Audi RS7 review

• Overview
• What is it?
• Tell me more about the RS7 in particular, then.
• Has it been updated since 2019?
• Is anything else new on the RS7 Performance?
• How much will it cost me?
• What's the verdict?
• Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 4-door
• Porsche Panamera
• BMW 5 Series
• Driving
• What is it like to drive?
• Sounds great. What else do I need to know?
• What’s the suspension like?
• Are there different drive modes I should know about?
• Review: the 597bhp Audi RS7 Performance
• Road Test: Audi RS7 4.0T FSI V8 Bi-Turbo RS7 Quattro 5dr Tip Auto
• Interior
• What is it like on the inside?
• Buying
• What should I be paying?

Overview

What is it?

The Audi RS7 is the less sensible sibling of the RS6 Avant. The Audi Sport team have turned their back on traditional saloons (dinky RS3 aside), offering the five-door coupe Sportback models as an alternative alongside more conventional estates, coupes and roadsters.

Tell me more about the RS7 in particular, then.

Well, RS7 mk1 certainly wasn’t an all-time great. For this second generation car, first revealed back in 2019, Audi went right back to the drawing board, endowing it with a much wider, burlier look than a regular A7. Indeed it gained 40mm in width and the makeover was so successful, says Audi, it didn’t need to add a fixed spoiler or the faux vents and grilles that plague even some of their own cars.

It also now has five seats rather than four – “important to compete against classic saloons,” says Audi – and you can even use this mk2 RS7 to tow things.

Has it been updated since 2019?

It certainly has. When this second-gen RS7 first arrived, its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 produced 592bhp and 590lb ft of torque. It also introduced a new mild-hybrid system that helped fuel consumption by allowing the engine to coast over short distances, and the stop/start to kick in from speeds as high as 13mph. The V8 could also switch to a V4 under light throttle loads.

Performance didn’t suffer, though, with a 3.6 second 0-62mph time and optional 190mph top speed surely more than ample in a car weighing two tonnes. Naturally, in late 2022 Audi announced the RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback ‘Performance’ editions.

The RS7 Performance is now your only option in the UK, and the headlines are 621bhp and 627lb ft of torque courtesy of bigger turbos and an increase in boost pressure. The 0-62mph time drops by 0.2 seconds (to 3.4) as a result.

It goes without saying this car is monstrously quick. The engine drives all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox, with as much as 85 per cent of power sent to the rear axle, though not courtesy of a lightly immature ‘drift mode’ like you’ll find on its BMW M5 and Mercedes-AMG E63 rivals.

The car’s brain shuffles power around to where it’s best utilised, with the Performance getting a standard Sport Differential at the back in addition to the self-locking centre differential. That rear diff comes as part of the standard RS Dynamic Package which also adds four-wheel steering. Increasingly the norm in fast German stuff – to effectively shrink big performance cars into little ones in corners – Audi’s engineers say the four-wheel steer system massively stems understeer. Understeer being the traditional foe of the big Audi RS saloon, of course. Have they succeeded? Find out over on the Driving tab of this review.

Is anything else new on the RS7 Performance?

At over two tonnes before you’ve added any fluids or passengers, the RS7 Performance is by no means a lightweight, but Audi did work on trimming some of the fat for this latest version. It fitted a new 22-inch wheel that’s 5kg lighter per corner than the old one and stripped out 8kg of sound deadening from between the engine bay and interior. It also offers an RS Dynamic Package Plus which raises the top speed to that 190mph max and adds ceramic brakes that are 34kg lighter in total than the standard steel units.

How much will it cost me?

Are you sitting down? At the time of writing the RS7 Sportback Performance starts at £115,225 in the UK. That’s a huge chunk of money, but it’s also rather a lot of car too. In fact, it’s 1.95m wide and over 5m long. Oh, and if you want this super Sportback in full fat ‘Carbon Vorsprung’ trim prices start at £132,625 before options. Yikes.

Lauding a 621bhp, five-seat sports saloon as excellent shouldn’t feel newsworthy, but with RS-badged cars, success isn’t always a given. Luckily Audi Sport appears to have nailed this one, giving the RS7 Sportback all the comfort and ‘bahn-storming pace a car like this needs, but not at the expense of the fun and engagement people like us desire.

The small upgrades to turn it into the Performance have worked wonders too, with proper sound and even better turn-in yet just as much comfort as ever. There are still a myriad of rivals in this field, with the RS7 up against the BMW M5, the Mercedes-AMG E63 and the slightly more expensive AMG GT 4dr. Not to mention Porsche’s ever-competent Panamera. But if you adore the way the RS7 looks, the good news is there’s plenty of substance to back up its style. Phew.

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 4-door

Porsche Panamera

£123,776

BMW 5 Series

£25,807 – £65,725

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Driving

Driving

What is it like to drive?

Good news: this is considerably more engaging to drive than the RS7 before it, and in the infamously inconsistent RS family tree, this is among the good ‘uns. The four-wheel steering and Sport Differential systems – standard on the updated Performance cars – lend it an agility that’s at odds with its colossal 2,065kg kerb weight. Good job, really, given that’s a whole 200kg more than a rival BMW M5 Competition.

Sure, it still feels its weight under hard braking (although the optional £9,200 carbon ceramics are mighty) and its 621bhp sledgehammer powerplant plus near two-metre width isn’t exactly conducive to a blast on a British B-road, but this is still an RS saloon with a deft touch of which we’ve not really seen the like since that mesmeric B7 RS4 of the late 2000s. It’s also completely and utterly rapid.

Sounds great. What else do I need to know?

