Costa Smeralda, Sardinia—Look closely at the concept drawings for Audi's new A7 Sportback and you might see traces of the Alfa Romeo GTV6, Giorgetto Giugiaro's '80s Italian coupe. Squint a little, and maybe there's some of Marcello Gandini's Lamborghini Urraco, the '70s super coupe. Can you see what they are trying to do here? The truth is, while Audi has Mercedes-Benz firmly in its sights with this new five-door hatchback, it's also making a style statement. But it's doing so in the understated way that Audi has adopted as a trademark. Not as ostentatious as the newly updated Mercedes CLS, it's true, but subtle, with a single crease running front to back, drawing the eye over all 195 inches of coach work capable of carrying four full-grown ad
ults and their luggage. It's quite a feat.
The Specs
Under the skin is an all-new platform, using aluminum for the doors, hood, hatchback and the front fenders. There's high-strength steel in the side framing, and that's what allows Audi to pass the fearsome pylon side-impact test and make a hatchback with a body shell that is stiffer and 15 percent lighter than the A6 sedan, according to the company's engineers. The new chassis will underpin the forthcoming A6 replacement, and parts of it will filter down to the
Now that we've established that the A7 is beautiful, we’ll note that the car really is little more than a dressed-up, next-generation A6. It uses Audi’s modular longitudinal architecture; a good 20 percent of the A7’s body is made from aluminum, which is more heavily relied on in the more expensive A8, but most of the A7 is made from less costly steel.
Audi has made much of its headway over the last few years by being a design leader, and that torch has clearly been passed to the A7, a car that boldly presumes to challenge the long-held stereotype that Americans don't buy hatchbacks – especially one with a premium price point.
Built on Audi's new modular architecture that underpins the company's forthcoming A6 replacement, the aluminum-paneled A7 Sportback is predictably gorgeous – that is, it breaks little new ground for the brand stylistically, yet it's still altogether beautiful. The tapered greenhouse and resulting long hatch might throw off a few people, but it's hard to argue against Audi having done a top job integrating its once-controversial single-frame grille. The A7's profile nicely pulls along viewers' eyeballs toward the rear with some well-chosen character lines, and Audi has blessed the car with a range of great-looking alloys, including the 20-inchers seen on our Dakota Gray tester. As with its R8 brethren, a full complement of LEDs can be specified if the standard adaptive Xenon headlamps are somehow deemed inadequate, and there's an S-Line package available, too (though the standard car doesn't lack aesthetic oomph).
The Specs
Under the skin is an all-new platform, using aluminum for the doors, hood, hatchback and the front fenders. There's high-strength steel in the side framing, and that's what allows Audi to pass the fearsome pylon side-impact test and make a hatchback with a body shell that is stiffer and 15 percent lighter than the A6 sedan, according to the company's engineers. The new chassis will underpin the forthcoming A6 replacement, and parts of it will filter down to the
Now that we've established that the A7 is beautiful, we’ll note that the car really is little more than a dressed-up, next-generation A6. It uses Audi’s modular longitudinal architecture; a good 20 percent of the A7’s body is made from aluminum, which is more heavily relied on in the more expensive A8, but most of the A7 is made from less costly steel.
Audi has made much of its headway over the last few years by being a design leader, and that torch has clearly been passed to the A7, a car that boldly presumes to challenge the long-held stereotype that Americans don't buy hatchbacks – especially one with a premium price point.
Built on Audi's new modular architecture that underpins the company's forthcoming A6 replacement, the aluminum-paneled A7 Sportback is predictably gorgeous – that is, it breaks little new ground for the brand stylistically, yet it's still altogether beautiful. The tapered greenhouse and resulting long hatch might throw off a few people, but it's hard to argue against Audi having done a top job integrating its once-controversial single-frame grille. The A7's profile nicely pulls along viewers' eyeballs toward the rear with some well-chosen character lines, and Audi has blessed the car with a range of great-looking alloys, including the 20-inchers seen on our Dakota Gray tester. As with its R8 brethren, a full complement of LEDs can be specified if the standard adaptive Xenon headlamps are somehow deemed inadequate, and there's an S-Line package available, too (though the standard car doesn't lack aesthetic oomph).
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