Dan Neil's review of the RS7
12-14-2013, 05:16 AM
#1
AudiWorld Junior Member
Thread Starter
Dan Neil's review of the RS7
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...mentid=6747441
Audi RS7 Quattro Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal
Imagine the world's reddest German supersports sedan sitting in your driveway, just waiting for you. Elbow-high, a fastback roofline to kill for, ticking as it cools. Look at those bratty 21-inch forged wheels. Oh man, dig that honeycomb-pleated fetish leather and ebony wood trim with silver pin striping. You boys looking for a party?
The 2014 Audi RS7 is a super sports sedan of impressive pace and power, unless you want to drive in the cold. Rumble Seat columnist Dan Neil reports on the News Hub. Photo: Audi.
Now imagine trudging out to this same car before dawn, staring at it from under an umbrella in a steady sleet. After days of winter weather, my 2014 Audi NSU.XE +0.31% RS7's Pirelli gumballs are blocks of ice. All the horsepower in the world—and, by my calculation, the RS7 has all the horsepower in the world—hooked to an all-wheel drive system so luminous it's practically a chakra … all 'tis vanity on cold summer tires and slick roads.
Photos: Audi RS7 Quattro
View Slideshow
Click to view slideshow. Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal
WSJ Rumble Seat columnist Dan Neil visits the News Hub to reveal his picks for the top car of 2013. Photo: Chevrolet
Cold weather is the comic downfall of exotic sport tires, which have carefully engineered chemistries to optimize grip and traction in their range of operating temperatures. Sport tires are also designed to shed heat, which means in cold weather they take longer to reach optimal temperatures, if they ever do. They have more tread on the asphalt, for more grip, and fewer water channeling grooves.
Low-profile sport tires, like the rubber bands wrapped around the Audi's (mad, sick, pointlessly enormous) 21-inch wheels, have stiff sidewall carcasses to increase handling precision and steering response. Ohmygod, on dry pavement the RS7 rips into corners with an almost aerobatic moment of lateral g-loading followed by perfectly balanced, confident supercar cornering. This thing is ferocious.
Except when the tires are cold. Then you drive like a little baby reindeer taking its first unsteady steps onto a frozen lake.
All fast cars look foolish when they are covered in ice. And it isn't Pirelli's fault. It is practically written on the side of the tire: "not for use in cold weather." It is just that the mighty RS7's impotence is more keenly felt because grip, traction and putting a hot mess of torque on the ground is so fundamental to the nature of these fast Audis. But a lot depends on the tire and the tire is temperature-dependent.
Meanwhile, my $122,545 loaner, a succubus that molests my mind with every glance, a car so lewd they have to pixilate it in Japan… well, she's got her feet in four frozen turkeys and she isn't going anywhere.
“ When the tires are cold....you drive like a baby reindeer taking its first unsteady steps onto a frozen lake. ”
It isn't that the RS7 isn't a capable alpine tourer. With the right tires on it you could winter over in the Dolomites, no problem. After all, it is all-wheel drive. Actually, I think in this generation of sport-tuned, torque-vectoring Quattro (I detest using the trade name, by the way) we're looking at the final and finest iteration of mechanically coupled AWD systems. The next generation of AWD will likely be led by split systems, with electrical motors driving either front or rear axles. Better better better, spiral of virtues, etc.
Meanwhile, the RS7 is nothing less than an upholstered rally car. Tragically upholstered, but still.
Settle in for a tour of the powertrain. It begins with one of the most bat-guano engines ever built by a German car company: a reverse-breathing twin-scroll twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter four-cam V8—reverse-breathing because the exhaust manifolds and turbocharger assemblies are nestled in the engine V, between the direct-injection cylinder heads. This supercompact engine is fitted together with watch-like tolerances but it operates at blowtorch temperatures, with a max boost of 17.4 psi, a 10.1 compression ratio and a 6,700-rpm fuel cutoff. Among other things it is a miracle of thermal management, to say nothing of emissions control.
