Audi S7 vs BYD Sealion 5

What's the difference?

Audi’s S7 Sportback wraps style, comfort and sportiness in an appealing package that is sure to please onlookers and occupants alike.

The great engine/transmission aside, the S7 Sportback also has cutting-edge technology at a more affordable pricetag, though less-than-comfortable rear-seat space lets it down a little.

We wish the car we sampled didn’t have the all-wheel steering, as we much preferred the more neutral feel of the S6 sedan we also drove but, overall, the S7 Sportback puts forward a strong case for its existence.

Cars that don’t always appeal to enthusiast buyers are often seen by manufacturers as a way of not bothering with the dynamics. Good enough is, apparently, good enough. Thankfully, BYD hasn’t taken that path here and the local suspension tweaks have turned what could have been a me-too product into a bit of a dynamic class leader. And even if buyers can’t verbalise the benefits of that, they will still be subliminally enjoying them with every kilometre.

The other stand-out feature is the price-tag which represents an awful lot of car for the money. And, in such a price-sensitive market as this one, that will get the BYD over the line for a lot of families. That it also offers a vastly better driving experience simply makes the value equation – and the purchasing proposition – even stronger.

Audi’s second-generation A7 has always been a bit of a looker, but Audi has taken it up another notch in the S7 Sportback.

Differentiating the S7 Sportback is a more aggressive bodykit, complete with larger air intakes up front, blacked out exterior trim, quad-exhaust tips (denoting that it’s an Audi Sport model) and large 21-inch wheels

The S7 doesn’t go too overboard with the aggressive appointments however (that’s what the top-spec RS7 Sportback, due here later this year, is for), but balances its sportiness with a stately aesthetic.

We think the S7 Sportback is stunning, especially the white exterior colour that gives it an almost Stormtrooper-like look, but even our test car, finished in Daytona Grey, while much more subtle, is still easy on the eyes.

We especially like the strong shoulder line, chiselled doors and sloping roofline of the Sportback body style that combine in profile to make the S7 look like a sprinter on the starting blocks ready to pounce.

Inside, the S7 Sportback scores all of Audi’s latest interior technology, including a 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit instrumentation and dual-screen centre console layout.

The triple screen set-up definitely helps the S7 Sportback feel very cutting-edge from the driver’s seat, especially when you start to play around with the multimedia system that sports haptic feedback when you press the screen.

Everything is laid out in a clear, concise and easy-to-use manner, while the surfaces of the dashboard are covered in soft-touch, premium materials.

If we’re being honest, we'd probably skip the red-leather interior of our test car in favour of something a little more subdued, but to each their own.

We like the integrated air-vents that blend well into the dash, while the sea of black is broken up with some aluminium detailing and different finishes.

The interior of the Sealion 5 feels pretty well-made and there are soft-touch surfaces on most of the touch-points. The steering wheel, too, is thick and chunky and nice to hang on to. But there’s a lot going on in terms of different colours, textures and surfaces, and it can all look a bit busy, despite the high-tech boardroom overall flavour. It’s also worth mentioning the trim material is synthetic but does a great job of looking and feeling like real leather.

Externally, there’s not a lot to grab the eye. Sure, it’s not an unpleasant looking vehicle, but neither does it stand out from the mid-size SUV pack. At least BYD decided against those cheap-looking plastic tack-ons on each wheel-arch.

Measuring 4969mm long, 1908mm wide, 1417mm tall and with a 2928mm wheeblase, the S7 Sportback falls well and truly into the large car class.

Up front, the driver and passenger have plenty of room, while the seats and steering wheel are almost infinitely adjustable to find the perfect position.

As you can imagine though, the sloping roofline does eat into the rear-seat headroom a little.

The outboard seats offer plenty of leg- and shoulder-room, but the slanted roof prevents my six-foot-tall frame from sitting up straight comfortably.

Don’t get me wrong, the space is perfectly useable for children or even some smaller adults, but don’t expect to get any basketball players in those seats.

