DIGITALIZATION

Thanks to its full-spectrum connectivity, the A7 is ideally equipped for long-distance driving with respect to comfort, safety and adaptability to the individual. With its fully digital operating system, extensive range of connectivity features and up to 39 driver assistance systems, it offers maximum comfort and personalization.

User operation

The new Audi A7 Sportback uses MMI touch response, the fully digital operating concept from the flagship A8 that can be operated as intuitively as a smartphone with touch and swipe gestures. Two touch displays with haptic and acoustic feedback replace the rotary pushbutton and many buttons from the previous model. They transport Audi’s quality standards into the digital age and offer a high degree of operating safety.

The upper display controls the infotainment and measures 10.1 inches when equipped with MMI navigation plus. The lower, 8.6-inch display is on the center console and is used for the climate control, comfort and convenience functions and text input by handwriting or virtual keyboard. The driver can rest their wrist on the wide selection lever when using the controls.

Intelligent, detailed solutions make using the new technology even more attractive. If a finger touches an icon, this is confirmed either by an animation or a change in color. If the finger pushes so hard that it triggers the function, the icon or list entry lights up briefly. Many symbols are also configured with long-touch and long-push functions. Wiping, scrolling and multifinger gestures are also supported. Text entry on the lower supply detects not only entire words, but also letters drawn over top of each other and confirms this with acoustic feedback.

Both displays present the images and graphics on a black background. The graphical user interface has been deliberately reduced so that information can be understood particularly quickly. A few pictographs are subtly animated. The menu structure is lean and intuitively understandable. On the lower display, the start screen can be configured according to your personal preferences. Audi connect content is no longer in a separate area, but in the respective function menus. MMI search is based on free text input. If the driver is looking for a restaurant, for example, the system offers a hit list after just a few letters have been entered.

The optional Audi virtual cockpit (together with MMI navigation plus) sport the same look. The digital instrument cluster measures 12.3 inches in diagonal and offers full HD resolution of 1920 x 720 pixels. The driver can choose between two interfaces – the classic view and infotainment mode. Operation is via the buttons and rollers on the multifunction steering wheel. A head-up display, which projects important information as symbols and digits onto the windshield, is also available. The image window for this – 22 x 8 centimeters (8.7 x 3.1 in) is in the driver’s direct field of view.

Voice control is another function available with MMI navigation and above. It is designed as natural language voice control. This makes the A7 an intelligent conversationalist and travel companion. The user can speak freely for the most part. The system asks questions, if necessary, allows corrections and additions, and offers selection options. The user can switch between different menu areas within a dialogue. For example, the user can call a contact from the phone book and then use the associated address as a navigation destination. The voice control system responds to commands and questions in two ways: using information stored onboard about destinations and media or from the cloud.

The A7 allows an individual vehicle setup. Up to seven Gran Turismo drivers – six regular users and one guest – can store their preferred settings in individual profiles. This personalization encompasses up to 400 parameters, from the preferred heating or cooling to frequent navigation destinations and preferred media. The car recognizes the respective user when it is unlocked by means of the car key carried and the via the Audi connect key and activates the user’s individual profile automatically.

Infotainment and Audi connect

The comprehensive infotainment and connectivity functions make the A7 an intelligent long-distance athlete. The standard MMI navigation and optional MMI navigation plus use the latest generation of the Modular Infotainment Platform, the MIB 2+. The Audi connect data transmission module is included standard. This brings a Wi-Fi hotspot that also supports the new 5 GHz band and the fast LTE Advanced transmission standard to the car. It allows download rates of up to 300 MBit/s and upload rates of up to 50 MBit/s.

In conjunction with MMI navigation plus, navigation in the Audi A7 Sportback offers attractive new features, both visual and functional. The map uses a new texture and includes detailed 3D models of many large cities. When planning the route, the self-learning navigation system makes suggestions to the driver based on routes driven previously, incorporating experience regarding time of day and traffic density.

The route is calculated online on the servers of the map and navigation service provider HERE, which also considers real-time data concerning the overall traffic situation. If the data connection is lost while underway, the navigation system switches to onboard route guidance, which runs along in the background. The driver can access gas stations and parking garages from the navigation, and receives additional information such as fuel prices, availability of parking spaces or business hours. In the first three years after purchasing the new car, the map can be updated four times per year free of charge – over the air at LTE Advanced speed, if desired.

The services of Audi connect Navigation & Infotainment are also free the first three years and bring the new Audi A7 Sportback into the cloud. This is particularly true for the Car-to-X services traffic sign information and hazard information, which use the swarm intelligence of the Audi fleet. In the course of 2018, the service on-street parking will be added, which makes it easier to find a parking space. Car-to-X services use HERE’s maps as a basis.

Audi connect also offers many other services, such as Twitter and email access. MMI navigation plus brings navigation with Google Earth, online radio and hybrid radio, which automatically switches between FM, DAB + and web channels, on board. The functions of Audi connect safety & service form their own package. In many markets, the data traffic for all connect services is via the Audi connect SIM, which is permanently installed in the car. The myAudi app allows owners of the new Audi A7 Sportback to join the brand’s digital ecosystem, with numerous services – such as navigation – seamlessly transitioning from the smartphone to the car.

