While BMW killed off the previously announced production version of the Concept CS, easily the best looking car it’s created since the same Henrik Fisker penned its Z8, Audi appears to be taking the plunge into the four-door coupe segment with the new Sportback Concept, shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and widely expected to be given the A7 designation when produced.
Audi “appears” to be taking the plunge into the four-door coupe segment? Well, Audi hasn’t officially announced it for production yet so there’s still a chance it’ll remain a concept. More appearance-oriented is that the Sportback didn’t get its name for being a four-door coupe, but rather a five-door coupe. After all, that’s the name it gives its five-door A3. When thinking of a four-ringed five-door, however, I’m brought back to the first Avant I ever saw (or at least ever noticed), a five-door C3 Audi 100 Avant which was more of a five-door fastback than a traditional wagon. The Sportback concept hides its load carrying flexibility even more discretely, with a notchback design that will have most onlookers surprised when a liftback exposes an extremely useful cargo area.
The design is what you’d expect from Audi, a new interpretation of the now trademark horse-collar grille front and centre, with horizontal strakes instead of vertical, and LED eyebrows framing the top half of each beautifully shaped headlamp cluster, sitting atop deep-set aerodynamically designed air intakes that add to the car’s wide, solid stance.
Audi “appears” to be taking the plunge into the four-door coupe segment? Well, Audi hasn’t officially announced it for production yet so there’s still a chance it’ll remain a concept. More appearance-oriented is that the Sportback didn’t get its name for being a four-door coupe, but rather a five-door coupe. After all, that’s the name it gives its five-door A3. When thinking of a four-ringed five-door, however, I’m brought back to the first Avant I ever saw (or at least ever noticed), a five-door C3 Audi 100 Avant which was more of a five-door fastback than a traditional wagon. The Sportback concept hides its load carrying flexibility even more discretely, with a notchback design that will have most onlookers surprised when a liftback exposes an extremely useful cargo area.
The design is what you’d expect from Audi, a new interpretation of the now trademark horse-collar grille front and centre, with horizontal strakes instead of vertical, and LED eyebrows framing the top half of each beautifully shaped headlamp cluster, sitting atop deep-set aerodynamically designed air intakes that add to the car’s wide, solid stance.
A few distinctive details include frameless doors that give the car an open coupe-like profile, while the window strip was kept overtly flat in order to visually lengthen the car. Unlike some current Audi designs the Sportback seems purposefully simple, devoid of complex lines and curves so that an uncluttered elegance is all that’s noticeable, a return to the clean, clear and almost minimalist design language that adhered fans to the four-ringed brand for decades, from the second-generation 5000 to the previous generation A6, without losing the boldness that has raised Audi’s profile into the respected upper premium crust since its new grille was introduced.
Details are always important, and to that end Audi’s designers have included some real gems that we can only hope will make it into production. The gorgeous 10-spoke alloy wheels shouldn’t be a problem to replicate in production trim, and their 21-inch diameter isn’t out of the question for road cars anymore, but the “almost fragile looking” side mirrors, as Audi describes them, with their upturned tips that form “winglets” inspired by the wings of modern jet aircraft, might be a little tougher to make functional due to their abbreviated size. And those sharply cut LED taillights mirrored by four rectangular tailpipes set into a fully-functional diffuser, they’re stunning and certainly show that there’s indeed blood between the German brand and its Italian “amore bambino”, Lamborghini. All the same, there’s some Lamborghini Estoque influence at the rear end of this beautiful five-door, a fact that Audi isn’t ashamed to admit to by saying in its press release, “The four tailpipes integrated into the body and an air deflector in the diffuser insert are cues borrowed from the sportscar sector.”
I suppose the decision to build the Sportback Concept into the A7 Sportback makes more sense with Audi than it would for BMW and its stillborn CS Concept, if only because it can share much of its development cost with the car its tail end emulates. Sharing inspiration with Lamborghini is not a problem for Audi, of course, because a little image trickling down from the exotic carmaker could hardly hurt Ingolstadt’s comparatively lower end premium status, and I suppose the association of Audi on Lamborghini isn’t particularly challenging either, being that everyone knows the German company is one of the key reasons the Italian marque’s cars are so much better than they once were. Either way, it looks as if Lamborghini’s Estoque and Audi’s upcoming A7, for now the Sportback Concept, have a couple of things in common.
