I know that you do not buy an A7 expecting it to be the most economic car in the world and indeed in many respects for a large car with a 3 litre engine it is amazing how far things have advanced.

I also know that the EU test for mpg figures appears to be woefully inadequate to give a real world figure for the average driver doing average driving and can only really be used as a like for like comparison but you would at least hope for something not too far away from the official data.

I have a new facelift non-quattro ultra with 20 inch wheels and have had it for about 3 months now and covered @ 3000 miles in mixed conditions and the stated combined economy is 60mpg but thus far my average is no better than 40mpg which whilst not too bad is well short of 60.

I know that many things factor into this equation but I guess I was looking for some feedback from other A7 owners how they have faired in the mpg roulette.

My average journey to work is 30 miles each way on mostly flat A roads with the last 7 being more in urban areas. My overall average speed so far is 34mph. Over Christmas I also did 700 mile round trip to Scotland mostly on motorway at decent speed.

I was wondering if other owners have found a sweet spot for optimising mpg

The economy gear box and engine setting do not appear to make a big difference to the mpg returned other than to dull the throttle response considerably.

Did anyone find that after X amount of miles their mpg improved?

Even if I drive as carefully as I can I cannot get near to replicating the official mpg figures. Anyone else tried this?

The on board computer indicates an overall mpg return of about 45 mpg, some 5 mpg less than the actual figure. IS this about normal for other owners?

Do you find any significant difference between winter and summer mpg figures?


On the whole I am very happy with the car and this is not a dig at Audi for the actual figures being way off the real figures. I have owned many other VAG vehicles and previously been able to get much closer to the official mpg figures with my normal driving.