This is not your Grandma’s four door sedan. And you’ll be glad.
I remember riding around in my grandma’s giant, yacht-sized four-door car. She could fit about seven people in there with room to spare. It would float down the highway with ease once it got up to speed, but that would take a good mile with the pedal to the metal. We’d roll the windows down and put our hands out, playing airplane with the wind. It was comfortable and spacious, and we loved it. It was not fast by any stretch of the imagination, and stopping on a dime? Forget about it.
Fast forward a few decades. Audi has been at the top of the luxury car class for generations. They know drivers, and they know families. With the newly redesigned 2019 Audi A7, which starts at $68,0000 and tops out at about $80,000, Audi has given the people exactly what they’ve always wanted. Not only have they engineered and built this sports car for the driver, they built this sports car with the 3 to 4 passengers in mind as well. What? Yes, a sports car with crazy-quick-off-the-line, put you in the back of your seat, speed. This A7 is not only fast, but it has the room to bring guests along for the ride. And maybe a memory or two in the process.
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It’s So Quick, You Just Might Keep Up With Traffic in Austin
I’m sure it’s about the same on any highway in any big city. When there’s an opening in the traffic, you have to just go! Luckily, the new Audi A7 quattro (Audi’s term for all wheel drive) has four drive mode select settings that cater to anyones driving style: Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual. Choose the Dynamic mode, and you will get from 0-60 miles per hour in 5.2 seconds, which is just as fun as it sounds! The brakes are top notch too. They seemed unfazed by the quick stops made in rush hour traffic.
While the majority of the car continues the same sleek body lines, most of the significant changes are around the back. Dramatic, full-length LED tail lights run along the entire back of the Audi A7 trunk. These 13 individual strips of LED’s play quite the light show when the unlock button is pressed on the key fob, especially at night.
Right above that sits the ultra sloped, hands-free power liftgate. I thought this feature came in handy especially walking up to the car with bags of groceries in hand. Once open, you’ll notice the largest cargo space in the class. We packed luggage for 5 people for a weekend getaway and plenty of room left over. It’s almost like having a station wagon. Almost. One other cool option I really enjoyed, was the active spoiler that pops up on the trunk when you reach seeds above 75 mph. It definitely looks and feels like you’re driving a race car.
Three’s Not A Crowd: Oh That Interior Space Though
The first thing I noticed as I popped open the frameless drivers door? The amount of space inside the cabin. I felt like I sunk down into a race car cockpit. The driver’s seat can easily accommodate someone on the taller side, with plenty of room to stretch out. The seats are both plush and sporty, with rich leather, optional heated and ventilated 12-way adjustable front seats with massage function. Even your passengers in the back get to enjoy contoured heated seats, along with 2 USB ports and a 12v power supply. There was plenty of space back there for 3 adults, with more than enough room to feel like you weren’t in each other’s bubble.
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2019 Audi A7 Quattro Caters To The Driver With Exquisite Touches In The Cockpit
Sometimes, you just need to go for a drive. You need to get out of the house or away from the office, and drive. Luckily, the cockpit of the Audi A7 is made just for that. The second you sink down into the contoured, rich leather seat you’ll feel all your worries melt away. Close the door and the cabin is perfectly quiet.
All the menus and controls are angled towards the driver, creating a very user-friendly experience.
Audi did us a favor and got rid of all the clutter of the buttons, toggles, and switches. Those are replaced with two touch screens that are extremely quick and sharp, called the MMI touch response. It provides you all the information you need, such as navigation (“Where’s the nearest Starbucks?”), Apple CarPlay, your phone, your messages, and information about the car itself. Something I really love was it’s 360-degree view camera. It was especially cool when I was backing out of a parking lot, or going through the car wash. It even showed me a picture of it getting washed!
Things We Loved
- Apple CarPlay
- Heated/ventilated seats
- Paddle shifters
- Above parking camera – and the washing pic
- Taillight show when unlocking
- Larger console with wireless charging and USB
- Ambient lighting on the dash, doors, and floorboards that change to match any mood
I feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck. There are three trim levels to choose from.
- Premium trim level starts at $68,000 MSRP. It comes standard with all-wheel drive, MMI navigation, sunroof, LED headlights
- Premium Plus trim level starts at $72,400 MSRP and comes standard with such luxuries as Audi virtual cockpit, Bang and Olufsen 3D premium sound system, top view camera system Virtual 3d view
- Or choose the top of the line Prestige trim level, which starts at $79,700, with head-up display, ventilated front seats with four-way lumbar support, four-zone automatic climate control, power door closers
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All in all, this newly redesigned Audi A7 is fast, comfortable, rich looking, boasts an amazing amount of storage, is technologically advanced and is downright eye candy! It’s a perfect haven for your busy commute or that next road trip. But it’s definitely not your Grandma’s four-door sedan.
Disclosure: Audi loaned me this 2019 A7 Quattro for a week. All opinions are my own.
