Driving view
Written by | Zhao Wenhua
Most urban people have the word "exquisite" in their hearts. Exquisite often means exquisite, accompanied by a unique sense of ceremony, take a cup of ordinary coffee, in the office, we call it "life-sustaining water", if we change to the sea, we call it "petty bourgeoisie".
The difference between a car and a coupe may lie in this, the former pays more attention to practicality, and the latter is based on practicality and incorporates a richer life atmosphere - as if the Audi A6L and A7L are in front of you at the same time, and the choice you make is just that you have different expectations of life, there is no right or wrong, only differences.
Objectively speaking, the extended Audi A7L is not a coupe in the strict sense, in my opinion, the body length of more than 5 meters, the wheelbase of more than 3 meters, it is more like a set of coupes and executive cars in one of the composite species. The author understands SAIC Audi's "one fish, two eats" approach very well, but there is a premise, that is, A7L cannot lose the temperament of the coupe.
The Audi A7L did not lose the soul of the coupe
Like other Audi models, the Audi A7L is available in two models, the 45 TFSI with a 2.0T engine and the 55 TFSI with a 3.0T engine, both of which are clearly marked at the rear.
Frankly speaking, the author did not take the 2.0T model in his eyes before the test drive, and like most people, he believes that the 3.0T V6 is the essence of the Audi A7L, but after the actual experience, the author's view has changed.
First of all, let's talk about the basic situation of the 2.0T model. It is equipped with a 2.0T high-power engine with a maximum horsepower of 245 hp and a maximum torque of 370 Nm, matching a 7-speed wet dual clutch. Compared with the Audi A6L, which is also 2.0T high-power, it can be seen that the tuning of this engine is more aggressive. It is worth emphasizing that except for the entry-level, all other models of the Audi A7L are equipped with the quattro four-wheel drive system - as a coupe, stronger power reserves and free play space are the temperament of the Audi A7L.
In terms of actual driving experience, this 2.0T engine is really not disappointing, a foot of floor oil, the vehicle speed up reaction is within my expectations, and the power output is very smooth, I have to admire Audi's ability to adjust 7DCT, almost no different from 8AT. Of course, after all, it is a 2.0T machine, and it is not difficult to detect its limits.
Compared with its power performance, the comprehensive driving experience brought by this 2.0T four-wheel drive model is more pleasant, linear acceleration, emergency braking, continuous winding or U-shaped corners, you can completely put the speed within the extreme speed range you can Control, because it will bring you strong confidence, and even induce your heart "little devil" - let people have the urge to drive, is the soul of a coupe.
As for the chassis performance, I can only say that among the three BBA companies, Audi's chassis tuning skills are the most profound, although the A7L has made a compromise for comfort, but when driving fiercely, it can still reflect the unique high-end texture of Audi's high-end models - calm and solid but full of toughness.
Test drive 3.0T model, we changed to the city test drive, limited by road conditions, the author has no chance to experience the 3.0T V6 engine + 48V light mix this powertrain how strong it really is, occasionally take advantage of the sparse traffic when the deep step on the throttle, at most to 1/2 of the throttle have to hurry to collect the gas, because its speed up is too fast. Honestly, driving a 3.0T A7L in the city is too humiliating, and it is simply a tyrannical thing to go with the throttle at any time.
Fortunately, a winding road made me a little addicted. Hovering up at a speed of about 40km/h, it behaves like an executive-grade sedan, but on a fairly clean mountain road, when I switched to the sport mode "big throttle" to advance, the car immediately changed its appearance, it constantly induces your desire for throttle, stable body posture and comfortable steering often make me forget that this is a "big man" of more than 5 meters. Moreover, when passing through potholed road conditions, I do not have to deliberately slow down sharply, and the body of the car it is equipped with can be reduced by up to 10mm, and the adaptive air suspension with up to 20mm can be easily handled by different road conditions.
