2014 Product Information Booklet for A7/S7/RS7. Noticed a few surprising items...

[masmole]

regarding the RS7:

- US model will not have the "quattro" lettering on the lower portion of the grill whether you opt for the optics package or not. Reason? Not sure. Perhaps it looks awkward when the taller US license plate bracket is installed? I think this is a good thing as I never liked the quattro lettering as shown on the media pics and at the world premiere car at NAIAS.

- US model will not have a flat-bottom steering wheel. Not even as an option. We get a round one. Disappointing because even the US-spec Q5 can be optioned with a flat-bottom steering wheel.

- RS7 has cylinder on demand like the S7 but according to this PIB, no active noise cancellation for the RS7 but the S7 has it. I thought the purpose of the active noise cancellation was to counteract the unwanted noise when the 4.0T is in 4-cylinder mode to make it more refined. So why omit it on the RS7? Maybe this is a typo on the PIB?

- RS7 curb weight is listed at 4232 lbs, which is a whopping 276 lbs lighter than the S7's 4508 lbs listed on the same chart on the same page. Another typo? I find it hard to believe that Audi has managed to trim that much weight between an S7 and RS7, when they have been incapable of such feats with recent RS models. 276 lbs is a lot of weight loss without resorting to exotic lightweight body panels and suspension bits, which I know they haven't. Could the wave design RS rotors really trim that much weight? My best guess is that the 4232 lb curb weight is an RS7 with the standard 20" forged wheels and not the heavier cast 21" option wheels. That together with the wave rotors could possibly account for the 276 lb weight savings.

- We finally get a look at what the 3 different finishes look like for the 21" cast wheel option. The small images are really not all that helpful but better than nothing.

Here's the PIB:
http://www.datarunners.net/AUDI/docs...20A7%20PIB.pdf

[TheChef]

Saw your cross post on QW. Interesting info. Good post.

[ky0t3s]

You guys know if the 2014 product information book for the A6 / S6 is available?

Edit; Found it here
http://www.datarunners.net/AUDI/docs...20A6%20PIB.pdf

[DeerHunter]

Another interesting tidbit: The Comfort Seat option is now 22 way - same as the A/S8. The 2013 Comfort Seats are 18-way (no power headrest or moveable upper shoulder support).

[dgszweda]

I think the wave rotors save about 6lbs per corner. I can't imagine the wheels saving anymore than 10lbs, and even that is probably extreme. At most this would account for 64lbs. Pretty significant for these parts. But I can't imagine anywhere else they would save weight without going more exotic. Maybe the fact that there is no air suspension may save some weight.

[masmole]

I think the wave rotors save about 6lbs per corner. I can't imagine the wheels saving anymore than 10lbs, and even that is probably extreme. At most this would account for 64lbs. Pretty significant for these parts. But I can't imagine anywhere else they would save weight without going more exotic. Maybe the fact that there is no air suspension may save some weight.

but the only suspension for US-spec RS7 is the same air suspnesion as the S7 except with "RS tuning"

[dgszweda]

I am not sure where else they could get the weight. Maybe the Triptronic is lighter than the STronic. The Engines are the same, just appears to be more boost. Maybe the exhaust is slightly lighter without quad tips, but again this is pretty small stuff.

[dgszweda]

A couple of questions/comments:

The RS7 motor is rated at 560hp. This is more than the S8. The S8 is quite a bit different from the S6/S7 motors, especially in areas such as air intakes and that. The RS7 motors from the pictures we have seen looks just like the S6/S7 motor. We know that both the S6/S7 motor and S8 motors are underrated. The S6/S7 appears to generate about 388awhp, and the S8 appears to generate about 477awhp. Making the S6/S7 more like a 480hp motor and the S8 like 580. The question is how underrated is the RS7 motor. With almost 50hp more than the S8 from the brochure. Is this really a 620hp motor? And are they getting that all but just a few tweaks to the S6/S7 motor? I find this very interesting. If this was true it would hold that the RS7 could probably be a 0-60 of 3.2 and an 11.5 in the quarter mile, substantially quicker than both the M and the AMG. I am just curious to see how this all plays out in terms of the motor. Especially if a lot of the power is really coming from a tune.

