2021 Audi S7 track test and performance review
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TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, Chris here from CarExpert and we're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:04Today I've got the Audi S7. Now this is an interesting one because we've had the M550
00:09from BMW and that was a surprise package, that was super quick out here on the track,
00:13so we're interested to see how close this thing can get. So it's got the V6 twin turbo up front,
00:18331 kilowatts and 600 newtons of torque, so not quite matching the BMW in terms of numbers,
00:24and also slightly heavier at 2030 kilos. All-wheel drive via the quattro system,
00:30interested to see how close we get. First we'll do the 0 to 100 and then the braking test,
00:34then we'll do some hot laps and see how quick she is.
00:37So initial impressions, I quite like the seating position, really comfortable as you'd expect in
00:55a car like this, but also a decent amount of support and not moving around too much.
00:59Steering wheel's good, on the track I do like the Alcantara finish, but the leather here with the
01:06slightly abrasive finish is not bad at all. I like the position I'm sitting in, I really like
01:10that, it's a good feeling, you feel like you're part of the car, so that's nice. Steering as with
01:16most of the Audis feels slightly light, lacking a little feedback. Alright, let's see what the
01:23engine's like. That's nice, super responsive, so straight from the bottom end there it's got
01:29power straight away, so plenty of torque, 600Nm, but barely any lag, so that's awesome,
01:37that's going to be helpful on the track. Gearbox is okay, just the downshifts I've had a few issues
01:42with, just not quite following exactly when I want to downshift, and I find that difficult on
01:48the track because it's all part of your braking and your entry phase of the corner, and if it
01:52doesn't work to plan then you struggle a little bit more. As you can imagine with the quattro
01:57system, I don't think there'll be any big issue with traction at all. I've got everything in
02:01dynamic mode, it does have the air suspension, so it's fully lowered as well, which will help
02:06in terms of centre of gravity. I've got manual mode in the gearshift, traction control off,
02:11ESC off, and let's try and see how fast this goes.
02:57So
03:05there you go guys, Audi S7. Now, the time's not amazing, 60.2 and I had to work pretty hard for
03:32it, using all the road and some, but dynamically it's actually a really good car. It's like,
03:37fundamentally there's a lot of good things going on. It has nice transfer of weight,
03:41nice and controlled, although it's soft, it doesn't roll too far, and I liked how I was
03:46able to manage the brake pedal and get the car to rotate a little. Now, it's a big car,
03:512,000 kilos, so you do notice that weight, and if you try and push too hard on the entry,
03:57it just destroys the lap, and I definitely had a couple of laps where I threw away a lot of time,
04:02but it's not far away, and it actually does a lot of things well, so you're not going to see
04:07many people bring these out to the track, but on a nice twisty road with good fundamentals,
04:13this can be a fun car to drive. You've got good torque, 600 newton metres, very drivable, very
04:19smooth power, not quite the top end that I would like, it just runs out of a bit of steam on the
04:24straight, but nice and smooth off the corners. Traction's good, differentials are good and
04:30helping you a lot, you feel that they're assisting you, you feel like it's helping the rotation.
04:35For sure, if you overcommit, you get some understeer, and it can turn into some oversteer
04:39as well, but if you're thoughtful about the energy in the car and the weight in the car,
04:44you can manage it quite well. Gearbox is okay. Again, on the downshifts, I ask for it, whether
04:50I'm asking for it too early, I don't know, but I ask for a downshift and I'm not getting it,
04:53and then I'll go for another one and I'm not getting it, then I'll finally get the gear,
04:55and it's just a bit not intuitive, like it's not connected to you. For track work,
05:00I'd like that to be a bit sharper, but like I said, not many people are going to track these cars,
05:04it's more of a comfortable but fast touring car, and like I said, the fundamentals are excellent.
05:10I really, really like how the chassis works, for such a big chassis that you can actually
05:14attack and turn and rotate and be aggressive with the car, and I think that's going to come
05:19back to driver feedback and you will enjoy this as a driver's car as much as a daily driver as well.
05:29So there you go guys, the Audi S7. Now that was a pretty good overall package,
05:33not outright the quickest car out there, and you're not going to see many of these on the track
05:37either, but the actual lap time was decent, driving on the track was actually pretty good,
05:40the package worked well together, the chassis, the differentials, the dampers, everything sort
05:44of tied together nicely and was on a pretty equal level playing field with each other,
05:48which is a nice thing in a car, you want that balance that one thing's not outshining other
05:52areas. The M550 did beat it on lap time wise, but to drive, this actually wasn't a bad car on the
05:58track. Now my top three tips are firstly, you've got to manage that weight, it's 2,000 kilos, so
06:03that's a lot of energy going into the corner, and the trick is it is actually really well balanced,
06:07so how you release that brake pedal is important, so that's my second tip. If you release it nice
06:12and smooth in control, you can keep the weight on the nose and rotate the car well. My final tip is
06:16careful on the downshifts, it won't actually shift if you shift really early, so it caught
06:21me out quite a few times, I rushed the downshift and it wouldn't actually shift down gears for me,
06:24so be patient on the downshift. Hope you guys enjoyed the video, if you did, hit the like
06:28button and don't forget to subscribe, plenty more content to come, lots of exciting cars in 2021,
06:34so stay tuned for that!