

It will look very good with a beige or nougat interior.

If you see it in person, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Thanks for the heads up on the colour description of the new Dakota Gray colour. I've order a 2012 A6 in Dakota Gray since I thought it was just a darker shade of Quartz Gray (SA was no help with the paint chip - used the 2012 A7 book since no sample for 2012 A6 yet). I didn't realize it was more bronze/brown colour (does that mean there's no hint of gray depending on the lighting conditions?). I currently have a 2011 S4 with Brilliant Black but got tired of cleaning the car all the time but still looks dirty after a few hours so I thought Dakota Gray was a good compromise.

Question for those who have seen Dakota Gray in person, is the colour too dark so that I will always need to clean it like my Brilliant Black and show all the imperfections easily? Also, do you think it would look good on the 2012 A6s and A7s so that the lines of both cars shows well (vs. hiding it) and whether the colour choice would still look good in the long run and not a "fad" colour? Just wanted your opinion since I haven't seen it in person. Thanks.

I would describe the Dakota Gray as a medium dark color.

I don't think it will be as hard to keep clean as a black car.
I think the bronze/brown hue will hide dirt a bit better. But it's still a darker color.

If you want a black interior, I'd probably go with something else. But if you like the beige or nougat brown interior, I think it would be pretty elegant and a classy color combination.

Thanks for your quick response. I selected black leather since I thought Dakota Gray was a dark shade of gray (not brown) so I may have to change the interior colour choice (even though black interiors are easier to maintain IMO which, ironically, is the opposite for black exteriors). I liked the nougat brown interior but thought it may be hard to maintain and look good over time. I may have to change the exterior colour to Daytona Gray Pearl/Quartz Gray or change my interior colour choice. Not sure which would be the better choice since it's difficult to decide without actually seeing both side by side.

On a side note, sorry to change the topic, but have you had any experience with heads up display? I was thinking of getting it but my SA said that other customers found it distracting. Any opinion would be appreciated. Thanks.

Personally, I think Daytona Grey would be harder to keep clean than Dakota Grey...Daytona is pretty dark...

For the Dakota I would pair it with Nougat which I think is very nice. I wouldn't think the Nougat would be any harder to keep clean than the beige; actually I think it would be much easier.

I had a Daytona sline A6. It wasn't as bad as black...nothing really is. I agree on the Dakota / Nougat combination. Should look pretty stellar.

I would buy Daytona in a heartbeat again if you could get it with a lighter interior. But you can only get Daytona with Black interior.

As far as the heads ups display - I do find it very distracting. I personally hate it, but others might love it.

I also don't like the annyoying glare the heads up unit right about the drivers dash creates.