Luxury car maker Audi has taken the wraps off its latest model in its bulging portfolio, with the A7 Sportback being unveiled.
As the manufacturer’s answer to the Mercedes-Benz CLS and BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo, the Q7 Sportback – first shown off as a concept car at last year’s Detroit Motor Show – is a cross between a coupe and a large sedan, which will go on sale in Australia in early 2011.
Audi claims the A7 Sportback will offer the comfort and practicality for four all wrapped up in a sporty body, all perched atop 18 to 20-inch rims. And it is a big body indeed: ostensibly built on the A6 platform, the A7 measures a nearly 5 metres in length and almost two metres across.
For the powerplant, Audi will offer a range of V6 engines – two petrol and two turbo diesels. The petrol pair will be a choice between a 150kW 2.8-litre FSI or the supercharged 220kW 3.0-litre TFSI already in use in the S5 Sportback and S4 sedan. Perhaps ambitiously, Audi is claiming the respective fuel consumption figures are each are 8.0L/100km and 8.2L/100km. The diesel variants (both 3.0-litre capacity) offer better fuel consumption – claimed at under 6.0L/100km – and will produce between 150kW and 180kW.
In the transmission stakes, the lower-spec diesel will be equipped with either Audi’s multitronic (CVT) transmission and is front-wheel drive only. The other three configurations will come with Audi’s seven-speed S-tronic double-clutch gearbox and the Quattro all-wheel-drive.
And if you want even more power, Audi will also produce a high-performance S7 variant shortly after the initial sale launch, which is rumoured to be powered by the 4.2-litre V8 petrol engine from the beautiful R8 supercar.
Richard Bailey
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