As for the middle seat, only children will find it comfortable due to the protruding transmission tunnel and higher-set seat.

The S7 Sportback’s boot offers at least 535 litres of space and expands to 1380L with the 40:20:40 split-fold rear seats stowed.

Being a liftback (or Sportback in Audi parlance) means the boot is much more practical than a standard sedan, and with such a large aperture, bigger items such as suitcases or golf clubs won’t be annoying to load and unload.

Bag hooks, storage tie-down points and carbo netting also feature to ensure your goods don’t roll around when the S7 Sportback is in motion.

Storage around the cabin though, could be a little better as the wireless smartphone charger takes up a fair chunk of room in the shallow central storage bin under the front armrest.

The usual storage tray found ahead of the shifter is also absent, due to the dual-screen centre console layout, but two generous cupholders and sizeable door pockets are still available up front.

Second-row passengers get access to a fold-down armrest with shallow storage tray and cupholders, as well as door pockets that can accommodate large bottles.

Here’s the other big shock relative to the price-tag of the Sealion 5: This is not a small car. Based on the price, you might have been thinking the vehicle would be a compact SUV. And you’d have been wrong. This is a proper mid-sized SUV with room for five and luggage and an overall length of 4.7 metres and change. And to put that into some kind of perspective, that’s just 30mm shorter than the Sealion 6 which costs about $9000 more at its starting point.

The wheelbase is long, too, and the 2712mm between the axles helps make the interior even more spacious. That means there’s lots of stretching room in the front, but also that a grown adult can comfortably sit in the back seat behind another grown adult at the wheel and still have enough room in every direction. The window sills are commendably low in the rear seat, too, ensuring even littlies can see out.

The biggest problem in the back is that the seat cushion is a bit flat, but, like the front chairs, it’s still pretty plush.

With all five seats in place, the Sealion 5 boasts 463 litres of luggage space and the cargo area is well done with storage pockets at each side, a light and an under-floor tray designed to transport charging cables and a tyre repair kit. Yep, that’s right, there’s no spare tyre of any sort here. No surprise, really.

Fold the rear seat down and you’re suddenly looking at 1410 litres of cargo space and your SUV is now a panel van.

As well as the dual-zone climate control, the Sealion 5 also offers a single USB -C and a USB-A charging port in the front and rear compartments.

The Sealion 5 also offers a V2L (Vehicle to Load) function, meaning it can power camping or on-site work equipment and even act as your home’s battery.

The plug-in hybrid in question is the BYD Sealion 5. It has a claimed EV-only range of better than 100km, relatively quick charging, a decent sized battery, adequate performance, enough interior space for a family, good safety and lots of equipment. Oh, and it costs just $33,990, before on-road costs, in its entry-level Essential form. Incoming!

Equipment-wise, that sub-34K sticker gets you a 10.1-inch central info-screen, an 8.8-inch driver display, digital radio, a six-speaker stereo, wireless connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and dual-zone climate control.

Throw another four grand on the table and you move up to the Premium version which adds plenty of kit for the $37,990 ask. That includes a panoramic sunroof, automatic tailgate, roof rails, heated and electrically folding mirrors, one-touch power windows, a six-way powered drivers seat and four-way powered co-pilot’s chair, a heated and ventilated driver’s seat and wireless charging.

The step up from Essential to Premium also includes a battery upgrade, and we’ll cover that off in the Under the Bonnet section below.

Powering the new S7 Sportback is a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V6, punching out 331kW/600Nm, which is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission that sends drive to the road via Audi’s quattro all-wheel-drive system.

The result is a zero-to-100km/h acceleration time of 4.6 seconds.

Keen-eyed Audi fans might note that those are the exact same engine and outputs as the RS5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe and RS4 Avant, and they’d be right, however, Audi has added the 48-volt mild-hybrid and an electric powered compressor (EPC) to reduce turbo lag in the S7 Sportback.

