Go back to Page 1: Intro, styling, comfort

And once you get tired of pootling along at seven, a press of the RS button engages the ‘11’ preset and unlocks a vast torrent of performance. If you floor it, better not to look at the speedo since it reaches ‘illegal in all of Singapore’ from whatever you were doing faster than you think – good thing it’s got a head-up display.

The 4.0-litre V8 has little turbo lag, while downshifts from the gearbox are lightning quick, so going from ‘la-dee-da’ to ‘we have liftoff’ is almost instant. The turbo V8 soundtrack is exciting, and you’ll tickle the shift paddles just to hear it go ‘bloorp’, while the huge, sticky tyres, unflappable air suspension and all-wheel steering allow it to pull Gs like a merry-go-round. 

At just over two-tonnes, the RS 7 is no hot hatch, but you don’t always feel like you need to crack on everywhere you go. Like its brethren RSs, there’s plenty of drama mixed with an undercurrent of solidity that makes the car easy to drive fast, and easier to back off when the situation doesn’t suit speed. 

But despite it being on virgin ground in Singapore, the RS 7’s behaviour comes as absolutely no surprise. Under the skin, it’s almost exactly like the RS 6 Avant – similar footprint, dimensions, drivetrain and all, they even have the same headlights – so it’s no shock they drive in a very similar fashion. 

 
The current RS 6 Avant is such a techno-force-choke over its predecessor we kept making Star Wars jokes in our review of it, though the mega-wagon is serious as Darth Vader (Does that make the sleeker RS 7 Darth Maul?).

Our RS 6 Avant review goes in depth and a long way to explaining the RS 7’s behaviour

The only thing to choose between the two is the Avant/wagon aesthetic versus coupe style – the RS 7 carries 535-litres of cargo under its liftback door, expandable to 1,390-litres. The RS 6 has a larger, taller boot space, but carries not that much more: 565-litres, though it’s 1,680-litres with the seats down. 

To pick nits, the RS 7 could do with a tad more steering feel, and having one button means going through ‘RS2’ mode to get back to normal mode is an annoyance, unlike BMW M’s dramatic red ‘launch’ switches.

Also, as a large, high-performance car don’t expect the RS 7 to do anything but gulp fuel, even if there’s a mild hybrid system and cylinder deactivation onboard – we never saw better than 13L/100km. At least that sort of makes sense in a sporty car and not a people-carrier. 

While the care and feeding of high-performance cars like this is never cheap by mainstream standards, you can’t accuse the RS 7 of being overpriced in context. It’s not a light touch car, nor an inexpensive one – but neither are any of its competitors such as the BMW M8 Gran Coupe, and the Mercedes-AMG 63 GT 4-Door.

You could argue those cars aim at being more luxurious than the Sportback, but both of those cars are a lot more expensive – both at least S$750k with COE at today’s prices. The RS 7 makes quick, convenient German high-performance look almost affordable in comparison.

Audi RS 7 Sportback 

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