Usually amped-up versions of regular cars don’t really look the part; in fact they look the same as the regular car. This is akin to a bodybuilder wearing a loose shirt, and that has also been the case with Audi’s. The S and RS variants might wear the badges and a bit of bling here and there, but they never really stand out from the crowd.
Part of the reason is Teutonic unexceptionalism. Just like in India we love the badges on our cars, so much so that the theft of car logos and hood ornaments was at a time a major problem. However, in Germany, the birthplace of the RS7, car logos are not a big deal. So you will see a BMW 5-series on the road, but you will not realise which variant it is. Those with an eye for detail will recognise the amped up versions AMG for Mercedes, M for BMW and RS for Audi, but often even these variants are devoid of signage marking their ancestry.
So the RS7 is a bit of a surprise on that front, because it looks the part. The first thing you notice is the thin veneer of rubber around the gigantic alloy wheels that is masquerading as a tyre. The next thing are the huge haunches of this car; the car looks full-bodied; it looks like Beyonce. Then there are the aerodynamic fittings, such as the ridiculously low front air-dam. The regular A7 sedan looks good with its Sportback design-style, but this car is clearly an A7 that spends a couple of hours in the gym everyday.
The fun part in any ridiculous car is when you get behind the wheel. But the RS7 is surprisingly gentle at low speeds, the ride quality on some roads is quite obviously not as soft as say that on any other large Audi sedan, given that the tyres have almost no give. You can actually feel the painted lines on a road, and driving over cats eyes are transferred into the cabin.
You also have to be extremely careful with this car around potholes or even the large mountains are disguise themselves as speed breakers. So when you do take this car out, drive it on roads you know that are nice and soft. Such as those in Central Delhi and the Noida-Agra Expressway.
Give this car a nice open stretch of road and let some air into the engine and watch as the mesmerising mix of carbon and noise fill the air. The twin-turbo four-litre engine produces a quite a lot of horsepower, 560 of them to be precise. And despite the fact that the RS7 is a very comfortable and heavy cruiser, this power can make it move fast. Very fast.
Closing speeds on the traffic ahead are incredible, you have to plan overtaking moves a kilometre or two before you undertake them. This car is utterly ridiculous, and makes a mockery of speed limits, but it does so in extreme comfort with a wonderful entertainment system and on the right roads, very comfortably indeed.
Then some question of handling, and the fact that the RS7 does have a formidable competitor in the BMW M5; and possibly on the racetrack the lighter and agile M5 is the car to buy. Although, in terms of size and quality the RS7 is actually pitted against the brilliant BMW M6. And they are both very good, very fast and very comfortable cruisers.
In fact, between the M6 and RS7, it is nearly impossible to choose a favourite, possibly the Audi simply because your writer is partial to the Sportback design.
We live in more environmentally conscious times, and buying a car that pretty much eats fuel in big gulps rather than sip it through a skinny straw might not make sense. Yet, there is a pleasure in a big petrol engined beast that you do not get in eco-cars, even the German luxury brands fitted with their small (and controversial) diesel engines.
It is rather ridiculous to spend Rs 1.4 crore (ex-showroom; closer to Rs 1.7 crore on-road) on a car like this, yet for someone who loves cars and loves the sensation of going fast there can be no better joy to do so in such levels of comfort. This is a car that can also manage the daily commute and deal with kids at the back, heck, it is large enough in the back that you pass it on to a chauffeur on weekdays.
Sure, Audi’s own R8 costs only a wee bit more, but is by virtue of being a supercar not as practical. Maniacal and practical are not two adjectives that one would usually string together, however in this case, those are the adjectives that best describe this crazy car!