DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: Audi adds RS to 7 line-up

Fresh from frightening the load luggers with its all-new RS6 Avant, Audi’s Quattro Gmbh division is squaring up to M and AMG again with the all-new RS7, which has been confirmed for Australian release in the first quarter of 2014.

Making its debut at the Detroit motor show overnight, the RS7 Sportback will streak to 100km/h in under four seconds and, in a departure from the oft-quoted German makers 250km/h gentleman's agreement,  Audi will even let the twin-turbo V8 five-door hatch stretch its legs to 305km/h.

Stuffed full of fruit and likely to be faster in the real world than the RS6 Avant, the RS7 shows Quattro is stepping up its game to produce a full line of RS models to match its rival divisions at Benz and BMW.

The RS7 will be the second home, after the RS6 Avant, of Ingolstadt's thumping, twin-turbo 3993cc petrol V8.

The 4.0 TFSI engine hits hard with 412kW and 750Nm. But before the environmentalists start screaming, note the RS7’s fuel economy lists at 9.8L/100km combined cycle -- notably, 0.1L ahead of the BMW M5.

That’s partly because of the RS7’s tuning and partly because of its core engineering. The V8 is based around the V8 introduced in the S8 and carries over its ability to deactivate four cylinders when they’re not needed. Auto start-stop is also standard.

The direct-injection engine uses a pair of twin-scroll turbochargers, nestled inside the vee to generate 1.2 bar of pressure to force-feed the engine.

Besides high economy, the engine delivers a huge spread of performance, with its 750Nm of torque beginning its peak at a diesel-like 1750rpm and maintaining that level in a flat plateau all the way to 5500rpm.

Even its power peak isn’t really a peak, arriving at 5700rpm and staying on station until 6700rpm, while the engine will hit its limiter at 7000rpm. What’s more, in its manual mode, the RS7 will allow the driver to hit that limiter without automatically changing to the next gear.

The result promises to be a surge of raw speed. Audi insists it has the same 3.9-second sprint to 100km/h as the RS6 Avant boasts, but the RS7 is a lighter car that is also slipperier through the air and should, in the real world, be a touch quicker.

It will slam into its 250km/h speed limiter so hard that Quattro offers its owners the chance to not only raise the limiter to 280km/h, but to 305km/h as well.

The RS7 is based around the same drivetrain as the RS6, too, which means a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission and an all-wheel drive system that normally sends 60 per cent of all that muscle down to the rear wheels. To continue the grip-is-great theme, it also has standard torque vectoring and also offers Quattro’s brilliant sports differential on the rear diff as an option.

The sleek body is mounted on forged 20-inch alloys, though there is a 21-inch option, and it rides 20mm lower than the S7. The standard versions of the RS7 will sit on air suspension, though hard-core owners are expected to plump for the optional steel springs with three-way adjustable dampers.

The brakes are equally impressive, with 390mm front discs – complete with wave-form edges – and six-piston monobloc calipers. There is a 420mm carbon-ceramic option for the front brakes only.

While it doesn’t get the outrageously flared wheel arches of some of history’s liveliest RS models, it does score a deeper front splitter, more aerodynamic sills and a honeycomb grille.

The interior is dominated by a three-spoke, flat-bottomed leather steering wheel, an RS7-branded tacho and a pair of front seats with huge bolstering to handle the expected dynamic ferocity. Audi has wilted, though, and is supplying a more comfortable pair of front seats on demand. Just two seats in the rear, split by a full-length centre console.

The electronics are much the same as the S7, though the RS7 picks up a lap timer, a shift light and turbo boost pressure and temperature gauges.

There’s no shyness with the details, either, because it has everything from lane-departure warning to radar cruise control to auto-dimming LED lights. There is also a tyre-pressure monitoring system, a self-parking system, a three-zone climate control setup, a WLAN hotspot arrangement and even night vision assistance.

More news and coverage of the 2013 Detroit Motor Show

Full photo gallery of 2013 Detroit Motor Show at motoring.com.au

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