2014 Audi RS7 Quattro Tiptronic
Enlarge Image
Audi of America
Base price: $104,900
Price, as tested: $122,545
Powertrain: Dual twin-scroll turbocharged direct-injection 4.0-liter DOHC V8 with variable valve timing; eight-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode: full-time AWD with electronically locking center differential and torque-vectoring rear differential.
Horsepower/torque: 560 hp at 5,700-6,600; 516 pound-feet at 1,750-5,500
Length/weight: 197.3 inches/4,475 pounds
Wheelbase: 114.8 inches
0-60 mph: 3.5 seconds (Car and Driver)
EPA fuel economy: 16/27/19 mpg, city/highway/combined
Cargo capacity: 24.5 cubic ft
Now, why is compactness important? For one thing, the smaller the engine package, usually, the lower the crank center height can be. In an all-wheel drive car, in which the drive components are in line, lower crank height has an outsize effect on lowering a vehicle's center of gravity, a good thing for Audis and Subarus alike. A lower engine profile also means lower minimum hood height, and that unties a lot of hands, packaging-wise, from the styling to the safety to the aero guys.
In other words, if you like the unsparingly modern, clean lines of the RS7's hood, you can thank the engine department. With the ingrown turbos glowing dully, this engine produces an indefensible/wonderful 560 hp between 5,700- 6,600 rpm, sufficient to propel the 4,475-pound four-door to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, according to Car and Driver, on its way to 11.6 seconds for elapsed time in the quarter-mile.
Oof. That is pretty sudden, all right. Those are colossal numbers. Highways will be littered with blown-off doors. And I can tell you from the few warm days I had the car, the RS7's full-throttle 2-3 upshift comes complete with joyous, booming back-pressure crackle, like the Kaiser's birthday fireworks going off in the trunk.
How fast? The RS7's top speed depends on the wheel-and-tire package clients select. The standard-issue 20-inch tires are recommended for an electronically limited 155 mph. The Dynamic and Dynamic Plus packages include speed-rated tires good for 174 and 190 mph, respectively. U.S. cars, however, are limited to 174 mph. My car has the Rings of Doom: Pirelli P-Zeros 275/30 21's.
More on Cars
Driver's Seat blog
Eyes on the Road
Jonathan Welsh: Me & My Car
All-wheel-drive traction is also essential to the RS7's signature move, its party trick, which is its weirdly drama-free, nearly instant conversion of turbo torque—a girder-twisting 516 pound-feet from 1,750-5,500 rpm—to rolling acceleration. Romp the throttle from between 40 to 70 mph and the car practically teleports itself forward, a mere fine tremble in the seat and wheel even as the car violently peels back the landscape.
Because the engine puts out more torque than Audi's dual-clutch seven-speed gearbox can handle, the RS7 uses an eight-speed automatic with a torque converter, the Tiptronic. And why not? When the elegant shifter is slotted into the S gate, and the vehicle-dynamics switches are turned to, well, Dynamic, the ZF-sourced slushbox does everything a good dual-clutch would do—wring out the revs at redline, blip the throttle on downshifts, shift fast and often. It goes like crazy and is faultlessly refined besides.
Downstream of the transmission is the heart of the AWD system, a stout, fully automated locking center differential, providing a baseline torque split between the axles of 60%/40%, rear/front.
But in moments of high dudgeon, nearly 85% of engine torque can be thrown to the rear axle or 70% to the front.
Farther downstream is the RS7's torque-vectoring sport differential with two wet-clutch-actuated super-positional gears. These allow the outside rear wheel to be driven as much as 10% faster than the inside wheel, helping to null out understeer and rotate the car in the direction the driver wants.
It is all of a piece with the RS7's tire hazing, mind-gagging pace and power, unless, oh baby, it's cold outside.