The other thing, that somewhat frusturates me is that difference between the RS and the S is becoming less obvious. Essentially it is a lot of cosmetic tweaks, a little bit of suspension tuning (not sure how they tuned the air suspension, except with software), and some more horsepower. All good things. But is it really $25K more? The difference between the 550i and M5 are pretty substantial, including considerable tweaks and customization to settings and such. Same goes for the AMG brand. With the fact that most people can get about the same horsepower and definitely more torque from a simple $1400 tune, I am wondering the value. The RS cars have never been as good as the M cars around a track and the handling between the RS and S have never been that great, which really just leaves it to some extra horsepower and some cool cosmetic items.

Am I crazy here?

[masmole]

A couple of questions/comments:

The RS7 motor is rated at 560hp. This is more than the S8. The S8 is quite a bit different from the S6/S7 motors, especially in areas such as air intakes and that. The RS7 motors from the pictures we have seen looks just like the S6/S7 motor. We know that both the S6/S7 motor and S8 motors are underrated. The S6/S7 appears to generate about 388awhp, and the S8 appears to generate about 477awhp. Making the S6/S7 more like a 480hp motor and the S8 like 580. The question is how underrated is the RS7 motor. With almost 50hp more than the S8 from the brochure. Is this really a 620hp motor? And are they getting that all but just a few tweaks to the S6/S7 motor? I find this very interesting. If this was true it would hold that the RS7 could probably be a 0-60 of 3.2 and an 11.5 in the quarter mile, substantially quicker than both the M and the AMG. I am just curious to see how this all plays out in terms of the motor. Especially if a lot of the power is really coming from a tune.

The other thing, that somewhat frusturates me is that difference between the RS and the S is becoming less obvious. Essentially it is a lot of cosmetic tweaks, a little bit of suspension tuning (not sure how they tuned the air suspension, except with software), and some more horsepower. All good things. But is it really $25K more? The difference between the 550i and M5 are pretty substantial, including considerable tweaks and customization to settings and such. Same goes for the AMG brand. With the fact that most people can get about the same horsepower and definitely more torque from a simple $1400 tune, I am wondering the value. The RS cars have never been as good as the M cars around a track and the handling between the RS and S have never been that great, which really just leaves it to some extra horsepower and some cool cosmetic items.

Am I crazy here?

You're not crazy at all. I too don't feel the RS7 is not leaps and bounds better than an S7, which only highlights how great of a car the S7 already is to begin with. Hard to top an already great car with anything more than cosmetic tweaks, power bumps, and other minor RS exclusives. A more limited production run will make it even more exclusive, so perhaps that's the only real draw. While it may seem overpriced if it comes in at $20-25k over an S7, the RS7 will still be competitive compared to a CLS 63 AMG-S, and a bargain compared to a M6 Gran Coupe, neither of which have a useful hatchback nor AWD.

As for the engine. While the RS7 intake plumbing and overall configuration on the surface looks identical to the S7's and not the S8's 4.0T, I'm assuming the internals (pistons, rods, crank, etc) are more closely related to the S8's 4.0T than the S7's. The appearance when you pop the hood only looks like an S7 motor due to packaging design that Audi has simply decided to carry-over from the S7 in order to save on production costs. Doesn't make sense to repackage the S8-spec 4.0T with RS7-unique plumbing on a more limited production car. There's a 4.0TFSI engine study pdf floating around on the web, and while I have yet to see a version that covers the RS6/RS7 version of the 4.0T, it presents detailed information on the internal differences between the S6/S7 4.0T vs the S8 4.0T. A nice read if you're into the technical stuff.