2011 in Review: The best car I drove for >$40k
By John LeBlanc
While I drove much faster cars, and more expensive cars, a fossil-fueled luxury car, Audi’s audacious A7 Sportback 3.0T, was the “best” car I drove in the past 12 months.
In simple terms, the A7 is a four-passenger hatchback version of the all-new-for-2012 A6 five-passenger four-door sedan. But the Sportback’s sum equals much more than its differing parts.
In a so-called “four-door coupé” segment that includes the vulgarly styled Mercedes-Benz CLS, awkward-looking BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo, and SUV-based Porsche Panamera, the A7 is arguably the classiest solution.And like Audi’s A5 coupé, the looks like a million bucks, despite a competitive $68,600 starting price.
As per the A6, the A7 is jammed with Audi’s excellent Quattro all-wheel-drive system and the latest in in-car hi-tech. Yet despite its practical aspirations, the A7 is quiet on the road when required, but can act like a sports sedan when its 310 hp, supercharged 3.0-litre V6 is called upon. Better yet: An even sportier 420 hp V8 version, dubbed S7, is on the way. Can’t wait.