Prototype Drive
The quest to fill market niches is not over yet. Some carmakers are creating new vehicle categories, and others are reintroducing classic shapes from the past. Returning from the old times is the four-door fastback, which enjoyed a rather brief period of popularity—mainly in the 1970s. In their heyday, beautiful models like the Rover SD-1 or the Citroën CX were the avant-garde alternatives to the more conservative sedans by BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
In the 1980s, most fastbacks faded into oblivion. Saab continued to offer a few quirky models, but every other manufacturer returned to the good old notchback sedan—or, in Europe, to modern station wagons. Now the fastback is returning with a vengeance. The BMW 5-series GT, the Porsche Panamera, and the not-for-us Audi A5 Sportback have been launched within a few months. BMW's X6 combines a fastback with SUV proportions, and Honda (Accord Crosstour) and Acura (ZDX) are adding crossover hatchbacks as well.
A New Player
All of these, with the exception of the A5 Sportback and BMW X6, make a somewhat clumsy attempt at crossing vehicle categories, rendering them rather unendearing to our eyes. Now Audi is getting ready to launch a second interpretation of the hatchback—the A7, which will be unveiled in the summer and go on sale in late 2010 or early 2011.
To set the mood, Audi let us drive the A7 Sportback concept in the Los Angeles area. It was first shown at this year's Detroit auto show and is as close as you can get to the A7 production car. The changes to the exterior will be minimal. Audi will come up with an even more angular front, replacing the overwrought lower air intakes of the concept. The rear panel will be slightly more upright, and the car will stand less than half an inch taller. That's it.
Rather than second-guess well-established categories and the fluid lines of the past, Audi's designers have come up with a stunningly graceful fastback—in the spirit of the more futuristic executive sedans of the 1970s. Its shape renders the A7 a direct competitor to the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the pretty four-door sedan that Mercedes sadly insists on calling a coupe and that will soon be launched in a second model generation that looks uncomfortably similar to the Volkswagen CC.
Technology Aplenty
The modular longitudinal architecture used for the A7 is a great piece of engineering, hosting a number of cars such as the A4, A5, and new A8. It's a competent platform, far more balanced and agile than the old, front-heavy architecture that it replaces. Quattro all-wheel drive will be standard on most models, and the platform can house the torque-vectoring sports differential that we love on the S4. The concept’s carbon-ceramic brakes are a possibility, too, but are more likely to reach production on a high-performance S7 variant that Audi might build at a later date.
The Sportback concept is equipped with continuous damping control, allowing you to adjust the vehicle's dynamic characteristics. The driver is assisted by electromechanical power steering—evidence that the A7 is closer to the upcoming A6 than to the new A8, which keeps hydraulic assistance. It also means that a self-parking aid can be easily integrated, which wouldn't work on the A8. Thankfully, the A7 concept has lost its glitzy 21-inch show wheels in favor of 20s, which provide a more realistic driving experience. The series production model will likely be offered with 18-, 19-, and 20-inch wheels as well.
As a true German concept car—and in yet another attempt to spread the gospel of compression ignition on these shores—the A7 Sportback is powered by a 3.0-liter TDI V-6 turbo-diesel, which is smooth and powerful yet surprisingly efficient. Zero to 62 mph comes up in fewer than seven seconds, Audi claims, and top speed is 152 mph. Audi estimates fuel economy will be 40 mpg in the combined European cycle. When the A7 comes to market, it will be available with a bevy of gasoline engines, including a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, a supercharged 3.0-liter V-6, and likely a 4.2-liter V-8. U.S. engine options have not been announced, but a diesel is unlikely, at least for starters.
Surprisingly, the Sportback concept is fitted with the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that is offered on the revised S4. We think of the A7 3.0 TDI as a relaxed if high-performance cruiser, and the seven-speed unit, which Audi calls S tronic, is fun and shifts rapidly, lending to the A7’s sporting nature that the company is keen to promote. But we see it as a better match for the petrol engines and not so much with the diesel. The ZF eight-speed automatic debuting on the new A8 might be a more appropriate gearbox and is a strong possibility for the U.S.-market A7.
Four Seats and Driver-Oriented
The interior of the Sportback concept is open and airy, ladled with wood and leather and certain to be toned down for series production. But the basic shape of seats, trim, and dashboard will remain the same. The A7 will have frameless windows and four seats. You can sit comfortably in the back, but it clearly is a driver's car. "Our car was not designed around the rear seat or a complex tailgate," says an Audi engineer.
That comment, of course, is a direct shot at the 5-series GT, BMW's chrome-laden behemoth that trades elegance and good proportions for rear-seat room and an interior-and-trunk concept that is probably too sophisticated for its own good. Audi offers only a four-seater configuration, but the tailgate and the trunk are a straightforward design, offering nearly 18 cubic feet of space with the rear seats up and about three times that much when they are folded. Seat room is generous, and there is ample headroom, but unlike in the 5-series GT, you sit low in the A7.
The A7 will be slightly more expensive than the next-generation A6—which has an identical wheelbase measurement that Audi is not yet willing to release—but positioned a bit lower than the status-oriented A8. Expect a figure in the $60,000 ballpark. More important, by simply launching a sleek hatchback without further pretense, Audi is putting a question mark behind the whole crossover trend with its increasingly strange convulsions. We suspect the A7 was proposed by designers, not by market clinics.
