2011 Audi A7 Sportback debuts in Munich!

Posted by Harvinder

July 27, 2010

It’s official! Audi has finally launched the all-new A7 Sportback at the Pinakothek der Moderne art museum in Munich. The A7 Sportback which is described by Audi as a “large, elegant 5-door model combined with the emotional character of a grand coupe, the comfort and prestige of a sedan and the active practicability of a station wagon” (now that’s a mouth full) will make it’s European showroom debut this fall with a base price of €51,650.

Audi’s iteration of the Mercedes-Benz CLS has a front end that speaks the company’s latest design language and a slopping roof line. The roof line ends with a rear hatch that opens to a 535-liter luggage space. This figure can be increased to 1,390 liters by folding down the rear backrests. The A7 Sportback measures 4.97 meters long, 1,91 meters wide and 1.42 meters high and it comes with bi-xenon headlights and LED taillights as standard. There is also an LED headlight package, which is optional surprisingly.

The exterior design seems acceptable to me but I would complement it more if it weren’t for an off-putting rear end design. It has slight hints of the BMW 5-Series GT which isn’t really a good thing. Its like the design flow starting from the front ends abruptly. Lets move on to something that we can actually praise the A7 Sportback for: it’s interior. The interior reminds me of the latest generation Audi A8 which in this case, is definitely a good thing. Wood trim can be seen at all the right places and everything looks nicely proportioned.

Among others the A7 Sportback’s interior sports Audi’s MMI operating system which is used to control various functions of the vehicle as well as an Internet connectivity system, developed with Google. Connection is made via a Bluetooth car phone and a UMTS connection and the system also allows images and information from Google Earth to be displayed along with the navigation route. Other devices can connect to the system through a wireless LAN hotspot. There is also a rather cool touchpad input system that allows the driver to use his or her finger to write letters or numbers, among others.

Optionally available is an ambient lighting system, climate-control and massage functions, a heads-up display and more. Major convenience-related and safety features are made up by a new park assist system which is pretty much a self-park system for parallel parking and Audi active lane assist which is self-explanatory. Audi also says that the navigation system can work with many optional features and the system can forward the route data to the control units for the headlights, the automatic transmission and the adaptive cruise control with stop and go function to recognize complex scenarios, which Audi claims, can help reduce the severity of accidents.

The Audi A7 Sportback comes with four engine options but not much details were released. The press release only mentions that the engines range between 204hp and 300hp. It also said that the 204hp power figure is provided by a 3.0 liter TDI which consumes 5.3 liters per 100 kilometers, averagely. The company also confirmed that all engines feature Audi’s thermal management system, a recuperation system (possibility a brake energy regeneration) and an engine start-stop system.

Two transmission options are available including Audi’s multitronic continuously variable transmission which is available with front-wheel models and the S-tronic dual-clutch gearbox for quattro models. Speaking about the quattro all-wheel-drive system, Audi says that the latest iteration of the system features a crown-gear center differential and torque vectoring.

Also available as an option is a sports differential and the A7 Sportback comes standard with light-weight control arms as well as a new electromechanical power steering system. There is also an adaptive air suspension system which is optional. You can continue reading to view an image gallery as well as to watch a video of the Audi A7 Sportback.