The 2020 Audi RS7—our all-time favorite fastback just got even better
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When getting free flights all over the planet to promote gas guzzling toys for the rich, does Ars at least buy offsets for the emissions the free flights cause?
edit: s/uber wealthy/rich/ s/ars/Ars/
edit: s/uber wealthy/rich/ s/ars/Ars/
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It constantly amazes how Ars articles on Climate Change and articles like this can exist on the same website.
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That is literally the plan. More or less the final option for those of us who want to drive a car rather than being a glorified passenger to the computer that's actually calling the shots.
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Ugh, it feels like the electric revolution is ALLLMOST here, going on like 8 million years now. I don't want another gas guzzler when I replace my GTI. But I do want something sporty and I'd like some choice.
As impressive as this is... even if I could afford it (lol)... I would be ashamed to own something like this, and I'd feel mucho foolish when the inevitable electric version outperforms it handily.
As impressive as this is... even if I could afford it (lol)... I would be ashamed to own something like this, and I'd feel mucho foolish when the inevitable electric version outperforms it handily.
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It means STFU about the "paid shill" nonsense before they ban you. It's not something you get to reply to. Ars has a clearly delineated policy on the issue that, if you took even 90 seconds to look into, would show your dumb ass that they didn't take any VW money for a favorable review.
It's a very nice sports car and Jon likes wagons. That is why he's gushing about it, you insufferable twat.
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and, Tesla interior is cheap plastic shit with uncomfortable paper thin seats.
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that brown leather looks ridiculous. I hope it looks better in person. The interior is riffing on the 80s Tron aesthetic which is oh so German. It will age terribly. Otherwise a stunning, beautiful dinosaur of a car. I would buy the RS7 with a Tesla interior and Tesla motor in a heartbeat.
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You're not wrong, but German manufacturers in general don't provide good value for money, so it should be no surprise that this extends to their halo products. Judging by their sales numbers and corporate profit margins, that approach seems to be working just fine for them.
Not my cup of tea, but the nice thing about a diverse market is that is can cater to a variety of customer preferences.
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Err, ... dude, I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just leave it alone. Get better, and I sincerely wish you all the best. No snark, no sarcasm.
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So you're in the market for a $150,000 fastback with nearly 600hp and you're buying a Miata instead because it has a slower manual transmission?
Seems reasonable.
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$30,000 car that you actually get to drive vs an overpriced toy that let's you pretend you know how to . . . any day of the week.
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It's OK, you can just admit you want but can't afford it. This whole sour grapes routine is a bit embarrassing.
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yeah, seems like a Mustang or Camaro would be the obvious "second choice" if a stick is mandatory.
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The performance of all these cars is close, so overkill, and so seldom will be used, that they really only compete on exterior and interior design. And they're all so different that each will get lots of happy customers, all of them spending way more time stuck in traffic than tracking their cars.
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What is the point of a high HP car if it's automatic? I don't care how good the computer doing the transmission is, if I am getting a sports car for performance, I am getting manual transmission or not at all...
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The main barrier for me was that on the car I recently bought it was a CAD $1500 option, and despite that it's not capable of showing directions from CarPlay/Google Maps which is what I use for directions. I don't miss it either, I find a HUD distracting, I don't need info hovering constantly in my field of vision.
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You're not the target demographic for this car then, because virtually all the people who buy these expensive super sedans buy automatics. The reasons being that you just don't feel like shifting all the time anymore, and that paddles are actually quite fun for some people.
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I absolutely cannot and am not embarrassed by it. Merely point out what vehicles are lust worthy and which are a waste of perfectly good tires. You want to be a passenger to a computer and be 150,000 poorer, fill your boots. I'd rather drive thanks.
It's OK, you can just admit you want but can't drive a real car. This whole sour grapes routine is a bit embarrassing.
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I've driven manuals since I was a kid and my first car had to be manual. It was fun to shift when you want to. But I just don't want to anymore, I'm done with that. I enjoy shifting paddles and it doesn't bother me one bit that my car doesn't even come in a manual. There's the nice side benefit that automatics shift faster and are more efficient than any manual these days.
Before you judge, consider that not everyone enjoys the same things as you and it doesn't mean "can't drive a manual". You go buy whatever car you want, I won't judge you.
