BritBlaster

I've had an S7 on order for quite a while, and it finally came in yesterday.

My background: I've had BMW M3's, M5's, Porsches (996, 997 GT3 RS), MB E500 and E63, and several Ferraris (favorite of which was the 430 Scuderia). I like that "raw" feeling, and obviously good performance.

I've had a 2010 S4 and loved it, moved to a Q7 for a while, then jumped back to a 2013 S4 (which I currently own).

The S7 interior is fantastic, esp the quilted stitching. The "doodle pad" is quite useful for entering addresses into the nav (but frankly, the S4 I've had has been the first usable speech-recognition system that is accurate enough that I never enter addresses in manually anymore). The innovation package with the HUD was pretty good (reminded me of the Rolls Royce Ghost that I borrowed one time).

The good:
Handling, quattro, all classic Audi and instantly recognizable family traits to anyone with an A7 or S4. Superb brakes (the Audi responsiveness is superior IMO to offerings from Ferrari or Porsche. Of course, I'm sure they wouldn't handle the race track as well as those ceramic offerings, but they are extremely impressive).
Amazing torque once the engine heads north of 3,000rpm, and of course quattro gets it down on the pavement with absolute authority.
Gorgeous V8 sounds, again once the needle passes the 3,000rpm mark.

The bad:
There is some really nasty driveline-thrash when rolling to a stop when coasting, as one typically does when approaching a traffic signal. My E63 was afflicted with this uncouth behavior, and it drove me so nutz, I had to get rid of it. It occurs on either the 3-2 downshift or 2-1 downshift, and it's extremely obnoxious.

Horrendous turbo-lag. One thing the S4 is absolutely superb at is immediate smooth, powerful response from a linear throttle tip-in. Stab it if you want, and it feels like you're in God's roller-skate given a big Deity-influenced shove from the back. In the S7, stabbing the throttle results in drive-line shudder and small audible boom, genteel forward progress, a delay of maybe 0.3 to 0.5s, then modest acceleration until the turbos spool-up and start making prodigious power. It feels MUCH slower than the instant response available in the S4.

Short-shifting. Even in full manual in (S)port mode, the transmission automatically shifted up around 6,000rpm with the engine at running temperature.

Downshifting: The S4 (in Sport mode) does a wonderful job with rev-matching downshifts, and it sounds glorious when it blips the throttle when braking hard, and it keeps it in a low gear when it's expecting you to jump back on the throttle hard at corner apex. The S7 does a very lackluster job of this, with barely an audible blip of the throttle, and seemingly no real effort to rev-match downshifts.

When I brought it back to the dealership, I complained about the turbo-lag, and was told that this would disappear once the car was broken in with 600+ miles on it. I explained that my S4's never had such an issue when new. It is possible that the software in the DSG is acting a particular way whilst the car is new, so I'll give the benefit of the doubt that the car may behave better once it's broken in. But I'm not going to trade-in my S4 (a car I am very happy with) on an S7 ... a car I *might* be happy with in 600 miles, so I canceled my order.

Most of the problems with the S7 that I experienced can be traced to the DSG in the S7 when compared to the S4. The two most likely causes of this are
1) Software for DSG in "breaking-in" mode (this must be a new option not previously put in DSG equipped cars such as the S4).
2) Software changes made for S7 version of DSG (or perhaps it's a completely different model/supplier than S4) to be able to handle additional bhp/torque.

The DSG in the S4 is amazing, it's probably the single-most compelling reason to buy an S4 in my book. It's about 90-95% as good as the Ferrari 458 Italia F1 transmission, seriously. The S7 DSG is about half as good, as objectively as I can ascertain.

looking@audi

Sorry to hear the S7 didn't meet your expectations.

I have never driven the S7, however, I don't recall the reviews mentioning the issues you referenced other than an occasional rough downshift.

