Sportback or otherwise, sedans aren’t supposed to evoke emotion.
Yet here I am, feeling positively tickled as I slide behind the wheel of the 2024 Audi RS 7 Performance. Could it be the 600-plus horsepower pulsating in front of me? Or the exhaust gurgling and burbling behind me? Maybe it’s the raw mechanical magnitude of the entire experience, or understanding the knife-like precision with which I’m about to carve up ribbons of Napa Valley’s finest asphalt, but in this moment I’m about as switched on as ever – and all thanks to what could easily double as a four-door family car.
Total Performance Package
Think of this tweaked version of the already stout RS 7 as the carbon-frame equivalent of your favourite aluminum bike. Just when you’re convinced it doesn’t get much better, it does – but it does so without a single aesthetic hint.
While this is the only version of 2024 Audi RS 7 that will be sold in Canada, there’s nothing to set the car apart visually from the one that came before it. With the exception of some optional new wheels and a couple paint colours to pick from, even a current owner could be convinced that there’s nothing more to get excited about.
Of course, it’s what’s lurking underneath the sculpted sheet metal that tells the tale, with a few mechanical tweaks doing an awful lot of heavy lifting. It’s not like the current version of this car was some kind of slouch, with 591 hp and 590 lb-ft to play with. To make this sedan worthy of its new Performance moniker, two bigger turbochargers than before were stuffed between the 4.0L V8’s cylinder banks, while boost pressure was increased from 34.8 to 37.7 psi.
The outcome is an engine that generates 621 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque and helps this sedan scamper from a standing start to 100 km/h in a claimed 3.4 seconds – two tenths of a second quicker than the standard version. But beyond increasing output, the engineers at Audi Sport swapped out the centre differential with a lighter mechanically locking unit that automatically shuffles more torque to the wheels that can best utilize it, while the eight-speed automatic transmission is said to shift more quickly.
The Incredible Shrinking Car
I’m awash with eager anticipation as I slip into the driver’s seat of this sizable sedan. We’re somewhere deep in the heart of California’s wine country, where the roads wind like grapevines and passing opportunities are sparse. But then every bit of this car feels like it was made for this moment.
It’s not just thanks to the heaps of torque that are barely a toe tap away, propelling the RS 7 onward like a machine possessed, but the standard rear-axle steering that sharpens its abilities in the corners. It’s one helluva combination, as is the complementary relationship between that torque-sensing centre differential and the torque-vectoring one in the back.
Charging toward a sharp uphill righthander, the RS 7 suddenly feels like a smaller car than its 5,008-mm (197.2-in) length and 1,951-mm (76.8-in) width would suggest. It’s all so well managed, which might not at first blush seem like it fits well with an outpouring of mechanical emotion; but the uncomplicated way in which it performs provides a sort of clear picture that enhances enjoyment. There’s more to feel precisely because it’s so composed.
A Real Looker
Having earlier driven the RS 6 wagon fitted with the standard air suspension (and steel brakes), it’s quickly becoming clear that the optional dynamic ride control setup probably isn’t the ride pick for most people. It’s certainly not as comfortable and compliant in its softest setting, while it has a tendency to get overwhelmed in its stiffest. Likewise, opting for the carbon-ceramic brakes is an expensive and largely unnecessary endeavour – not that they don’t look great tucked behind the optional lightweight 22-inch wheels, but there are other upgrades worth adding first.
Take the RS Design package that swaps the colour-matched mirror caps, front bumper intake accents and lip spoiler, and rear diffuser for matte grey – or optional matte carbon – pieces; it completes the look with subtle yet stylish accents. And so does the interior motif that comes with it, which includes seatbelts, upholstery, and carbon fibre inlays in the doors and dash all finished in blue. Set against exterior styling that’s sleek, unique, and just aggressive enough, the RS 7 is nothing if not distinctive.
Final Thoughts
Rolling back into town, I’m struck by how uneventful the last few miles – er, kilometres – have been. With a steady flow of traffic streaming into St. Helena, Calif., for the weekend ahead, the RS 7 has been purring and puttering along entirely untroubled by the geriatric pace at which we’re now moving.
It’s quite the party trick for a car with such supernatural abilities to suddenly seem so docile. Then I get out, take one glimpse at the matte-blue machine, and my pulse quickens once more. That’s the magic of this super sedan, while the wizardry only gets more alluring with this new performance package.
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