The Audi phone box makes calling even more convenient. It connects the smartphone to the car antenna and charges it inductively. Voice over LTE speeds up call origination and enables the simultaneous use of high-speed data transmission and high definition online voice telephony (HD Voice).

Three optional sound systems are available in the new Audi A7 Sportback: the Audi sound system, the Bang & Olufsen Sound System with 3D sound up front and the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System with 3D sound up front and in the rear. Of the 19 speakers in the top system, two each in the A-pillars and in the roof arch provide the spatial dimension of height, transforming the interior into a world of acoustic experiences. Drives for CDs and DVDs, tuners for digital radio and TV (with CI+ module for pay TV), the Audi smartphone interface as well as the MMI touch response for the rear seats, which are available from Audi Genuine Accessories, complete the program.

Driver assistance systems

Audi offers 39 driver assistance systems in the new A7 Sportback, making driving even more comfortable, efficient and safer. The systems are organized into the packages Tour, City and Park (to follow in the course of 2018). The Audi assist package plus integrates all three packages and enhances them with the Audi parking pilot and garage pilot (from 2018).

The most important system in the Tour assist package is the adaptive cruise assist (ACA). It builds on the adaptive cruise control (ACC) of the predecessor model and adds a lane tracking function that also supports traffic jams. At speeds between 0 and 250 km/h (155.3 mph), the system keeps the new A7 Sportback at the desired distance to the vehicle ahead. It also uses slight steering interventions to help the driver to stay in the lane and supports him with longitudinal guidance in construction sites by means of the narrowed road assist.

Those wishing to drive particularly efficiently can supplement the ACA with predictive control and the efficiency assist. This enables an anticipatory driving style. To detect the traffic situation and the course of the route, the ACA analyzes camera images – including images of traffic signs – plus the navigation data. If the adaptive cruise assist is deactivated, the efficiency assist simply indicates to the driver when it would make sense to let off the gas. The Tour package also includes turn assist and swerve assist.

The City assist package includes the newly developed crossing assist. If the mid-range radars, which can look roughly 75 meters (246.1 ft) ahead, detect crossing traffic in front of the car, the system warns the driver and applies the brake, if necessary. The lane change warning alerts the driver of risks when changing lanes. The exit warning indicates vehicles or cyclists approaching from the rear when opening the door and briefly prevents this from happening. Cross traffic assist rear kicks in when the new A7 Sportback is backing out of a tight space.

The safety systems Audi pre sense rear, Audi pre sense basic and Audi pre sense front are standard. They detect collision hazards all around the car and initiate targeted preventive measures – whether maximum braking, adjusting the seats or tightening the belts. Audi pre sense front includes a warning and braking function for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. The emergency assist brings the car to a stop if the driver is no longer able to do so.

The park assist, reversing camera, 360 degree cameras with 3D images and rims view and night vision assist are available as separate options. The latter uses an infrared camera to detect pedestrians and larger wild animals at long distances in the dark and warns the driver of their presence.

These will be followed in the course of 2018 by the Park assist package, which includes the Audi (remote) parking pilot and the Audi remote garage pilot. Both systems automatically steer the new Audi A7 Sportback into a parallel or transverse parking space or into a garage and out again, operating the steering, accelerator, brake and automatic transmission. The driver monitors the maneuver and activates the systems with his/her smartphone via the corresponding button in the new myAudi app or via the button in the center console. The respective button must be pressed throughout the entire parking procedure. The Park assist package also includes the 360 degree cameras, the maneuvering assist and the curb warning.

Behind the new assistance systems in the new A7 Sportback are the central driver assistance controller (zFAS), which Audi debuted in the A8, and a portfolio of sensors that complement each other with their respective strengths. The big innovation here is the laser scanner, which covers a field about 80 meters (262.5 ft) in length and a wide angle of aperture of 145 degrees. Within this field, it detects objects with sharp contours, even in the dark. In bad weather, its front window is automatically cleaned and heated.

Fully equipped, there is a set of 24 sensors in the new Audi A7 Sportback:

• a laser scanner up front,
• a long-range radar up front,
• four mid-range radars at the vehicle’s corners
• one infrared camera (night vision assist) at the front,
• a front camera at the top of the windshield,
• four 360 degree cameras at the front, rear and exterior mirrors and 
• twelve ultrasonic sensors at the front, flanks and rear.

The data from the various sensors flow together in the zFAS. With its high-end processors, the tablet-sized computer continually computes a differentiated image of the vehicle’s surroundings. This centralized environment model enables the assistance systems to further improve their performance compared to the predecessor model, for example, when they detect the end of a traffic jam and initiate braking. Also, navigation is even more precise, because the sensor data fusion locates your own car down to the exact lane.

All terms marked in the text are explained in detail in the technology lexicon at www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/technology-lexicon.

The equipment, data and prices specified in this document refer to the model range offered in Germany. Subject to change without notice; errors and omissions excepted.