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My desire for manual has nothing to do with being in tune with my machine. I highly prefer manual transmission the way someone would prefer vanilla to chocolate, it's something that appeals to me. I have also never hit the brake with my left foot accidentally in an automatic.... Anyone who has driven a stick for a period of time then went automatic knows this feeling of trying to hit the non-existing clutch in an automatic only to hit the brake with the left foot and have your body lurch forward...
Also, there can be performance benefits for those that know how to properly drive it. I'm not sure to what extent these still exist at this point with how good the computers doing the shifting are now BUT there is still something to be said for having the power when I need it and KNOWING it will be there. If I have to accelerate quickly to merge, I KNOW that I can let it run high and shift late KNOWING I will get the power out of it and not just assuming that the automatic trans understands and won't shift on me.
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My desire for manual has nothing to do with being in tune with my machine. I highly prefer manual transmission the way someone would prefer vanilla to chocolate, it's something that appeals to me. I have also never hit the brake with my left foot accidentally in an automatic.... Anyone who has driven a stick for a period of time then went automatic knows this feeling of trying to hit the non-existing clutch in an automatic only to hit the brake with the left foot and have your body lurch forward...
Also, there can be performance benefits for those that know how to properly drive it. I'm not sure to what extent these still exist at this point with how good the computers doing the shifting are now BUT there is still something to be said for having the power when I need it and KNOWING it will be there. If I have to accelerate quickly to merge, I KNOW that I can let it run high and shift late KNOWING I will get the power out of it and not just assuming that the automatic trans understands and won't shift on me.
You know what's a way bigger performance benefit than a stick shift? 591hp and race-grade disc brakes backed by advanced electronic torque vectoring. Everything you just listed about controlling the vehicle is something you can do in sport mode with flappy paddle shifters. More importantly, it doesn't matter if you want to snap up the speed on a highway merge. It has almost 600 horsepower. I've driven a stick Mustang GT with 430hp, and you could dog that thing at 2000rpm for a fast highway merge. Even with 30% less power than this Audi, it could be a frighteningly fast car with seemingly no effort at all. More power is simply more power, skill just doesn't play into it beyond a certain point. Moreoever, the ZF 8 speed is widely recognized as maybe the best automatic ever made for sports cars, with incredibly sharp, authoritative shifting and tons of flexibility in operator control schemes.
I won't ever deny that sticks and Miatas are fun to drive for their own unique reasons, but I am utterly out of patience for this idiotic macho bullshit about how only REAL DRIVERS who want the REAL EXPERIENCE drive the REAL MAN'S CHOICE of THIRD PEDAL. Your dinky little 155hp Miata could be rolled up and smoked like a blunt by this fastback, and the guy driving it wouldn't even notice you tried to race him.
If sticks were some flawless cure-all for skill and performance, the Demon and the RS7 and the ZR1 and many other supercars would have them as an option, but they don't. Because stick shifts absolutely suck to drive with that much power, and not a single one of them will last past 20,000 miles of spirited driving behind 600+hp engines. Well, some will, but they're found in tractor trailers.
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Sorry but i dont have to use a search bar. We have them right here in our car club, M5s too... You are wrong. Plain and simple.
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Speaking as someone with 650hp + on a 6speed.. Too true. Would love to have one of those ZF transmissions bolted to this thing.
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How do the aerodynamics of hatches compare to sedans with trunks? I imagine the last of a discontinuity there would be beneficial to the hatch, but I guess the effect is probably negligible?
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My desire for manual has nothing to do with being in tune with my machine. I highly prefer manual transmission the way someone would prefer vanilla to chocolate, it's something that appeals to me. I have also never hit the brake with my left foot accidentally in an automatic.... Anyone who has driven a stick for a period of time then went automatic knows this feeling of trying to hit the non-existing clutch in an automatic only to hit the brake with the left foot and have your body lurch forward...
Also, there can be performance benefits for those that know how to properly drive it. I'm not sure to what extent these still exist at this point with how good the computers doing the shifting are now BUT there is still something to be said for having the power when I need it and KNOWING it will be there. If I have to accelerate quickly to merge, I KNOW that I can let it run high and shift late KNOWING I will get the power out of it and not just assuming that the automatic trans understands and won't shift on me.
