[V8] A7

[Bastian Homburg]

Don't blame Audi for this one (well, except for the styling. No friend 
of the zero-visibility gun-slit-like greenhouse, either). Blame the US 
buying public and maybe the Washington bureaucrats. They are definitely 
trying.
I've driven one recently for a week, and was thoroughly impressed. 3.0 
twin-turbo TDI diesel, 313 horses, a stump-pulling 650 Nm (that's 480 
lb-ft for you Americans) of torque, 0-60 in 5.something seconds,  
effortless cruising at 150-plus mph - and all that at an observed fuel 
economy of 31 mpg. If driven at speeds that'd not land me in jail in the 
US I'm sure the numbers Audi touts (36.7 mpg for the combined EU cycle) 
are actually attainable in real-world driving. So, the technology is 
there, you just don't get it in the US.
BTW, this is what you get as a loaner when dropping your V8 at the 
dealer to do the annual maintenance.



Roger M. Woodbury wrote:
> I just read something on the Internet about what a swell car the A7 is.  I
> am very fond of hatchbacks in general and think the auto industry is missing
> the boat by not manufacturing more of them, and educating our dumbed down
> population to think of their overall value instead of just running and
> hiding from the whole concept.  The SUV is pure waste and overkill for the
> majority of people driving them, and minivans have such an obnoxious
> connotation, that the one-size-fits-all mentality in the US auto industry
> (especially) irks me.  I would really like a car like the A7 which could
> replace the aging 100CS and the V8, which for us might be an intelligent
> choice.
>
> The car is a terrific development by Audi, I guess.  Although I was pretty
> well turned off by the ugly blunt nose that looks like a medeival battering
> ram and by windows that look more like the observation ports of German WWII
> coastal artillery observation posts.  What is it with the green houses on
> cars being built today?  So many seem to look slab sided with these tiny
> windows.  Is this the automotive design of a civilization become so fearful
> of about everything, that cars must be near solid ingots of steel (and
> plastic), enabling people to hide when inside?
>
> And then, I looked at the performance specs and one thing stood out way
> above the rest.  The fuel mileage.  I really don't care what the tax bracket
> of people is, the cost of fuel over time is not an insignificant factor.
> This pig...er...Audi, with its SIX cylinder turbocharged engine and EIGHT
> SPEED transmission manages 22 miles per gallon.  And that is all the great
> technological advances of Audi since the 1990 V8 was produced can develop?
>
> I think they are not half trying.
>
> I am not going to even visit the dealer to look at one close up. The
> combination of things brought a vague feeling of unease in the pit of my
> stomach.  Then I looked at the MSRP and saw that it is impossible to buy one
> without dropping something north of sixty grand at the dealer.
>
> There is one word to use in considering this sort of foolishness:  NO.
>
> Roger
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