Only a couple of things? Sure, there might be more, but for the time being it’s safe to say the two cars’ architectural underpinnings will be shared, and then there’s a very good possibility that a Lamborghini-derived V10 will show up under its long, elegant hood when the car is transformed into an S7. But I’m getting way ahead of myself in longing anticipation. Currently the engine of choice is Audi’s ultra-clean burning 3.0-litre V6 TDI, and while it’s hardly as exotic as a Lamborghini V10, the diesel engine “almost completely eliminates nitrogen oxides,” or so says Audi. Having spent a fair bit of time with diesels on both sides of the Atlantic, Audi diesels in particular, I can’t help but get enthusiastic about something so efficient yet so powerful in a car so beautiful.
It is beautiful, you must agree. Unless Audi’s design language turns you off for some reason, and don’t feel alone if it does because it has been created to stimulate in either positive or negative ways, but stimulate nevertheless. For me and most people I know, Audi has found just the right balance of in-your-face boldness and subtle elegance, although I think that this new five-door will tip the scales even further in each direction, with some selling house and home to get one and others flipping up their noses in disgust.
Whatever your feelings are you’d better get used to it, because Audi’s telling us the Sportback concept points to the future of the brand’s design. Yes, we can expect more angles and sharp creases, a total deviation from the rounded shapes that put the brand on the premium map back with the second-generation 5000 and pretty well everything that followed until its most recent generation horse-collar grilled cars.
As for the interior, it is opulence epitomized. Eyes are immediately drawn to a thick strip of matte-finish oak blockboard wood stretching across the dash and into the upper door panels, and then beginning again on the lower edge of each door followed through to the rear compartment, complemented by a seemingly solid tree’s worth of oak blockboard straddling the lower console, a prettier looking wood than its name implies, with a strong grain that runs horizontally to accentuate the car’s width. Quilted, diamond-pattern cream leather seats give a rich look that brightens up the cabin, with matching dashtop, door tops and lower door panels, offset by chocolate brown door inserts, lower dash and lower console sections. Aluminum accents add to the contemporary design, an Audi staple, while just the right amount of visible technology on the centre stack and lower console enhances the advanced capabilities of this car.
Buttons and switches are kept to that ideal balance between stark minimalism and technology overkill thanks to Audi’s latest MMI interface that retracts horizontally into the dash when not in use, while a plentiful supply of beautifully sculpted air vents join a roof almost entirely made of glass to make sure no one ever feels claustrophobic.I suppose the decision to build the Sportback Concept into the A7 Sportback makes more sense with Audi than it would for BMW and its stillborn CS Concept, if only because it can share much of its development cost with the car its tail end emulates. Sharing inspiration with Lamborghini is not a problem for Audi, of course, because a little image trickling down from the exotic carmaker could hardly hurt Ingolstadt’s comparatively lower end premium status, and I suppose the association of Audi on Lamborghini isn’t particularly challenging either, being that everyone knows the German company is one of the key reasons the Italian marque’s cars are so much better than they once were. Either way, it looks as if Lamborghini’s Estoque and Audi’s upcoming A7, for now the Sportback Concept, have a couple of things in common.
Only a couple of things? Sure, there might be more, but for the time being it’s safe to say the two cars’ architectural underpinnings will be shared, and then there’s a very good possibility that a Lamborghini-derived V10 will show up under its long, elegant hood when the car is transformed into an S7. But I’m getting way ahead of myself in longing anticipation. Currently the engine of choice is Audi’s ultra-clean burning 3.0-litre V6 TDI, and while it’s hardly as exotic as a Lamborghini V10, the diesel engine “almost completely eliminates nitrogen oxides,” or so says Audi. Having spent a fair bit of time with diesels on both sides of the Atlantic, Audi diesels in particular, I can’t help but get enthusiastic about something so efficient yet so powerful in a car so beautiful.
It is beautiful, you must agree. Unless Audi’s design language turns you off for some reason, and don’t feel alone if it does because it has been created to stimulate in either positive or negative ways, but stimulate nevertheless. For me and most people I know, Audi has found just the right balance of in-your-face boldness and subtle elegance, although I think that this new five-door will tip the scales even further in each direction, with some selling house and home to get one and others flipping up their noses in disgust.
Whatever your feelings are you’d better get used to it, because Audi’s telling us the Sportback concept points to the future of the brand’s design. Yes, we can expect more angles and sharp creases, a total deviation from the rounded shapes that put the brand on the premium map back with the second-generation 5000 and pretty well everything that followed until its most recent generation horse-collar grilled cars.
