2019 Audi A7 Sportback S Line 50 TDI Quattro 4G9 vs. 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS 400d 4Matic AMG Line C257

Defying convention 2019 Audi A7 Sportback 4G9 vs. 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class C257. If you value style and are prepared to stump up the expense of something a bit special, then either of these classy coupés might be just what you want. This sleek-backed pair from prestige German brands vie to be winners of our head-to-head challenge.

TWIN TEST AUDI A7 BETTER THAN THE NEW MERC CLS?  This month it’s a posh pairing, with Audi’s A7 Sportback facing up to its old adversary the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. Both are all-new, but which one wins?

2019 AUDI A7 SPORTBACK S LINE 50 TDI QUATTRO Type 4G9 vs. 2019 MERCEDES-BENZ CLS 400d 4MATIC AMG LINE C257

Think stylish, think large, think powerful and luxurious. That is what this twin test is all about. We are exploring the relative merits of a pair of sleek, swept-back, performance coupés from rival German car brands. They both wear highly regarded badges, and each are manufactured in southwest Germany, in factories only just over 40 miles apart.

Both are four-wheel-drive, with 3.0-litre six-cylinder engines, automatic transmissions, and price tags in the region of £60k.They are Audi’s svelte A7 Sportback and Mercedes-Benz’s upper-crust CLS. Come with us and share our impressions in the driving seats of these two hunky upmarket executive cars. Buckle up for a rapid, cosseting and classy trip. Four rings or three-pointed star, which one will come out on top? Foot on throttle, let’s answer that question.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

The 2019 Audi A7 Sportback 4G9 is sportier in looks than in driving style. With its wind-swept shape and swooping tail it looks the part of a performance model, but drives with such civilised smoothness that it doesn’t exude the personality you may look for to echo its sleek shape. Both cars have identical top speeds, governed at a lofty 155mph, which is irrelevant unless you make frequent trips to derestricted German autobahns, but nice to know.

The Audi’s steering is light, though not overly tactile, but its suspension is the opposite. It’s overly firm and jars somewhat over a pitted surface. The eight-speed automatic transmission isn’t the slickest of its type, and sometimes feels ponderous through the ratios. Handling is pretty polished though, and the car has a nicely planted stance on the bends. Excellent refinement and a neatly settled high speed ride make it a highly relaxing mile-muncher of a motorway cruiser.

Both cars have the same size engine, but our CLS test car packs the more punch out of these two, with a straight-six-cylinder, twin turbocharged diesel engine that boasts an extra 53bhp and 59lb ft more torque. It’s just a bit quicker on a 0-62 mph sprint but overall performance is pretty similar. Had one been available, there is a less powerful CLS 350d model that is more closely matched, with the same 282bhp, a little less torque at 443lb ft, and with a 0-62mph figure of 5.7 seconds. Opting for it also shaves £2,900 off the asking price.

The Mercedes-Benz drives with panache, and there’s a slicker precision to the way the nine-speed automatic transmission behaves, with the edge over Audi’s more dithery eight-speed box. Both cars are all-wheel-drive, but in the CLS it is rear-biased and although it’s marginal, you can feel a distinct difference in the way it behaves, and is just a bit more of a driver-pleaser when you press on hard along a country back-road. Overall though the driving calibre is at a similar level. Both cars have more of a grand tourer feel behind the wheel than any sports car pretensions.

INTERIOR AND COMFORT

As you’d expect of a cabin in this price bracket, the A7’s interior is high quality, clad in very classy materials and finished to a high standard. We’re big fans of Audi’s truly excellent ‘Virtual cockpit’, with its large central touchscreen and the option of having the navigation map repeated straight ahead of you in the view through the steering wheel. There are four long, slim horizontal air vents across the upper dash that very efficiently deliver your chosen climate control flow and temperature into the cabin. They’re more discreet but also less of a style statement that the CLS’s vents. The A7 Sportback adopts the digital controls that you’ll find in the latest A6 and A8, with haptic feedback on the touchscreens to replicate the feeling of pressing a button. It’s all quite modern and nicely done, but could prove to be an unnecessary distraction to those that are unfamiliar with the design. There’s an elegant modernity about the Audi’s interior that is more neutral than its rival’s, and seat adjustment is more conventional via controls on the seat sides, but comfort levels are very similar.

The plush, gently baroque cabin in the CLS is more divisive than the Audi’s. Some will prefer it as having a bit more character, while for others it’s a little too quirkily Marmite, with its curvy dash and a trim design that resembles waves ebbing on a beach. Love it or not, the quality and precision of the Mercedes-Benz’s more distinctive cabin is faultless. There’s a more cohesive flow to the large infotainment display across the top of the fascia, but the bi-level central controller to operate it is another detail that divides opinion. There is a strong style statement in the six circular air vents that resemble jet engine intakes, and the seat shape-mimicking controls to adjust how you sit are brilliant. Both cars have equally good cabins, though very different in character.