I hope other S7 owners will chime in with their experiences (hopefully with a fully broken in car).

gmunford@b-m-d.com

OK i'm clearly outclassed in terms of this gentleman's car history. But cant help but saying I got very nervous waiting for my S7 having read 1 or 2 reports of turbo lag and choppy trans. Having now put about 4,500 on it, I honestly can say I dont know what the f they were talking about. Ok maybe an occasional jerky downshift at parking lot speeds. But hardly a problem. And jeez, put this thing in dynamic/sport mode and hammer it... Lag? Again, my reference point is not Ferrari. But i have spent time in an S4 and 4O years of a lot other decent machines, and this thing is no slow tip in ease-your-way to a ticket ride. Totally crisp, heart thumping responsive. My only regret: the points on my driving record make it so i don't dare give it a real workout.

achan

Honestly, I've just put 500 miles on my S7 and I disagree with the OP. There is no perceivable turbo lag in this car and the DCT is smooth. The occasional jerk while coasting to a stop is something that I notice in all cars with DCT. It's akin to downshifting a manual into 1st gear at slightly too high of a speed. The Ferrari 458, Nissan GTR, etc all do this. You can chose to keep the S7 in manual mode and forgo dropping it into 1st. The computer will put you back in 1st at a dead stop.

I do think there is room to improved the ecu and throttle response via a tune. I suspect Audi made the shift program softer in the S7 vs the S4 given the clientele. I may explore an ecu tune option at some point (APR/AMS), plus extra power never hurts

If i wanted a knife-edged twin turbo sports car, I wouldn't have chosen an S7. I have an TT V10 R8 for that . But the S7 hits on the points that I needed: 4 seats, cargo space, great exterior styling, luxurious interior, and performance.

achan

As an aside, I would have loved if they made the paddles a bit larger/longer. Also, I don't subscribe to the low-rev/load break in period. I tend to push it once the oil is up to temperature.

clintb

I'll Quasi-Agree with the OP

I've never noticed the jerky DSG issue, but only have about 700 Miles on mine. It's been nothing but a pleasure to drive

I have definitely noticed some power lag, but i wonder if it's a joint issue between:

A) Some Turbo Lag

B) The Cylinder De-Activation turning off

I'm hoping a tune can disable the cylinder De-activation since I'd much rather pay a bit more for fuel to capture the full performance of the car

04_ultrasport

The reason there is no lag in a B8 S4 is that it is supercharged which results in almost instant boost, it doesn't have to spool up like the turbos on a 4.0T car like the S7. Also the trans are both DSG trans but are not the same. You have to remember your talking about a totally different car in the S7 compared to a S4.

noah123

Really, I thought have same 7 speed dsg? May be a diff flavor of the same tranny but same family nonetheless

BritBlaster

My 2013 S4 *never* has any driveline thrash during downshifts, the rev-matching is as flawless as it was in my 458, and to be perfectly clear, the 458's F1 transmission was buttery smooth when slowing down in any mode of settable by the manettino (even "race" mode was smooth when driving leisurely). My 2010 S4 was also had no foibles, even if the rev-matching was no-where near as good as the 2013. The only other car I've had that had "bangy" downshifts on occasion was my 2008 E63.

I'm not looking for a knife-edged sports car, but rather a family sedan with excellent performance and handling. Like my S4 really, but with more performance. The S7 is not a car I could live with everyday, the S4 is.

BritBlaster

Of course, this is understood. It's just that the expert reviews I've read never mentioned any turbo lag, indeed most quoted the complete absence of any lag whatsoever. Maybe the example I drove just has some "issues" and isn't representative of other S7s. All I can tell you is that the S7 I drove had a very perceptible delay between hitting the gas and launch, and when it did launch it did so jerkily directly proportional to throttle input. Smooth gentle take offs were not possible, at least with this right-foot and that particular S7.

Maybe it's the cylinder deactivation, but I thought putting the car in "S" mode disabled that feature.