Car of the Week - Audi RS7 Performance

If you are looking to spend more than the average on a car what you are looking for will differ depending on your priorities.

Of course, it has to look great and be a bit of a head-turner and it is likely that you will want impressive performance but perhaps fourseats, rather than two.

If so, then there are a few options out there but one that really stands out from the crowd is the absolutely incredible Audi RS7 Performance. Obviously, the name of this ballistic missile on wheels, gives you a clue as to its power but even then, when you put pedal to metal the acceleration and seemingly endless grunt that this machine produces will leave you gobsmacked.

From an aesthetic point of view this car has real charisma, particularly from the front with the gloss black honeycomb grille, deep air intakes, and rather intimidating looking headlights.

The side profile is athletic, although I’m not too sure about the Quattro sticker which adorns the bottom of the rear doors – seems a bit pointless.

And then there is the sloping fastback which attracts differing views. I sort of sit on the fence on this design because I neither love it or hate it but I prefer the Audi Avants to the saloons anyway.

The car sits on magnificent exclusive 21-inch cast aluminium wheels and there are optional carbon-fibre ceramic brake discs.

I have written about Audi interiors many times and they really do take some beating and the exceptionally high standard continue in this car which is full of the highest grade Valcona leather and carbonfibre inlays.

The RS sport seats with pronounced side bolsters, integrated head restraints, and honeycomb stitching are fantastic.

The infotainment system is top notch with basically every driver assist known to man and is controlled via a good size screen, which folds away when not needed.

It is all operated via dial controller on the centre console which also houses the macho gear lever.

The flat-bottom RS steering wheel is a delight to use and is not overloaded with buttons and the instrument cluster features black faces, white dials and red needles.

And now for the important bit.

This latest Audi RS 7 Performance offers more power output than ever before thanks to the mighty 4.0-litre TFSI V8 twin turbo engine which now has an extremely handy 605bhp and torque of 700nm. Oh, and if that is not enough for you this car has an overboost function which means you can temporarily plug into 750nm.

It looks fast and certainly delivers on its appearance, sprinting from 0-100 kmh in just 3.7 seconds which is 0.2 seconds quicker than the respective base RS model and is the sort of performance you expect from a supercar.

If you keep your foot in, and believe me, you will want to simply because of the noise that comes from those black exhaust pipes, it will take 12.1 seconds to accelerate from 0-200 kmh – eye watering stuff.

There is also an optional dynamic package which increases the top speed from 250 to 280kmh.

Despite the power hike the RS7 Performance still returns decent fuel efficiency thanks to the engine management system and Cylinder On Demand which only activates four of the eight cylinders when you don’t need all that insane power.

The engine is linked to an eightspeed tiptronic gearbox which has been designed to handle ubersportiness

and you can choose between the modes D and S or change gears manually either by tapping the selector lever or by using the shift paddles on the RS multifunction steering wheel.

In manual mode, a shift indicator in the driver information system or optional head-up display indicates the rev limit. The power is delivered to the road via the iconic Audi Quattro permanent all-wheel drive system which guarantees maximum traction in all conditions.

You have a choice of different drive modes, depending on what mood your are in, include Auto, Comfort, Dynamic and Individual where you can customise the way the car handles. The car is amazingly responsive in all modes but Dynamic delivers the most satisfaction and fun.

Apart from driving this beast around the roads of the UAE forever resisting the temptation to floor it and risk losing my driving licence, I have actually had the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of this machine on the German autobahn where you really can unleash the astonishing power of the RS7 Performance and having driven it at full pelt I can guarantee this really is a very special piece of kit.

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