The New Generation Audi RS 7 Sportback; sharper and more efficient

Available later this year, the new generation Audi RS 7 Sportback has somehow managed to keep the mighty twin-turbo V8 engine at its heart – yet still increase efficiency whilst looking sharper than ever before.

Already labelled with the title (no pressure) of the most potent five-door coupe in the Audi range, the RS 7 Sportback  has now moved into the realms of dreamland with subtle styling enhancements, new LED lighting, upgraded infotainment features and revisions to the 560 PS V8 TFSI powerplant to allow the car to finally comply with new EU6 emissions regulations.

“The Audi RS 7 Sportback confirms the reputation of the RS models as the superior, top athletes of our brand,” states Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development of AUDI AG. “The combination of a powerful four litre V8 engine with Cylinder on Demand technology, quattro drive and intelligent lightweight design makes the RS 7 Sportback an outstanding piece of sports equipment for any fan of dynamic and yet efficient driving.”

Even just looking at the RS 7 Sportback tells you that it’s not just any old car – it’s one that the word dynamic was made for, with its long bonnet, flowing C-pillars and sharply sloping rear end now added to by the RS honeycombed Singleframe grille with its three available colour packages of matt aluminium, gloss black and carbon.

Even the bumper has had changes made to it in the shape of distinctive air inlets with headlights now featuring LED technology as standard (with Matrix LED technology available for the first time on the RS 7 Sportback.) The car colourways have also had new options added to them as Floret silver, metallic; Glacier white, metallic; Mythos black, metallic and Sepang blue, pearl effect make themselves comfortable in the existing range.

Inside the RS 7 Sportback where the predominate colour is black, you’ll find the expected RS sport seats dominating proceedings and overlooking the subtly changed instrument cluster, with changes including shift paddles behind the steering wheel and the modular infotainment platform of the latest generation of MMI Touch; its highlight being an efficient graphics processor from Audi partner, Nvidia.

When it comes to the engine, the Audi RS 7 Sportback sports an EU6-compliant 4.0 TFSI engine that provides the power as before (560 PS, with a constant 700 Nm (516.3 lb-ft) of torque at engine speeds between 1,750 and 5,500 rpm) but now offers greater efficiency whilst propelling the car from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds up to a top speed of up to 189mph. On a combined cycle however, the resonant V8 twin-turbo can achieve up to 29.7mpg, with emissions down to 221 grams of CO2 per km, mainly down to the Cylinder on Demand (CoD) inside the RS 7 Sportback which can shut down four cylinders during partial load operation.

The help control all that power is an eight-speed tiptronic transmission that is not only tuned for optimum performance but also features a tall final gear to add its own little contribution to fuel efficiency, and a quattro permanent all-wheel drive system.

With power normally comes a rough ride – but not so with the RS 7 Sportback which has RS adaptive air suspension and adaptive damping fitted as standard, both controlled via the Audi drive select driving dynamics system. And that’s even without mentioning the 20-inch forged lightweight alloy wheels fitted onto the Audi RS 7 Sportback as a standard (with 21-inch cast aluminium wheels available in three different colours as an option.)

Last word to Audi to sum it all up: “The new generation Audi RS 7 Sportback sports styling revisions and the latest infotainment updates, utilising the same stunning 3.9-second and optional 189mph performance, while Cylinder on Demand technology makes a combined 29.7mpg return a reality.”