As for the interior, it is opulence epitomized. Eyes are immediately drawn to a thick strip of matte-finish oak blockboard wood stretching across the dash and into the upper door panels, and then beginning again on the lower edge of each door followed through to the rear compartment, complemented by a seemingly solid tree’s worth of oak blockboard straddling the lower console, a prettier looking wood than its name implies, with a strong grain that runs horizontally to accentuate the car’s width. Quilted, diamond-pattern cream leather seats give a rich look that brightens up the cabin, with matching dashtop, door tops and lower door panels, offset by chocolate brown door inserts, lower dash and lower console sections. Aluminum accents add to the contemporary design, an Audi staple, while just the right amount of visible technology on the centre stack and lower console enhances the advanced capabilities of this car.
On that note its rear quarters have been designed only for two, for a first class ride instead of coach. Audi says “shoulder, head and leg room are reminiscent of a premium-class touring car,” while its trunk is giant-sized at 500 liters (17.66 cubic feet) and as nicely appointed as cargo compartments come.
Whether filled with gear and passengers or only a driver at the wheel, the Sportback should be totally stable at high speed, over dry, wet or snow covered roads. Much of the car’s suspension and undercarriage architecture come via Audi’s A4/A5, with components made from aluminum and optimized for performance, but there are other unique features such as a new five-link front suspension, CDC (continuous damping control) shock absorbers, sticky yet efficienet low rolling resistance tires, and ceramic brake disks clamped down on by six-piston monobloc aluminum brake calipers up front and floating-calipers in the rear that set the Sportback apart from rivals as well as its own lineup of sport-oriented luxury cars.
Electromechanical power steering is light on energy consumption but reportedly weighty enough in feel to give substantive feedback, and when combined with the aforementioned suspension setup should result in superb handling characteristics, important for a relatively lightweight 1,800-kilogram (3,968-lb) sedan with 406 lb-ft of torque diverted to all wheels via an ultra-efficient, performance-oriented seven-speed tiptronic transmission. While horsepower is less impressive at only 225, it hardly matters in straight line performance where the Sportback will sprint to 100 km/h in less than seven seconds before topping out at a rather lofty 245 km/h (152 mph).
Yes, plenty fast for a big sedan, and when combined with a highway fuel economy rating of 5.9 L/100 km (40 US mpg) and CO2 emissions that won’t exceed 156 g/km (251.06 g/mile), it becomes clear that Audi’s TDI technology, together with its AdBlue filtration and a DeNOx catalytic converter, is a good alternative to conventional gasoline power. It delivers solid performance and clean, efficient utility, so clean and efficient that the direct-injection TDI engine allows for fuel-efficiency ratings that are 40-percent better than the US fleet average. Audi goes so far to say that deisel technology “makes a greater contribution than any other type of engine to reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.” Wow, a mighty grand claim, and it will be available in Europe and North America “beginning in 2009”, which is right about now, according to Audi. As for its availability in this car, we’ll have to wait and see.
“The Audi Sportback concept show car is now rolling up to the starting line with a dual mission: As suggested by the name, it symbolizes the Sportback principle in its purest form in the combination of elegance, sportiness and variability. And the show car also signals the company's determination not to limit Sportback versions to the compact segment. As previously indicated by the Audi A1 Sportback concept – the star of the 2008 Paris Motor Show – the brand with the four rings is going to dramatically expand the number of Sportback models on the market.”
Specifications (2009 Audi Sportback Concept):
Body Type: 5-door liftback
Layout: front engine, AWD
Engine: 225-hp, 406 lb-ft, 3.0L, DI, turbo-diesel V6
Transmission: 7-spd auto with manual mode
Acceleration (0 - 100 km/h): 5.8 seconds
Top Speed: 245 km/h (152 mph)
Brakes (front/rear): disc/disc (ceramic), ABS with EDS
Curb Weight: 1,800 kg (3,968 lbs)
Seating Capacity: 4
Cargo Volume (trunk): 500 L (17.7 cu ft)
Fuel Economy (est. hwy): 5.9 L/100 km (40 US mpg)
Potential Competitors: Aston Martin Rapide, BMW CS Concept (if someone at BMW wakes up and builds it), Fisker Karma, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz CLS Class, Porsche Panamera