I have an A8L but I have been doing double takes at A7's then kinda figured out why (at least for me). The A7's rear wheel is further back but it's a dead ringer for the Maserati roof line.

I posted this on the A8 forum but realized I might be better posting here.

Back in the day a relative showed up for a Sunday visit in a new Checker. It was like WTH is this? So we kidz jumped in and was blown away by the living room on wheels. To me the A8L invokes same thoughts, massive American metal of lore, room to live in and with our kids and friends - the back seat's a party. And it's a high performance pop can too, so that is all cool, I'm OK with it.

But let's get to the luscious A7. Those designers at Audi must have taken a protractor to the Ghibli and penciled the same roof line. But what you lose for it: Lower seating position, back seat leg room and ???. The ability to chuck down the seats is a plus (for bikes). How to they feel & drive??

 

Very different cars... Between trading on our previous A7 (MY12) and waiting for our new A7 (MY15) to make the trip over from Germany following Euro delivery the dealer gave us an A8L loaner for a few weeks (3.0T).

To begin with the A8 is a large car. That's obvious, but its more than just he sheer size of the car. Its feels like a large car on the road with more body roll and more isolation from the road inputs. In contrast the A7 feels smaller. Lower center of gravity with more taunt suspension. Its fun to push through the corners. The A8 is fun to cruise on the highway with.

For interior the A8 is a total step above the A7 (and A6). Easy to spend a long time in. For some reason I think the Bose system in the A8 is much better than the A7 (might be the open hatchback design effecting the noise). Material quality in the A8 is nicer and just simply a classier place to be.

Nothing against the A7's interior. Very happy with that, but I wish they offered (in the US) some additional options like sport seats, alcantara, etc...

Backseats.... We just returned from a 10 hour drive (Chicago --> Quincy --> Chicago) with a friend in the back seat. She had no complaints other than the crappy wifi service (MY15's still had TMobile).

For us the A7 is a better choice, but if Audi ever gets around to making the A9/Prologue that would be the best of both worlds.

BTW... Google "Audi 100 Coupe"... That is the true influence of the A7's design. Probably one of the most beautiful Audi's of all time.

 

I personally like the A7 mostly because I do in fact own one. Before making the purchase I did compare the A8 and A7 and I found that if you want an interior based car go for the A8, but if you want a daily driving car with almost equivalent interior and an exterior that turns heads, go with the a7. I personally find the A8 as a big car that is more of a car that a person who prefers a nice humble car and the A7 as a car that is a very fun to drive and a car that represents one of the most beautiful exteriors.

The A7 seats are not congested as people might think, it is possible that someone over 6FT tall might find the headroom not as big as a normal sedan but it's not a neck bender as people believe. The leg room is tremendous, for a long car you can see that the leg room is one thing that is fully abundant, you can sit there for hours in the back without even having second thoughts about sitting in the rear seats.

 

Recently I had the chance to drive a new A8 as a loaner car. The car seemed very boxey and big. It's a large luxury sedan. The A7 is a sexy 4 door coupe. It is still a large car, but it feels smaller. 2 different cars.

 

A7 and Ghibli are completely different cars. The rear passenger room in the Ghibli is no where near comparable to the room of the A7.

Also the A7 has a a massive trunk compared to the Ghibli!

The A7, turns heads everyday. Ghibli gets lost in the crowd.

Ghibli's interior is garbage, but I do love the Ghibli's exhaust note.

Simply put it, the A7 is a fighter in a suit!