SPACE , PRACTICALITY AND VERSATILITY

There’s a key difference in the tails of these two: the A7 Sportback has the benefit of a tailgate, its rival doesn’t. Although it’s quite discreet about it, the Audi is a hatchback, with all the advantages that come from lifting the rear windscreen out of the way when you open up the boot. Hence access into the boot area is better, with a much larger aperture through which to load luggage, and it’s especially helpful when you need to heave in larger items.

That’s not all. The A7’s boot is the larger of the two, though not by much, but an extra 15 litres can help squeeze in a few more oddments. Then there’s the handy hatchback feature of slick-action folding rear seats to extend the load bay, and in temporary two-seater mode the Audi can accommodate a healthy 1,390 litres of cargo. So from a practical aspect, it nudges its elegant snout ahead of its three-pointed star rival.

For some, the CLS-Class’s coupé appearance but saloon structure, with a conventional boot lid, may have some appeal. In terms of exterior looks there’s not much in it, but traditionalists might prefer the Mercedes-Benz’s vaguely three-box design. It’s probably better described as a four-door coupé, but it does create a more restricted access into the back end and also slightly squeezes boot room. It also has repercussions in the look and feel of rear seat spaciousness. The CLS subjectively doesn’t feel as roomy in the rear seats as the Audi does. Headroom is tighter, and the coupé swoop of the body also creates a more restricted ambience: you feel a bit more hemmed in. It’s relative though, because these are both large cars with a reasonable amount of rear passenger room.

RUNNING COSTS

The A7 is easier on your wallet, if a near- £60k car can be, because not only does it cost less to buy, but it’s cheaper to insure and will be kinder to business users that pay company car Benefit-in-kind (BIK) taxation. With CO2 emissions of 150g/km, it beats both the CLS 350 d and CLS 400 d, as each of those emit 156g/km. This places the Audi into the 35 per cent bracket for BIK tax and both the CLS’s into one group higher at 36 per cent. And it’s a similar story for car insurance, with the A7 Sportback in group 45, and the CLS 350 d in 49 and the CLS 400 d placed in the highest grouping possible at 50.

Each of these cars are covered under warranty for three years, but Audi restricts this to 60,000 miles, whereas Mercedes- Benz offers unlimited miles. This will be especially relevant to high mileage business users. Maintenance is required when the car says it is needed, thanks to a clever on-board computer that takes readings from sensors all around the car to judge when a service is due. Similarly, each cars uses AdBlue solution, thanks to their Selective Catalytic Reduction systems and the status is monitored by the car’s onboard computer, alerting you to when it needs to be topped up.

“Traditionalists might prefer the Mercedes’ three-box design. However, it both creates a more restricted access into the back end and also slightly squeezes boot room.”

EQUIPMENT AND PRICE

Make no mistakes, each of these cars is magnificently finished with a high level of standard kit. Each car comes with a digital cockpit with 12.3-inch display, keyless entry and start, electric and heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, automatic headlights and windscreen wipers, cruise control, a navigation system and reversing camera, as well as safety kit like autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and a selection of six airbags. The Mercedes-Benz goes one step further with an extra airbag for the driver’s knee, a pedestrian deployable bonnet, speed limit recognition and drowsiness detection for the driver.

Each car comes with DAB radio, but the CLS has a 12.3-inch display for the infotainment system, compared to 10.2-inches on the A7, though the tables are turned when it comes to speakers with 7 and 10, respectively. The Audi also comes fitted with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard, where it is a cost option on the Mercedes-Benz, which is disappointing. In addition, wireless charging for a smartphone comes within the asking price of the A7 but is a cost option on the CLS.

The Audi also boasts an electric rear tailgate, memory functionality for the driver’s seat and an electric rear spoiler, as well as LED Matrix headlights. The A7 comes fitted with 20-inch alloys with the back up of a space saver spare wheel in the event of an emergency, compared to 19-inch alloy wheels on the CLS and a next-to-useless tyre repair kit, on account of the front and rear wheels having different size tyres.

Our researchers haggled hard to see what discounts are available on this pair of desirable executives, and were surprised to achieve a discount of almost 20 per cent off the A7 Sportback S line 50 TDI quattro. This brought the list price down from £58,155 to just £46,598, representing a saving of £11,557. The reductions weren’t quite as good over at Mercedes-Benz, where a CLS 400 d 4MATIC AMG Line is officially priced at £60,740, and could be bought for £54,152, representing a saving of £6,588, and equivalent to just over 10 per cent. Buyers wishing to opt for the lower powered CLS 350 d 4MATIC AMG Line could achieve a similar saving of 10 per cent, bring the list price down from £57,840 to £51,590, a reduction of £6,250. Each of these prices were found available at online brokers Drive the Deal (www.drivethedeal.co.uk).

