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Rendered speculation: Audi A7 Cabrio
We brought you the news yesterday that Audi plans to bring another odd-numbered offering to market. The A7 will likely bite the Mercedes' CLS styling by coming to the party sporting a swooping rear roofline, to give it that oh-so-en vogue coupe appearance.But, what of Mercedes' four-door convertible, the Ocean Drive concept? Surely Audi has to fill that niche as well, right? Well, in cooperation with Schulte design, Motor Authority decided to answer those hypothetical questions with a rendering of a soft-top A7.
Complete with LED lighting and a pillar-less greenhouse, the A7 Cabriolet gives us a visual approximation of what such an unlikely creature would look like. Motor Authority maintains that the A7 will be built off the new platform underpinning the A8 limo, which could utilize anything between a 3.2L V6 to a Lambo-sourced V10. Since all of it's educated guess work anyway, we'll say that the R10 racercar's TDI mill would be a good candidate, along with a new version of the Quattro system that has the ability to send up to 100-percent of the power to the rear wheels. Why not? Everything's on the table.
[Source: Motor Authority]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DJ 2:52PM (3/20/2007)
Looks great!
By the way, now that Audi has used every number but 9, when will we see an A9/S9 uber-flagship? Say something with a twin turbo W12 belting out 650HP?
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MikeW 12:40PM (3/20/2007)
100 percent to the rear wheels would be rear drive [with a clutch pack to send power to the front axle] That would be BMW's xDrive.
Audi would not utilize an odd firing V12 for the street, it goes against the "Vorsprung durch Technik"
Leave the odd firing V12 (slightly) to Ferrari.
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testa di cazzo 11:57AM (3/20/2007)
this car is gorgeous. aparently, they will make a 2-door A7 in addition to the 4-door A7 to compete with the BMW 6-series and the CL from mercedes. that car should be a sight to behold...
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JayP 12:23PM (3/20/2007)
Quattro = car
quattro = drivetrain
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Jack S. 1:00PM (3/20/2007)
Looks great. I wish AUDI could figure out how to build reliable cars though. I like their designs and performance yet reliability is a joke for cars in their price range.
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Jason 4:51PM (3/20/2007)
To #4. Audi's reliability is rated as "average", not a joke. Better than BMW's and MBZ's. Check the latest Consumer Reports car issue. More Audis are recommended than ever before (A3, A4, A6), far more than the competing German brands. VW is the one with bad reliability.
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testa di cazzo 2:34PM (3/20/2007)
#4, what is that statement regarding the reliability based on? what you've read? what your buddies think? what your gut tells you? or do you say this based on personal experience?
i am on my third audi now, and i have never had so much as a hint of reliability issues, at least no more than i had with the 2 mercedes or the one bmw i've owned. obviously, there are things that go wrong, (just as with any piece of machinery), but as long as you make sure the car is given its proper scheduled maintenance and you take care of it, it is no less reliable than any other car.
and either way, the car is under 100% warranty (except brakes, for obvious reasons) for 50,000 miles. you're telling me that you expect nothing to go wrong after you've driven a car 50,000 miles? wtf?
and anyways, if you need to keep an audi for more than the 4 or 5 years it takes to put 50,000 miles on it, you probably aren't in the income bracket that audi is targeting. they are looking for people who can afford to get a new car every three years...
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The Penguin 6:51PM (3/20/2007)
Once again MB has taken the lead in design and left everyone else behind. But I still look forward to Audi, BMW, and lots of other car makers building a rival to the CLS.
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Typesbad 2:49PM (3/20/2007)
I can't bring myself to type "4-door coupe" out side of say, the RX-8, but it always seemed to me that the A6 roofline pretty much introduced the swoopy 4-door concept()to the luxury class. To be sure, the CLS took things a step further but that still seems inadequate justification for a whole new model line.
As for the 4-door convertible idea, I question the size of the market. I've been in the back seat of some big Detroit convertibles of the 60s and legroom be damned, you only want to be so far behind that windshield at highway speeds. The novelty wears off after a few minutes and sitting there starts to become more of an indurance test. A more conventionally proportioned convertible with suicide rear doors would make more sense to me.
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nagmashot 3:35PM (3/20/2007)
#4 you know not much about cars...
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DPC car videos 3:49PM (3/20/2007)
Looks good, they should have the DSG trans on all their cars.
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mxrz 4:30PM (3/20/2007)
Cars with longitudinal engine arrangements can't have the DSG, even the R8 has Lambo's E-Gear instead. Only the Bugatti Veyron has a DSG with a longitudinal layout. However, they’re working on adapting it. As well as a developing cheaper DSG for entry level models.
And yes, Audi's are quite reliable, compared to Mercedes, Jaguar and even BMW.
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B-NOIT 6:56PM (3/20/2007)
#12, this post is about an Audi. If you meant that Audi has left everyone in the dust again, well, that's debatable. And MB has not been ahead of anyone in terms of styling in recent times, with the exception of the CLS.
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MikeW 8:47PM (3/22/2007)
'No, longitudinal cant have a double clutch transmission.'
Try again.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/photos.cfm/photoid/3060109.004/pageview/photo/photo/1027/size/large/country/gcf/audi/audi-roadjet-concept
in case that doesn't work
http://www.fourtitude.com/gallery/albums//Audi/Studies/Roadjet/028.jpg
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