2025 Audi S7 Review and Test Drive

Style, speed, and SUV-rivaling space at a substantial cost.

Christian Wardlaw | 

Dec 5, 2024 | 6 min read

Christian Wardlaw

The 2025 Audi S7 proves you don't need a crossover SUV to get a luxurious vehicle with all-wheel drive, enough room for a family of four, and a spacious cargo area. Equipped with a powerful engine, standard Quattro AWD, and a four-door Sportback body style, this performance-tuned luxury car does everything you want a crossover to do except sit high off the road for a better view and extra ground clearance.

Audi sells the 2025 S7 in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trim. Base prices range from the mid-$80,000s to the mid-$90,000s, including the destination charge for shipping the car from the Neckarsulm, Germany, factory that builds it to your local dealership. If you want something less expensive, consider the similar but less powerful Audi A7.

I test-drove the Prestige in Southern California. Optional equipment highlights included extra-cost paint, a Black Optic package, a Luxury package, and a high-end 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system. Those upgrades brought the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $102,640, including the $1,295 destination charge. Audi provided the vehicle for this review.

Christian Wardlaw

Is the 2025 Audi S7 a Good Car?

As a luxury performance car, the Audi S7 is an excellent choice. Attractively styled and subtle about its speed-based mission, it drives brilliantly, exudes quality, and is more practical than any sedan.

It is not alone in its quest for customers seeking more from a car than a traditional trunk. The more expensive Mercedes-AMG GT and Porsche Panamera offer a similarly sleek hatchback configuration, and some people might also cross-shop the Audi S7 with the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe, which is arguably a sedan with a traditional trunk.

Christian Wardlaw

Timeless Design, a Comfortable Cabin, and Helpful Utility

Audi's design ethos is about timelessness not trendiness. There are always exceptions, but the 2025 S7 is not one of them, especially when painted in Chronos Gray like my test vehicle. Aside from the S7 emblems, 21-inch wheels with a bold pattern, and oversized quad exhaust outlets, nothing about the car's look suggests it supplies plenty of speed.

Open the driver's door, and a cold and technical cabin awaits. Awash in high-quality materials, the interior is business-like and purposeful instead of warm and inviting. Unfortunately, the widespread use of glass display screens and piano-black trim means dust and smudges soon ruin the aesthetic.

The control layout is clean but sometimes confusing. Except for the stereo volume knob, operating this car by touch is difficult.

For example, the climate controls are touch sensing, located on a display mounted under the infotainment system, requiring a driver to look well away from the road to find and use the correct function. The adaptive cruise control is on a lower left stalk jutting from the steering column, where it is difficult to see. In addition, many of the surfaces can wash out in sunlight or suffer from reflections and glare.

Christian Wardlaw

Comfort is exceptional. Entry and exit require some added effort, and you must duck your head due to the car's rakish roofline. Once you've tucked yourself inside, the Prestige's heated, ventilated, and massaging seats are extraordinarily comfortable. Remarkably, I found the S7's heated back seat equally so, though taller people with long torsos might find the headroom inadequate.

What makes an Audi S7 so compelling compared to an Audi S6 sedan is its Sportback body style. A huge hatch lifts open to reveal a large 24.6 cubic-foot trunk, deep enough to store full-size suitcases on their sides underneath the cargo cover. A 40/20/40-split folding back seat expands capacity, though Audi doesn't offer that measurement. Nevertheless, an S7 can give one of the automaker's SUVs a run for the money in terms of utility.

Christian Wardlaw

Helpful Tech, but the S7 Is Slipping Behind in Safety

Though unchanged in appearance, the Multi Media Interface (MMI) infotainment system's features have improved , with expanded trial subscriptions to connected services, the ability to download apps, customization options for the display's appearance, and more.

Deftly integrated into the dashboard design, the MMI uses a 10.1-inch touchscreen with haptic feedback. It pairs with an impressive 12.3-inch digital instrumentation display offering different themes and views, including a full navigation map employing Google Earth imagery.

During my testing, the MMI worked well. I like the haptic feedback confirmation when selecting an on-screen function, and the voice recognition technology is responsive and accurate. I had no trouble pairing an iPhone 16 and running the wireless Apple CarPlay, and the optional Bang & Olufsen Advanced audio system was nothing short of stunning.

Regarding the S7's safety features, I don't understand why blind-spot monitoring and Lane-keeping assist are not standard. With Premium trim, you must upgrade the car with the optional Convenience package to get those features.

Christian Wardlaw

Furthermore, the S7 doesn't offer a hands-free highway driver-assistance system, which is increasingly a mark of technological sophistication, particularly among luxury brands. With the Premium Convenience package, Premium Plus, and Prestige trim, adaptive cruise control with lane-centering assist can ease longer drives, but you must hold the steering wheel.

I found the S7's collection of driver-assistance aids helpful. While some may dislike the lane-keeping assist's abrupt and decisive corrective action, it steps in only when necessary. You can quickly turn it off using a button on the end of the turn-signal stalk. In addition, you can calibrate some features regarding sensitivity, tailoring the tech's behavior to your preferences.

Using the adaptive cruise control is distracting because the system's control stalk is low, partially out of sight, and difficult to read while driving. Fortunately, the S7 is so enjoyable to drive that you might not want to use the adaptive cruise in the first place.

Christian Wardlaw

Addictive to Drive, Expensive to Feed

Audi fortifies the S7 with a twin-turbocharged V6 engine cranking out 444 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque. It flows to all four of the car's wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission, and Audi claims the S7 can accelerate to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. Four Audi Drive Select modes are available: Comfort, Individual, Auto, and Dynamic.

Those driving modes give the S7 a split personality. In Comfort mode, the emphasis is on luxury, with a smooth ride, light steering effort, and relaxed powertrain response. Switch to Dynamic, and the S7 comes alive, giving you a clearer sense of the road surface, sharper response to inputs, and livelier acceleration with a more audible soundtrack.

Christian Wardlaw

As is common with German cars, the S7 feels like it's going 35 mph when the speedometer reads 70 mph. It effortlessly tames writhing, snaking roads laced across mountain ranges. Parking is easy, thanks to a plethora of cameras and sensors. An adaptive air suspension soaks up crumbling city roads. And at night, the Prestige's Audi Laser Light headlights provide clear illumination of the road ahead.

Fuel economy is disappointing, however. The official EPA estimate is 19/27/22 mpg city/highway/combined, and the test car averaged 17.2 mpg on the evaluation loop. During a week of driving nearly 300 miles, the average was 19.1 mpg.

The Audi S7 costs almost $10,000 more than the Audi S6 sedan. That's a big ask for the S7's slightly sleeker styling and added utility, but only you can decide if there is enough value in the added expense. Regardless, each is a satisfyingly sporting luxury car.

Christian Wardlaw

Chris says his first word was "car." For as long as he can remember, he's been obsessed with them. The design. The engineering. The performance. And the purpose. He is a car enthusiast who loves to drive, but is most passionate about the cars, trucks, and SUVs that people actually buy. He began his career as the editor-in-chief of Edmunds.com in the 1990s, and for more than 30 years has created automotive content for CarGurus, J.D. Power, Kelley Blue Book, the New York Daily News, and others. Chris owns Speedy Daddy Media, has been contributing to Capital One Auto Navigator since 2019, and lives in California with his wife, kids, dog, and 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata.