The 2020 Audi RS7 Sportback mixes performance with fastback styling
The RS7 shares its guts with the RS6 Avant but sports its own unique looks.
Not everyone is into wagons. If you saw the new Audi RS6 and thought it was just a bit too Family Truckster-ish, you're in luck, because there's a sleeker version that packs all the same delightful powertrain bits.
Well, we've got good news for you, pal, because Audi is taking that styling and drivetrain and whacking it into the swoopier coupe-like body of the A7 to create the RS7 Sportback and we freakin' love it.
The RS7 Sportback, which made its debut on Monday at the Frankfurt Auto Show, is 1.6 inches wider between the front fenders than a standard A7. Audi says that the RS7 Sportback shares a hood, roof, front doors and a rear hatch with the regular A7 and the rest is all party.
That teardrop shape might not help rear headroom, but it does look pretty stunning.
As with the RS6 Avant, the drivetrain for the RS7 Sportback is pretty serious stuff, with a twin-turbo V8 developing 592 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque routed through an eight-speed automatic transmission and standard Quattro all-wheel drive. Plus, there's more tech devoted to handling than we might typically expect from Audi. The RS7 can be had with the standard RS adaptive air suspension or an optional sport suspension with Dynamic Ride Control that should help sharpen things up.
The car's available four-wheel steering should also help make this big bruiser of a four-door coupe feel much more agile than its looks might suggest. Also on hand is Audi's DriveSelect system, which offers six different user-selectable modes to tailor the RS7's many interlinked systems to the type of terrain you'll be driving on.
The interior of the RS7 Sportback is packed to the brim with gorgeous leather and top-end tech.
Two of those modes are customizable RS modes, so hopefully Audi will let you split all the different settings so that you can have, for example, a comfortable ride, an aggressive throttle map, a medium-aggressive transmission setting and loud exhaust.
Other performance options include the availability of a freakin' huge set of carbon-ceramic brakes that promise a weight savings of 75 pounds in total over the still-impressive stainless-steel stoppers.
Inside things are again pretty similar to the RS6, so we see an RS-skinned version of Virtual Cockpit and the excellent MMI Touch Response system alongside all of the gorgeous leather and insane attention to detail for which Audi's interiors have become famous.
Finally, this being a top-spec modern Audi, a whole heap of advanced driver assistance systems are included as standard and even more are offered as options to help keep your pristine new sports coupe out of the guard rails. These include adaptive cruise control, intersection assist, lane change warning, curb warning and 360-degree surround-view cameras.
Audi plans to have its new technological terror in German and other European showrooms by the end of this year, but it's not 100% clear when we'll see this model in the US.
