Audi A7 Sportback safety features are many and varied. The body is made from aluminium but the chassis is built from a mixture of high-strength steels so it should maintain its structural integrity in the event of a collision. As well as the usual safety systems such as traction control and stability control buyers can specify Audi’s lane assist that steers the car gently back into line if the driver has veered across the road markings as well as night vision assistant that will identify a pedestrian and brake accordingly if he or she has walked out into the line of the car’s travel.

There’s also a warning that tells you if you are too close to the car in front and it will apply the brakes if it thinks a front-end collision is imminent.

Well it does have a sloping rear end so practicality has been compromised, but not by much. The boot will take in 535 litres and 1,360 with the rear seats down. That’s better than that offered by the CLS (505 litres) but not quite as good as a 5-Series GT (440 litres with seats up and 1,700 litres with the seats down). When the A7’s rear seats are down there’s almost a totally flat floor and with a long loading area it can house a couple of sets of golf clubs quite easily.

There’s plenty of legroom in the back and it’s wide enough not to make everyone feel squashed together. Its major flaw is that it’s only available as a four-seater and that the sloping roof will result in a hair/roof interface for six-footers sitting in the back. For the driver, it’s pretty much a party everyday. With rake and reach steering and an electric seat adjustment with myriad settings, it’s easy to get the right driving position.

There’s plenty of cup holders and a centre console box that’s big enough to house all manner of items and there’s a climate control setting for rear-seat passengers. The sloping rear also compromises rear visibility but the A-pillars aren’t so huge to cause problems for forward visibility.