Audi A7 Sportback 3.0 TDI ultra: Connectivity calling

CONNECTIVITY is the latest buzz word getting company car drivers excited with the promise of high-speed internet access from the car while on the move.

It brings the dream of the truly ‘mobile office’ to life offering all the desktop work and lifestyle software right up front and centre on the car’s infotainment touchscreen.

And that infotainment screen doesn’t rise up much more stylishly than from the soft-touch sculptured dashboard of the new Audi A7 Sportback 3.0 TDI ultra.

I had the chance to spend a few days in the company of this executive cruiser on a trip to Germany that would mirror a business trip to an important conference or board meeting on the Continent.

Open the driver’s door and you slide into a world of luxury surrounded by quality fittings, instruments and dials and cosseted by deep, supported leather upholstery. All is quiet and serene with the 3.0-litre V6 barely audible even under acceleration.

And what acceleration – the 218PS engine charges this large five-door Sportback A7 to 62mph in just 7.3secs on the way to a top speed of 148mph.

Yet the company car driver sensitive to BIK company car taxation should fear not because the ‘ultra’ signifies that this Audi combines zesty performance with low CO2 emissions of just 124g/km. That means it delivers a BIK company car tax banding of 22%, costing the company car driver in the 40% income tax bracket £4,036 in the first year with those at 20% pay half that figure.