The steering feels natural and with even moderate commitment you can feel the car move around beneath you. Nothing scary, just a sense there’s more to this four-wheel-drive system than limpet grip. Indeed, get back on the power early in a corner and this thing will even slide. Albeit in a tidier, less yobbish way than an AMG or M Division car. Now, of course that’s a silly car journalist observation with little relevance in the real world, but it demonstrates there’s a sense of humour to this car and – crucially – that enthusiasts have had a big say in how it handles.

That standard four-wheel steering really works too. With less unsprung weight from those lighter wheels and carbon ceramic brakes, this thing now turns in supremely sharply. There’s much less understeer than you’d expect from a big Audi and as a bonus the slow-speed manoeuvrability is remarkable. Plus, at motorway speeds the rear wheels steer in the same direction as the fronts to improve stability.

This is a car about so much more than its performance figures and burly appearance – not always an RS given. It’ll still be surefooted in bad weather, too, with simply outrageous grip levels if you’ve not loosened the ESP (like most normal humans). Indeed, leave the car’s myriad systems in their softest setting and it’ll still do Autobahn storming like little else, making 140mph feel as serene as the 70 you’re able to do on Britain’s sedately limited motorways.

What’s the suspension like?

Well, there are some key options to consider here. Air Suspension is fitted as standard, with unruffled comfort in its softest mode (which is some 50 per cent stiffer than in the standard A7), and nary a jiggle in its sportiest. For all-weather, everyday use it’s a no brainer. But if you really want to drive this car with vigour then the optional sports suspension might be the better option, endowing the RS7 with notably sharper responses, but undoubted extra fussiness when the road is bumpy. On Britain’s worst roads it might prove a little much, although the lighter wheels and brakes certainly calm things down.

Are there different drive modes I should know about?

While the usual mode selections remain, anyone with a leaning towards enthusiastic driving will quickly collate their favourite mix of settings into one of the RS buttons on the steering wheel. Clearly inspired by M Division, they’re called RS1 and RS2, so if you’re anything like us you’ll make the latter your button of choice purely for retro fast Audi cool points. Set the steering and suspension how you like, but stick the engine sound in its middle mode and you’ll have plenty of V8 rumbling without a horribly overdramatised augmented sound underlying it.

And all the efficiency stuff? It all works away beneath the surface and asks of no adjustment from the driver. You’ll simply forget about those mild-hybrid claims, while still reaping the benefit of a small shaving of the mpg figure. It whispers through town, too, using its electrified wizardry to make a 600bhp+ saloon sound like a limo. A proper all-rounder, then – as the RS7 ever was – just with genuine petrolhead kudos this time around.

Review: the 597bhp Audi RS7 Performance

£92,930

Road Test: Audi RS7 4.0T FSI V8 Bi-Turbo RS7 Quattro 5dr Tip Auto

£82,600

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Overview

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Interior

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

The big change for this second generation RS7 was the addition of a fifth seat. In the back there’s a full split bench that can either accommodate an extra passenger or bring extra flexibility to how you dole out boot space. Stop yawning at the back: this is a sports saloon rival, thus offering versatility is key. Especially with all that size and mass to justify.

Thankfully the boot is absolutely cavernous, with 523 litres of space when the rear seats are up and 1,382 when they’re folded.

Up front is where the excitement happens, though, with all the screens you’d expect of a 21st century performance car. Ahead of you, a fully digital dial setup, a technology Audi helped pioneer – with its Virtual Cockpit – and which it’s naturally developing quicker than most of its rivals as a result.

The big news is an RS-specific display with a boomerang-shaped rev counter that almost brings to mind the inventive displays of 70s muscle cars. It’s ace. Beamed ahead of you is one of the crispest head-up displays on the market, with supremely detailed nav instructions if you want them.

In the middle of the dashboard are two screens which are both ever-so-slightly angled towards the driver, something the passenger will certainly notice if they try to override your music choices. The fonts and displays of Audi’s latest ‘MMI’ system are superb, though, and it’s a wonderfully easy system to operate. Less successful is the screen below it for the climate control. As we’ve found in all current gen big Audis it’s so much less intuitive (and safe) than actual physical buttons when you want to switch temperature on the move. Still, at least the separation means you don’t have to go through a few menus before getting to the climate options.

And to end on a happy note, the ‘RS sports seats’ are flipping fantastic, as is the Alcantara wrapping on the steering wheel. Hurrah: they’ve put it at nine and three rather than dimwittedly at 12 and six like some rivals.

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Driving

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Buying

Buying

What should I be paying?

Want proof this is the 365-days-a-year car Audi claims it to be? You can now pull trailers (up to 2,100kg in weight) with it. Redesigned air suspension has made room for a tow bar, to the delight of maybe six of you reading.

For all its mild-hybrid claims, this isn’t a car that you’ll extract any guilt-appeasing emissions-free driving from. Equally, it’s one you’ll never have to worry about plugging in. Fuel economy and CO2 numbers for the Performance version – the only one you can buy in the UK in 2023 – are 22.8mpg and 281g/km respectively.

And there’s absolutely no way that you can leave the showroom with a new RS7 for less than six-figures these days. Ouch. The entry level Performance is currently £115,225 before options, with the ‘Carbon Black’ trim costing £124,175 and the fully loaded ‘Carbon Vorsprung’ a faintly terrifying £132,625.

In terms of paint colours there are excellent Ascari blue or Grenadine red options that mean you don’t need to go for one of the many shades of grey, or you could fork out another £4,500 for an ‘Audi exclusive paint finish’.

Beyond that, your big choices are whether you want the sports suspension (£1,300) and carbon ceramic brakes (£9,200). Only you know how hard you’ll drive the thing; we suspect those of you sticking to motorways and frequently driving the car with the family on board will survive without either.

Definitely worth seeing if you can test drive cars with air and sports suspension back-to-back if you’re a keener driver, though, just to make sure the latter will be tolerable on the roads where you live

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Interior

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Specs & Prices

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