Audi RS7 Quattro Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal
Imagine the world's reddest German supersports sedan sitting in your driveway, just waiting for you. Elbow-high, a fastback roofline to kill for, ticking as it cools. Look at those bratty 21-inch forged wheels. Oh man, dig that honeycomb-pleated fetish leather and ebony wood trim with silver pin striping. You boys looking for a party?
The 2014 Audi RS7 is a super sports sedan of impressive pace and power, unless you want to drive in the cold. Rumble Seat columnist Dan Neil reports on the News Hub. Photo: Audi.
Now imagine trudging out to this same car before dawn, staring at it from under an umbrella in a steady sleet. After days of winter weather, my 2014 Audi NSU.XE +0.31% RS7's Pirelli gumballs are blocks of ice. All the horsepower in the world—and, by my calculation, the RS7 has all the horsepower in the world—hooked to an all-wheel drive system so luminous it's practically a chakra … all 'tis vanity on cold summer tires and slick roads.
Photos: Audi RS7 Quattro
View Slideshow
Click to view slideshow. Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal
WSJ Rumble Seat columnist Dan Neil visits the News Hub to reveal his picks for the top car of 2013. Photo: Chevrolet
Cold weather is the comic downfall of exotic sport tires, which have carefully engineered chemistries to optimize grip and traction in their range of operating temperatures. Sport tires are also designed to shed heat, which means in cold weather they take longer to reach optimal temperatures, if they ever do. They have more tread on the asphalt, for more grip, and fewer water channeling grooves.
Low-profile sport tires, like the rubber bands wrapped around the Audi's (mad, sick, pointlessly enormous) 21-inch wheels, have stiff sidewall carcasses to increase handling precision and steering response. Ohmygod, on dry pavement the RS7 rips into corners with an almost aerobatic moment of lateral g-loading followed by perfectly balanced, confident supercar cornering. This thing is ferocious.
Except when the tires are cold. Then you drive like a little baby reindeer taking its first unsteady steps onto a frozen lake.
All fast cars look foolish when they are covered in ice. And it isn't Pirelli's fault. It is practically written on the side of the tire: "not for use in cold weather." It is just that the mighty RS7's impotence is more keenly felt because grip, traction and putting a hot mess of torque on the ground is so fundamental to the nature of these fast Audis. But a lot depends on the tire and the tire is temperature-dependent.
Meanwhile, my $122,545 loaner, a succubus that molests my mind with every glance, a car so lewd they have to pixilate it in Japan… well, she's got her feet in four frozen turkeys and she isn't going anywhere.
“ When the tires are cold....you drive like a baby reindeer taking its first unsteady steps onto a frozen lake. ”
It isn't that the RS7 isn't a capable alpine tourer. With the right tires on it you could winter over in the Dolomites, no problem. After all, it is all-wheel drive. Actually, I think in this generation of sport-tuned, torque-vectoring Quattro (I detest using the trade name, by the way) we're looking at the final and finest iteration of mechanically coupled AWD systems. The next generation of AWD will likely be led by split systems, with electrical motors driving either front or rear axles. Better better better, spiral of virtues, etc.
Meanwhile, the RS7 is nothing less than an upholstered rally car. Tragically upholstered, but still.
Settle in for a tour of the powertrain. It begins with one of the most bat-guano engines ever built by a German car company: a reverse-breathing twin-scroll twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter four-cam V8—reverse-breathing because the exhaust manifolds and turbocharger assemblies are nestled in the engine V, between the direct-injection cylinder heads. This supercompact engine is fitted together with watch-like tolerances but it operates at blowtorch temperatures, with a max boost of 17.4 psi, a 10.1 compression ratio and a 6,700-rpm fuel cutoff. Among other things it is a miracle of thermal management, to say nothing of emissions control.
2014 Audi RS7 Quattro Tiptronic
Enlarge Image
Audi of America
Base price: $104,900
Price, as tested: $122,545
Powertrain: Dual twin-scroll turbocharged direct-injection 4.0-liter DOHC V8 with variable valve timing; eight-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode: full-time AWD with electronically locking center differential and torque-vectoring rear differential.