STANDARD EQUIPMENT Audi A7 Sportback

20-inch alloy wheels with 255/40/R20 tyres and space-saver spare wheel

40:20:40 split/folding rear seats

Alarm system

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay

smartphone compatibility

Anti-lock brakes Automatic headlights

Autonomous emergency braking system

Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

Bluetooth connectivity

Cruise control with speed limiter

DAB radio with 10-speakers, 10.1-inch display, with USB sockets and steering wheel controls

Digital cockpit with 12.3-inch display

Drive mode selector

Driver, passenger, side and head airbags with passenger side de-activation

Dual-zone climate control

Electric and heated mirrors with power folding and memory

Electric front and rear windows

Electric front seats with memory functionality on the driver’s side

Electric park brake Electric rear spoiler

Electric tailgate

Electronic stability control

Four-wheel-drive Heated front seats

ISOFIX child safety seat fasteners for front passenger and rear outer seats

Keyless entry and start

Lane departure warning Leather gear knob

Leather steering wheel with paddleshifts

Leather/Alcantara upholstery

LED ambient lighting

LED daytime running lights

LED Matrix headlights with washers

LED rear lights Navigation system

Parking sensors front and rear

Rain sensing windscreen wipers

Reversing camera Sports suspension

Stainless steel sports pedals

Touchscreen instruments with 8.6-inch display

Traction control Tyre pressure monitors

Voice control

Wireless charging for smartphones

What’s Hot Interesting digital dashboard. Interior quality first rate. Well equipped. Lower CO2 emissions, better fuel economy. Cheaper to insure. Larger boot. Effortless performance. Higher towing capacity. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone compatibility is standard.

What’s Not Just one engine option. Standard ride firm. Rear visibility is limited. Engine isn’t as powerful as the Mercedes-Benz, with less torque and a lower 0-62 acceleration figure.

STANDARD EQUIPMENT Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

19-inch alloy wheels with 245/40/R19 front and 275/35/R19 rear tyres and tyre repair kit

40:20:40 split/folding rear seats

Adaptive suspension

Alarm system Anti-lock brakes

Automated parking system

Automatic headlights

Autonomous emergency braking system

Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

Bluetooth connectivity

Cruise control with speed limiter

DAB radio with 7-speakers, 12.3-inch display, with USB sockets and steering wheel controls

Digital cockpit with 12.3-inch display

Drive mode selector

Driver, passenger, side, head and driver’s knee airbags with passenger side de-activation

Driver drowsiness detection

Dual-zone climate control

Electric and heated mirrors with power folding and auto-dimming on the driver’s side

Electric front and rear windows

Electric front seats Electric park brake

Electronic stability control

Four-wheel-drive Heated front seats

ISOFIX child safety seat fasteners for rear outer seats

Keyless entry and start

Lane departure warning

Leather steering wheel with paddleshifts

Leather upholstery LED ambient lighting

LED daytime running lights

LED headlights LED rear lights

Navigation system

Pedestrian deployable bonnet

Rain sensing windscreen wipers

Reversing camera Speed limit recognition

Stainless steel sports pedals

Traction control Tyre pressure monitors

What’s Hot More powerful engine, with extra torque and faster acceleration. Beautiful cabin, with high quality dials. Quality is excellent. Looks great with coupé-esque frameless door design. Column gearshift frees up space on the centre console. Excellent refinement and glorious straight six engine.

What’s Not The back of the CLS isn’t quite as roomy as the A7, especially in terms of headroom. The silhouette of the CLS makes for a more hemmedin environment in the rear. Not as economical as its rival, and the CO2 emissions are higher. Higher Benefit-in- Kind taxation. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are an optional extra. Not as comprehensively equipped as the Audi. Infotainment system is fiddly to operate.

VERDICT

It’s so close, and this one goes to the wire. These two are both handsome lookers, and beautifully made to a very high standard. Both cars score similarly throughout, closely matched for performance and road behaviour, within a whisker on economy, and pretty close for CO2. The Audi costs less to buy, especially after haggling down the price, is cheaper to insure and can tow five per cent more, but the Mercedes-Benz has the edge with a bit more character, both on the road and inside the cabin. Then again, there’s the Audi’s more versatile fastback design and lower benefit-in- kind tax liability for company car users, as well as a longer list of standard equipment. So by a whisker, it’s a win for the Audi A7 Sportback.

“There’s a key difference in the tails of these two: the A7 Sportback has the benefit of a tailgate, its rival doesn’t.”

ALSO CONSIDER

BMW 6 SERIES GRAN COUPÉ

The 6 Series will soon be replaced by the 8 Series in BMW’s line-up, but even so, the Gran Coupé 6 Series is an accomplished grand tourer that is beautifully finished, has a refined, pacey six-cylinder engine, and is well kitted out. It costs £10,000 more than our pair, though.

JAGUAR XF

It’s the car that catapulted Jaguar into the 21st century, and blends a beautiful cabin with powerful, refined diesel engines. The XF is around £10k cheaper than the cars we have been testing here, and has the benefit of enhancing the UK economy, as it’s built in Birmingham.

MASERATI GHIBLI

Who would have thought that Maserati would feature a diesel engine under the bonnet of its cars, but that’s what the company has done. The 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine has been fettled by sister-firm Ferrari and sounds fantastic. It’s a fine alternative to the A7 and CLS.