The Mercedes CLS-fighting A7 Sportback from Audi, previewed by 2009's Sportback Concept (seen in these pictures), is going to be debuting in Paris later this year.
Rumors coming from Britain indicate that instead of the "hurry up and wait a couple years" strategy that usually surrounds RS models, Audi's 'quattro' division will be releasing its RS7 side-by-side with the standard A7.
Power is said to be sourced from a non-turbo version of Audi's 5.2 liter V10 putting out as much as 580-horsepower and hooked to a 7-Speed DSG transmission.
With the RS7 Sportback, Audi is looking to have a direct competitor for the upcoming CLS63 (and possibly BMW's Gran Coupe-based 8-Series) in its stable.
The only issue here is that quattro builds one model at a time; with the RS5 having just debuted, this RS7 making an appearance may just be a bunch of hopes and dreams. Regardless, there's no doubt that it WILL happen. One day.
So, now that everyone is starting to play in the high-performance four-door coupe sandbox, let the nicely-tailored form-over-function wars begin!
By Phil Alex
Via: Autoblog.com
