I have an A7 for an extended test drive and just spent 4 hours in it on all kinds of roads. I've read dozens of reviews on the A7 and know a lot about the car. There are "MANY" things I love about the A7, but I must say the ride is much rougher than I expected.

The demo car has the 20 inch Yokohama tires and I read in some reviews they were a bit rough and should be avoided unless you intended to do the most aggressive driving, which I do not. If I were to order an A7 I would get the 19 inch all-seasons, but I'm seriously wondering how much that will improve the ride on rough and semi-rough roads. The car is also louder than I expected, and again I'm wondering how much the tire change will mitigate this. I checked tire pressure on the Yokohama's and they are set at the max of 50 psi, but the tire-wall didn't indicate what the minimum pressure allowed was. Do you think this would make much of a difference.

I'm now considering not getting the A7 and going with a BMW 550i xDrive instead. However, I'm still conflicted and if it wasn't for the rough ride the A7 would be my next car.

Any thoughts?

50 psi per tire is definitely a major factor to the rough ride you just experienced. The narrower sidewalls of the 20" tires is another contributing factor. Sounds like someone's overinflated the tires. The tires should be inflated per Audi's recommendation in the manual.

Agreed. Tires inflated to 50 psi will have a _huge_ impact on ride quality. When the cars are shipped, the tires are inflated to max PSI so that when they are tied down on the ships and other transport vehicles, the tires don't get flat spots. In this case, it seems that someone at the dealership neglected to set the pressures to the proper PSI as part of the PDI process.

If I were you, I would lower the pressures to the recommended PSI, usually found inside the driver's door, and try again. I believe you will have a significantly different experience. Remember, the only thing keeping that 4,000+ pounds attached to the road is four pretty small patches of rubber. Frankly, nothing is more important than that interface.

All of those Audi demo cars have the 20 inch wheels and the stiffer sport suspension.

And an over inflated tire @ 50 psi? No wonder it's rough.

A BMW ain't gonna ride any better if you compare apples to apples. A 550 compares more with the A6. I don't think you can even get 20 inch wheels on a 5 series, unless I'm wrong?

You put 20's /sport pacakge on a 550 BMW and inflate the tires to 50 psi....it will probably shake the fillings out of your mouth.

the tires come over inflated from the factory for shipping reasons, your dealer is suppose to fix the psi when they inspect the car. That is definitely why the ride was so rough..

I took a 20 minute drive in an A7 with the 20" Sport Package and properly inflated tires yesterday. Even in dynamic mode, the ride was fine. I will be checking the 20" Sport Package box on my order. As much as I wanted to stick with the 19" tires for the extra ride quality, the 20" wheels just look much better than the 19" wheels. I am dreading having to clean these 10-spoke suckers, but hey, that's the price of style...

I do think it is very interesing that Audi included the 20" inch tires and the sport package on their demos. The car is definetely feels very sporty.

And unless we are buying the car mostly for looks, many of us will be checking the sports package box on the order form, in fear of getting a new car that feels a lot less of a car than the demo we drove.

Great way to sell more options (and possible future tire swapping services at the dealer)!