It’s a similar system first employed in the SQ7 large SUV, and basically means that the EPC is spooling up the turbo at low engine speeds for better off-the-line performance.

The mild-hybrid technology no doubt helps shift the S7 Sportback’s 2040kg weight with peak power now available earlier on in the rev range (from 5700rpm), while maximum torque is available from 1900rpm.

Compared to the older car, the new S7 Sportback matches its predecessor in power, but ups torque by 50Nm despite losing the old car’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine.

Both variants of the Sealion 5 have the same driveline – mostly. They each use a 1.5-litre petrol engine teamed with a single electric motor, both driving the front wheels. Unlike the bigger Sealions, there’s no all-wheel drive version. Power peaks at 156kW and torque at 300Nm.

Why a non-turbocharged engine? BYD tells us the non-turbo engine helps keep cost out of the vehicle and, since the engine really only runs to power the electric motor and charge the batteries, it does so at a relatively constant engine speed, negating the need for a wide spread of petrol power.

The only major difference is that the Essential version has a 12.9kWh battery-pack, while the Premium gets a bigger, 18.3kWh pack for longer range, but precisely the same output and, therefore, performance.

A single-speed transmission is part of the BYD driveline package, also made possible by the fact that the vast majority of the driving of wheels is done by the electric motor.

Official fuel economy figures for the S7 Sportback are 8.5 litres per 100km, but in our brief time with the car we managed 13.6L/100km, mainly due to the inner-city and country B-road driving.

The 48-volt mild-hybrid system works to reduce fuel usage, by as much as 0.4L/100km according to Audi, and allows the car to coast with the engine off between speeds of 55km/h and 160km/h for up to 40 seconds.

The start/stop system also aids in reducing fuel usage.

The Premium’s bigger battery claims to up the official NEDC range from the Essential’s 71km to 100km. BYD reckons with the 52-litre fuel tank brimmed and the car operating at its claimed 1.2 litres per 100km efficiency, the range of either version is just on 1000km. In the real world, that’s likely to be closer to 800km (especially with some highway running thrown in) but it’s still one heck of a solution to range anxiety.

There’s no DC charging function for the Sealion 5, so forget about commercial fast chargers. But on a 3.3kW AC power outlet, the maker claims the Essential can reach full charge in under four hours, while the Premium’s bigger battery will take under six hours to fully charge. A Type 1 charge cable is included.

Audi’s formula for a go-fast vehicle has always been simple – quattro all-wheel-drive for grip, potent engine for speed – and the new S7 Sportback remains true to that formula.

We are big fans of the 2.9-lite twin-turbo V6 engine, which is matched wonderfully with a smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission.

The S7 Sportback always seems to have plenty to give no matter where you are in the rev range, and the transmission isn’t bogged down with slow gear changes up or down.

Though it’s hard to tell how much the EPC helps in getting the S7 up to speed, if you have you window down and accelerate hard from a standstill, you can hear the electronics whirring away.

The standard air suspension also does a wonderful job at absorbing road imperfections in comfort, while it can be switched over to dynamic for a more sporting characteristic.

Grip is plentiful thanks to 255/35 tyres and the quattro all-wheel-drive system but, as with other Audis, the S7 Sportback tends towards understeer when pushed hard around a corner.

Being such a long and wide model, you definitely feel the S7 Sportback’s size on the road, especially when navigating through quick direction changes, but this is where the $7700 Dynamic Package comes into play.

It adds a sports differential, variable ratio steering and all-wheel steering, all aimed at sharpening the S7 up in the bends.

Our test car was fitted with the option pack, but it left us a little cold.

The all-wheel steering especially, made the S7 Sportback’s handling feel too artificial for our tastes, and we were never able to gauge where the rear end wanted to go in a corner.

If we were buying one, we’d leave the Dynamic Package option box unticked.

Bringing the S7 Sportback to a stop are big 400/350mm brake rotors front/rear, with six-piston callipers in the front.

