What it never does is settle cleanly into the corner. You can brake later, it’s sharper to the apex and more communicative in turn in. The rugged mountain twisties of Reefton Spur are about as far from the micron-burnished hotmix of this pair’s autobahn homes but act as the perfect laboratory to pare things back to handling fundamentals. The route chosen was one that would certainly punt both vehicles a long way outside anything that could be described as their natural comfort zone. Like most of these sensory sleights of hand, however, the illusion is transitory, so when driven hard the two cars begin to show their raw talent is a more unfiltered manner. The overall effect is to trick you into thinking that the Ingolstadter is carrying about 250 kegs less. Much of that is down to the steering, which feeds more back through its thinner rim than the rather taciturn 8 Series, and which also dives quickly for the apex thanks to four-wheel steer. Yet having swapped into the RS7 for our test route, it’s clear within the first few metres that it feels lighter and more alert. Still, the BMW is lighter than the Audi, despite the latter’s much-vaunted aluminium componentry, the M850i tipping the scales at 1995kg before options and the Audi 2065kg. Of course, these are the exact same outputs of another elegant five-seat notchback in BMW’s range, the M550i xDrive sedan, a car which retails at $125,000 less (or $140,000 for the marginally more austere Pure version) and carries 80kg less timber up the strip, but that’s an argument for another day. Nevertheless, 390kW and 750Nm is nothing to be sneezed at. Had Mercedes-AMG made an E63 Coupe with the 450kW/850Nm V8, that would have been comparable but as it stands, the pinnacle of that range is the $179,335 six-pot 320kW/520Nm E53 AMG which would have been massacred by the RS7.ĭespite its 4.4-litre engine boasting another 401cc of swept capacity over the RS7, the BMW can’t match the Audi’s outputs. With 441kW and 800Nm, it’s within a sniff of a $409,500 Porsche Panamera Turbo S (463kW/820Nm). On a strict bang for your buck basis, the RS7 Sportback appears the more convincing case. Were we to have brought the M8 Competition Gran Coupe out to play, that would have been $354,900 worth of jingle-jangle or, to put it another way, only a couple of option choices off the prices of an RS7 and a TT RS combined. The M850i xDrive Gran Coupe carries a price tag of $277,900, a not insignificant premium of $53,900. As it stands, without taking options into account, the Audi RS Sportback retails at $224,000. It’s basically because the big Eight is so much more expensive than the equivalent Audi. Whereas there’s an element of rightness about the RS7’s shape that rests easily on the eye, the 8 Series Gran Coupe is a more complex, challenging shape, with some interesting details, such as the reinterpretation of the Hofmeister kink in the rearmost side window that looks almost Stinger-like.Īt this point you’re probably asking why we’ve lined up the very pinnacle of the Audi A7 range with the penultimate driving machine in the 8 Series Gran Coupe walk-up. Sitting on a wheelbase of 3023mm versus the Audi’s 2934mm, the Munich express is a long, low and lithe thing, its bulk disguised by some svelte detailing. DRC uses steel springs and three-way adjustable dampers to counteract the movements of the vehicle body without the use of electronics.The pugnacious, foursquare stance of the Audi delivers in terms of road presence, especially in contrast to the lower-key BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe. An RS sport suspension with Dynamic Ride Control is also available, which integrates roll and pitch compensation. The air suspension can be adjusted between three different modes, allowing drivers to seamlessly switch between long-distance comfort and high-performance dynamics. The RS 7 is equipped with an adaptive air suspension with controlled damping specifically tuned to suit the car. It also has a bolder tail with stronger shoulders, an RS-specific bumper with a rear diffuser. The headlights are also new - dynamic matrix LEDs with daytime running lights embedded within. Up front, the grille is more pronounced with larger air inlets. The performance capabilities of the 2021 RS 7 are underscored by its lowered stance, aggressive RS styling and flared wheel arches that make it 20 millimetres wider on each side over the A7, of which the RS 7 shares just four bits - the front doors, roof and platform. The full-size five-door coupe is equipped with a 4.0L TFSI bi-turbo V8 that generates 591 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. The second-generation RS 7 joined the suite of Audi RS-engineered models in 2020.
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