Audi A7 Sportback debuts in Munich
In a grand ceremony held at, of all places, Munich, Audi has launched the all new five-door A7 Sportback which in Audi’s own words, ‘brings about the best of three worlds (ed: our emphasis): the sporty elegance of a coupe, the comfort of a sedan, and a practicality of a station wagon.’ Three quattro variants are being offered at launch time, with a fourth front-wheel drive variant to follow at a later date. All variants draw power from V6 engines in either petrol or diesel guise.
Audi currently has the A5 Sportback in its range, but the only natural rival that we see for the A7 Sportback is the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo. Though the 5 GT is some 139mm taller than the A7 Sportback, the two cars occupy similarly sized footprints. On a parking lot, the BMW would occupy some 4,998mm × 1,901mm of floorspace, in comparison to the 4,970mm × 1,910mm taken up by the Audi.
Styling-wise, the A7 Sportback is an almost faithful recreation of design cues showcased 18 months ago at the Detroit Auto Show by the Audi Sportback Concept. We don’t know if this is particularly important, but Audi found it necessary to highlight that the ratio of painted body surfaces to frameless windows is 2:1.
There is a strong design touch in the form of a sharp shoulder line (Audi calls it the tornado line) which runs almost entirely along its flanks. The rear lights, with the exception of the reverse lights, are all-LED. Audi, as you would expect, called it a whole bunch of things in its press release, though to us, it immediately reminded us of the Dodge Viper.
Three engine options are offered at launch time – two petrol and one diesel – all paired with the 7-speed S-tronic transmission and Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system. Options for petrol power start with a 2.8-litre FSI motor producing out 204hp @ 5,250rpm and 280Nm @ 3,000 – 5,000rpm. This version of the A7 Sportback does the century sprint in 8.3 seconds before maxing out at 235kph.
The bigger petrol motor, the 3.0-litre TFSI, has a more interesting landscape across its rev range. At 2,900rpm comes its 440Nm of peak torque, which does not diminish until 4,500rpm. Come 5,250rpm, the full 300 horses of this engine make their appearance before disbanding at 6,500rpm. Max speed is capped at 250kph, with 100kph just 5.6 seconds away from standstill.
More impressive is the diesel-powered 3.0 TDI, which produces 245hp @ 4,000 – 4,500rpm and twists out 500Nm from 1,400 to 3,250rpm. It’s a little slower compared to the 3.0 TFSI in the century sprint, but counters with an impressive 6.0 litres/100km rated fuel consumption, compared 8.2 l/100km managed by the TFSI.
At a later date, the 3.0 TDI will be offered in a 204hp state of tune and a choice of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive powertrain format. The front-wheel drive variant, with Audi’s Multitronic CVT, twists out 400Nm from 1,250 to 3,500rpm. The quattro variant gets an additional 50Nm of peak torque served in the same rev range.
We can’t tell from pictures alone if the A7’s cabin build quality is as per Audi’s usual tank-like solidness, but we won’t bet against it. The pictured dashboard features generous trimmings of wood, though buyers have to option of choosing between two aluminium and two wood trims. Leather upholstery is also provided with the choice of Milano, Valcona or a leather/Alcantara option.
From above the central air-con vent, and that must have been quite a neat piece of engineering, pops up an LCD screen for the standard MMI multimedia unit. In addition to the standard MMI, Audi offers a further three optional MMI packages, namely MMI radio plus, MMI navigation, and MMI navigation plus, the last of those options offering an 8-inch touchscreen monitor in place of the standard 6.5-inch unit.
Like the all-new A8, the A7 also provides unprecedented levels of onboard internet connectivity, courtesy of a collaboration between Audi and Google. Connected via the owner’s own mobile phone by Bluetooth, the A7 Sportback is able to pull out navigational data and images from Google Earth and integrate into its own on-board navigation system, amongst other functions.
Deliveries of the A7 Sportback commences in Autumn 2010, with Coupe and Cabriolet versions to follow next year. Prices of the A7 Sportback starts at €51,650
KON
Pictures: Official Audi release