Ceramic brakes with grey-painted callipers can be optioned for $18,000, but the standard stoppers do a fine job scrubbing speed in the S7 Sportback.

You don’t have to drive very far to realise that the local input into the Sealion 5’s suspension and steering have been worth the effort. BYD Australia has a local engineering team on call these days, and it shows here.

Actually, the steering is not the highlight; it has some weight but not a whole lot of feel, or, indeed, feedback for the driver. The ride and handling combination is what stars. Obviously well-damped, the suspension allows for a ride that is both complaint and quiet, without causing the car to wallow around like some jacked-up designs can with their higher centre of gravity.

In fact, the BYD is athletic to the point where keener drivers will find it an entertaining drive; hardly something that can be said for the majority of medium SUVs.

Performance is strong without being overwhelming and even though the Sealion 5 has that signature electric-drive feeling of effortlessness, the accelerator pedal has been calibrated to avoid the neck-snapping surge of grunt off the line. As such, it emerges with a fairly flat acceleration curve, and no hint that the petrol motor is cutting in or out.

Until, that is, you bury the throttle all the way at which point the petrol engine takes a few second to join in. And when it does, it’s pretty vocal – shrill, almost – as it catches up with the rest of the car and starts directly driving the wheels. To be fair, though, this is not going to be a common occurrence in everyday life thanks to the flexibility of the petrol-electric system for 99 per cent of circumstances.

On the move, the cabin is perhaps most notable for its soft, plush seats that are a nice change from the church pews of some manufacturers. And although the driving position is about right, taller drivers might prefer a steering column that extends out another few millimetres.

The driver display screen is another source of annoyance. It’s pretty small and contains lots and lots of information, to the point where the typeface is too small to be read on the run by anybody who relies on reading glasses.

Passive safety in the Sealion 5 starts with no fewer than seven airbags including full-length side-curtain bags. 

There’s also a front-centre airbag, something we’d like to see in more cars, particularly at this price-point. Child restraint points in the rear seat are the ISOFIX type.

The BYD gets pretty much the full suite of driver aids, including autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert with active assistance, stability control, active cruise-control, traffic-sign recognition, front and rear collision warning and tyre pressure monitoring.

The Sealion 5 also incorporates a driver-attention monitor which seems better calibrated than some earlier efforts from some of the Chinese carmakers. Also improved in calibration terms is the lane-keeping assistance which is still too violent for our tastes, but more subtle than some of the competition’s systems. But while the savagery of this system has been toned down, it appears to have been at the expense of sensitivity and, time and time again, the cameras missed road markings that were faded or dirty.

The major safety benefit in paying more for the Premium variant is the addition of front parking sensors and a 360-degree camera instead of the Essential’s simple reversing camera.

The Sealion 5 has not been ANCAP tested as yet, although BYD says this is largely down to ANCAP’s scheduling rather than any hesitance on BYD’s part.

Like all new Audi models, the S7 Sportback comes with a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty with three years roadside assist.

Audi’s warranty still lags behind Mercedes-Benz and Genesis, two premium marques that offer a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty on their models.

Scheduled service intervals are every 15,000km/12 months, whichever comes first.

A three- or five-year service plan is available for the S7 Sportback, priced at $2350 and $4110 respectively.

Like other BYDs, the Sealion 5 comes with a six-year/150,000km warranty. Some of the competition have unlimited kilometre warranties, but to be honest, 150,000km in six years is going to be beyond the need and aspirations of most owners.

The EV battery is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty, and let’s not forget, BYD was a battery manufacturer before it started making whole cars. Certainly, the company is very bullish about the quality and safety of its 'Blade' battery technology, claiming it easily passes the technically-daunting 'nail-puncture' test.

BYD plans to have capped-price servicing for the Sealion 5, but no pricing announcements have been made yet.

Servicing also falls into line with other BYD models, so that means 12 months or 20,000km intervals.