Horsepower/torque: 560 hp at 5,700-6,600; 516 pound-feet at 1,750-5,500
Length/weight: 197.3 inches/4,475 pounds
Wheelbase: 114.8 inches
0-60 mph: 3.5 seconds (Car and Driver)
EPA fuel economy: 16/27/19 mpg, city/highway/combined
Cargo capacity: 24.5 cubic ft
Now, why is compactness important? For one thing, the smaller the engine package, usually, the lower the crank center height can be. In an all-wheel drive car, in which the drive components are in line, lower crank height has an outsize effect on lowering a vehicle's center of gravity, a good thing for Audis and Subarus alike. A lower engine profile also means lower minimum hood height, and that unties a lot of hands, packaging-wise, from the styling to the safety to the aero guys.
In other words, if you like the unsparingly modern, clean lines of the RS7's hood, you can thank the engine department. With the ingrown turbos glowing dully, this engine produces an indefensible/wonderful 560 hp between 5,700- 6,600 rpm, sufficient to propel the 4,475-pound four-door to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, according to Car and Driver, on its way to 11.6 seconds for elapsed time in the quarter-mile.
Oof. That is pretty sudden, all right. Those are colossal numbers. Highways will be littered with blown-off doors. And I can tell you from the few warm days I had the car, the RS7's full-throttle 2-3 upshift comes complete with joyous, booming back-pressure crackle, like the Kaiser's birthday fireworks going off in the trunk.
How fast? The RS7's top speed depends on the wheel-and-tire package clients select. The standard-issue 20-inch tires are recommended for an electronically limited 155 mph. The Dynamic and Dynamic Plus packages include speed-rated tires good for 174 and 190 mph, respectively. U.S. cars, however, are limited to 174 mph. My car has the Rings of Doom: Pirelli P-Zeros 275/30 21's.
More on Cars
Driver's Seat blog
Eyes on the Road
Jonathan Welsh: Me & My Car
All-wheel-drive traction is also essential to the RS7's signature move, its party trick, which is its weirdly drama-free, nearly instant conversion of turbo torque—a girder-twisting 516 pound-feet from 1,750-5,500 rpm—to rolling acceleration. Romp the throttle from between 40 to 70 mph and the car practically teleports itself forward, a mere fine tremble in the seat and wheel even as the car violently peels back the landscape.
Because the engine puts out more torque than Audi's dual-clutch seven-speed gearbox can handle, the RS7 uses an eight-speed automatic with a torque converter, the Tiptronic. And why not? When the elegant shifter is slotted into the S gate, and the vehicle-dynamics switches are turned to, well, Dynamic, the ZF-sourced slushbox does everything a good dual-clutch would do—wring out the revs at redline, blip the throttle on downshifts, shift fast and often. It goes like crazy and is faultlessly refined besides.
Downstream of the transmission is the heart of the AWD system, a stout, fully automated locking center differential, providing a baseline torque split between the axles of 60%/40%, rear/front.
But in moments of high dudgeon, nearly 85% of engine torque can be thrown to the rear axle or 70% to the front.
Farther downstream is the RS7's torque-vectoring sport differential with two wet-clutch-actuated super-positional gears. These allow the outside rear wheel to be driven as much as 10% faster than the inside wheel, helping to null out understeer and rotate the car in the direction the driver wants.
It is all of a piece with the RS7's tire hazing, mind-gagging pace and power, unless, oh baby, it's cold outside.
12-14-2013, 04:37 PM
#2
AudiWorld Junior Member
What a embarrassing review from wsj. The focus of summer tires not performing well in cold shouldn't be the focus. Audi's are superb all season performers with correct tires, and to state it is a fair weather vehicle is BS. Wsj needs a new auto reviewer.
12-14-2013, 08:23 PM
#3
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Agree...really odd and duuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh captain obvious. No sane person would drive it without a switch to winter tires....it then it will drive circles around everything else.
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