Part of Audi's plan for expansion includes taking the Mercedes-Benz CLS, BMW's upcoming 8-series and the Jaguar XJ replacement (due next year) head on. The automaker is convinced that the future of flagship sedans revolves around the "four-door coupe" body style and the A7 will be an attempt to dominate in that segment.According to Autocar, the A7 will be 4,900mm long, underpinned by a stretched version of the A5's Modular Long Platform (MLP) that will also be used on the next A6. The platform puts a premium on optimum weight distribution, and while the A6 will feature a traditional coil-sprung suspension, the A7 is expected to ride on an air-spring setup.
Power is expected to come from a variety of gasoline and diesel powerplants, including a host of direct-injected engines ranging in displacement from 2.8- to 4.0-liters, along with a 2.7-liter diesel V6 and a twin-turbocharged version of the 3.0-liter TDI V6. Naturally, S7 and RS7 variants are planned, with the latter receiving the twin-turbo'd 5.2-liter V10 found in the RS6, delivering 600 hp to all four wheels through a new torque distribution system which will debut on the new S4. The base transmission on most models will be a six-speed manual, while a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and a traditional automatic will also be offered.
Audi aims to sell 40,000 A7s each year, with the majority finding their way to the U.S. market. Look for the A7 to debut in 2010.
[Source: Autocar]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SPG @ Jun 4th 2008 7:32PM
Awesome, keep putting out the sports sedans Audi!
iCameiSawiConquered @ Jun 4th 2008 7:34PM
I like the rendering...if it looks anything like that it will be very nice. Though I hope they are a little more original...it could simply end up looking like a pancaked A6, which isn't bad...as I said it's nice...but I'd hope for something a bit different.
DS @ Jun 4th 2008 7:35PM
isn't S7 copyrighted?
you know... Saleen S7...
turbo-quattro @ Jun 4th 2008 7:51PM
i highly doubt that saleen will bitch about it near as much as Porsche is with the "TT-RS" deal. The two cars arent even close to being competitors.
First off, the Saleen S7 is in the supercar category, where as the Audi S7 will be in the sports/luxury coupe category.
Second, the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo sells for nearly $600,000(from what i could find) where as a fully optioned S8(as a comparison point) sells for less than $110,000.
Thats all. :) I wouldn't loose sleep over it.
superman211 @ Jun 5th 2008 1:13AM
That's what I thought! But if they make an RS7 they should forget the gallardo and give it the Murcielago's V12 with twin-turbos and give the brabus CLS rocket a bad day!
dac @ Jun 4th 2008 7:49PM
Audi sure gives you enough choices. Is that twin turbo TDI going to make it into any of there smaller cars?
DJ @ Jun 4th 2008 7:52PM
There's no mention of it in this article, but I thought the 7 was going to use aluminum for the spaceframe, body panels and suspension. Wasn't Audi's goal to beat MB and BMW by 700-800 pounds and go head to head with the new XJ in weight?
Torrent @ Jun 4th 2008 7:56PM
Get a V10 TDI into that, and you got yourself a great machine.
montoym @ Jun 4th 2008 8:24PM
Considering that the current 3.0 V6 TDI produces 240hp and 406lb-ft. of torque, I don't think many will be wishing for the extra power of the V10 TDI. Plus, I don't believe the current 3.0 is a twin-turbo, so the power may be even higher once it makes it's way into the A7.
FWIW, the V10 currently puts out 310HP and 553lb-ft of torque. It seems a beefed-up 3.0 V6 TDI could eclipse it, and the 4.2L V8 TDI engine already does with its 326HP and 550lb-ft of torque.
MD Drew @ Jun 4th 2008 8:25PM
anyone know why they often list car measurements in millimeters? I mean, seriously!
4,900 mm in length? Why not say 4.9 meters? Or even better, list it in feet, too?
oh, and the car's nice.
cheese @ Jun 5th 2008 2:09AM
Generally the standard is the dimension in millimeters in engineering drawings etc, so these values transfer to reports. Also as changes are relatively minor, 4955mm vs 4900mm is more of an appreciable difference than say 4.955m vs 4.9m.
Ligor @ Jun 5th 2008 8:39AM
well considering al you do is divide by 1000 it's easy to get your meters
ft on the other hand - well my feelings are we should just do away with that measuring system
jjd @ Jun 4th 2008 9:35PM
I'm not a big fan of the air suspension. It came on my wife's allroad, but one of the bladders recently sprung a leak to the tune of $800. I only bought the allroad over the A6 because you could get it with a manual transmission. In the end, I would have preferred a more conventional suspension.
VWsat @ Jun 4th 2008 9:54PM
I'm going to guess that the original article on Autocar is wrong.
The new A3/A4 uses magnetic ride, which is completely different than pneumatic: http://www.gizmag.com/go/5752/
dude @ Jun 4th 2008 9:54PM
MLP? Modular Longitudinal Platform, No??
nagmashot @ Jun 5th 2008 2:25AM
yes
The orginal name of the chassie is MLB (MLP is the english version)
MLB = Modularen Längs Baukasten
(Modular Longitudinal building set)
in eglish named
MLP=Modular Longitudinal Platform
The B8 (MLB) platfrom is currently used for the A4(in Europe avaible since 2007), A5 and Q5
OubelhaNegra @ Jun 4th 2008 10:09PM
Cool! Audi is in the right track.
The only missing think is the TT TDI in the US market...
Man, I hate CA. LOL
Moises @ Jun 4th 2008 10:48PM
The car looks nice but a quick glance at the front fenders and you think Audi took a page from the Bently Continental GT IMO.
tarheelsxl @ Jun 5th 2008 12:02AM
Not surprising considering they're from the same family
Volkswagen --> Audi --> Lambo --> Bentley
... and Porsche is sorta like the red-headed stepchild, fits in there somewhere
Corey L @ Jun 5th 2008 12:41AM
So now that they've ran out of number designations, will we be see more iterations named A4.25, A4.5, etc?