It is worth mentioning that the Audi A7L is also the first domestic model equipped with a dynamic all-wheel steering system, which undoubtedly brings a better driving experience, when driving at low speeds, the front and rear wheels are turned oppositely, thereby achieving a smaller and more flexible turning radius, and when driving at high speeds, the front and rear wheels are steered consistently to improve the stability of lane changes.
We often use "metaphysics" to compare the control of a car, because the control can usually only be understood, audi A7L is probably such a car, although it is a coupe with an L, but its handling performance still does not lose the level of a coupe, and even makes people feel a little surprised.
What is the experience of "two in one"?
Domestic Audi play longer, can be described as pure fire, it is no wonder, the Chinese people not only like to be big, but also hope to be comprehensive, there is a demand for operation, therefore, many brands will do trade-offs and balance.
The Audi A7L is also a product of balance, it retains many of the characteristics of the coupe, in addition to the driving style mentioned above, it also retains a lot of coupe elements in the appearance, such as borderless doors, large slipback shape, S-line nameplates everywhere and so on. In addition, A7L has also developed a number of body colors that are more in line with the temperament of the coupe, such as the "Galaxy Blue" that the author tested, under the background of the sun, like blue non-blue, like green non-green car paint is particularly advanced.
Sitting in the car, the Audi A7L gives people a strong sense of "administrative" atmosphere (the same shape as the original Audi A7), the center console and doors are supplemented by a large area of dark brown wood grain trim, the 12.3-inch central control screen has been added to the right side of the A-pillar with thick chrome trim, and the lower part of the air conditioner outlet and the rear central armrest are also equipped with touch screens. In addition, the A7L also comes standard with 30-color mood lights, but the visual effect is still very "administrative", not as bright as Mercedes-Benz.
On the interior of the Audi A7L, the author does not make too much evaluation, the only point is that it has little relevance to the coupe, but the overall quality maintains the usual level of Audi high-end models, and the operation is also very convenient, such as the function keys on the steering wheel with damping feedback, and the touch of all the buttons in the car is also very delicate.
In terms of riding experience, the Audi A7L is more like an executive-class sedan, the seats are very comfortable, the 2.0T/3.0T high-end models use leather seats, and the models with medium and below use a mixture of leather and fur. But the comfortable seat does not have the wrapping feeling of a sports car.
Moving to the second row, the sense of executive level experience is upgraded again, and after being extended, the second row of space is too rich to meet all the postures you expect. However, because the rear floor is too high, it can only be comfortably seated for two people. In addition, the sound insulation performance of the Audi A7L, the author must praise, indeed reached the level of executive-level luxury cars.
『 Final Remarks 』
Finally, let's talk about one of the most realistic topics - is the Audi A7L worth buying? First, let's take a look at its configuration. As we all know, on-demand options can reflect the value of luxury cars, Audi A7L is no exception, it is equipped with a standard car networking system (but I prefer to use Car-play), intelligent driver assistance system, it only provides lane departure warning as a basic configuration, fortunately, the pre-collision system is standard, and the sub-low model is also equipped with 360 full shadow. Other high-end configurations such as lane keeping, intelligent traffic recognition, full-speed domain adaptive cruise, and night vision system, except for the top model that is the original factory configuration, other models are optional.
In addition, there are many options for other comfort configurations of audi A7L, seat massage, ventilation functions, electric tailgates (including inductive tailgates) need to be installed; B&O audio that makes many audiophiles mind, has to spend 12,000 yuan to install, add a rear LCD screen to spend 20,000 pieces, and the electric suction door is also optional... The author calculated that if you are based on 2.0T four-wheel drive (two-wheel drive is completely boring), if you want to get a more comfortable, more advanced configuration, at least it will cost about 550,000; if you do not choose V6, at least spend more than 100,000, that is, 60 tens of thousands.
Compared for half a day, is it worth it? The author's point is that if you are a rich person who pursues control, values mechanical quality over comfort configuration, and is unwilling to drive a "street car", then the Audi A7L is worth the money, if you care about the grade or level of a car, the Audi A7L is obviously not the best choice.
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