You know what's a way bigger performance benefit than a stick shift? 591hp and race-grade disc brakes backed by advanced electronic torque vectoring. Everything you just listed about controlling the vehicle is something you can do in sport mode with flappy paddle shifters. More importantly, it doesn't matter if you want to snap up the speed on a highway merge. It has almost 600 horsepower. I've driven a stick Mustang GT with 430hp, and you could dog that thing at 2000rpm for a fast highway merge. Even with 30% less power than this Audi, it could be a frighteningly fast car with seemingly no effort at all. More power is simply more power, skill just doesn't play into it beyond a certain point. Moreoever, the ZF 8 speed is widely recognized as maybe the best automatic ever made for sports cars, with incredibly sharp, authoritative shifting and tons of flexibility in operator control schemes.
I won't ever deny that sticks and Miatas are fun to drive for their own unique reasons, but I am utterly out of patience for this idiotic macho bullshit about how only REAL DRIVERS who want the REAL EXPERIENCE drive the REAL MAN'S CHOICE of THIRD PEDAL. Your dinky little 155hp Miata could be rolled up and smoked like a blunt by this fastback, and the guy driving it wouldn't even notice you tried to race him.
If sticks were some flawless cure-all for skill and performance, the Demon and the RS7 and the ZR1 and many other supercars would have them as an option, but they don't. Because stick shifts absolutely suck to drive with that much power, and not a single one of them will last past 20,000 miles of spirited driving behind 600+hp engines. Well, some will, but they're found in tractor trailers.
Never once did I say I was a REAL MAN for driving stick nor that I drive a Miata (never would....) or that a manual transmission had anything to do with macho. Learn to read, I mentioned NONE of the things you said, dumbass. Your preconceived stereotypes are ridiculous and insulting. How about go fuck yourself, go play your stereotypes elsewhere.
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How do the HUDs in these sorts of cars work? Is it the little turning arrow, like in a google maps phone? It seems to me like having the car actually render a little highlighted "landing strip" style overlay on off ramps would be
* Very helpful. Ever have you phone say to turn, but have multiple candidate turns? It is a bummer, and induces "dramatic" moves when the wrong road is picked.
* A good chance to try out some computer vision solutions "in the wild," but in a lower stakes environment than actually having the algorithm control the car.
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My desire for manual has nothing to do with being in tune with my machine. I highly prefer manual transmission the way someone would prefer vanilla to chocolate, it's something that appeals to me. I have also never hit the brake with my left foot accidentally in an automatic.... Anyone who has driven a stick for a period of time then went automatic knows this feeling of trying to hit the non-existing clutch in an automatic only to hit the brake with the left foot and have your body lurch forward...
Also, there can be performance benefits for those that know how to properly drive it. I'm not sure to what extent these still exist at this point with how good the computers doing the shifting are now BUT there is still something to be said for having the power when I need it and KNOWING it will be there. If I have to accelerate quickly to merge, I KNOW that I can let it run high and shift late KNOWING I will get the power out of it and not just assuming that the automatic trans understands and won't shift on me.
You know what's a way bigger performance benefit than a stick shift? 591hp and race-grade disc brakes backed by advanced electronic torque vectoring. Everything you just listed about controlling the vehicle is something you can do in sport mode with flappy paddle shifters. More importantly, it doesn't matter if you want to snap up the speed on a highway merge. It has almost 600 horsepower. I've driven a stick Mustang GT with 430hp, and you could dog that thing at 2000rpm for a fast highway merge. Even with 30% less power than this Audi, it could be a frighteningly fast car with seemingly no effort at all. More power is simply more power, skill just doesn't play into it beyond a certain point. Moreoever, the ZF 8 speed is widely recognized as maybe the best automatic ever made for sports cars, with incredibly sharp, authoritative shifting and tons of flexibility in operator control schemes.
I won't ever deny that sticks and Miatas are fun to drive for their own unique reasons, but I am utterly out of patience for this idiotic macho bullshit about how only REAL DRIVERS who want the REAL EXPERIENCE drive the REAL MAN'S CHOICE of THIRD PEDAL. Your dinky little 155hp Miata could be rolled up and smoked like a blunt by this fastback, and the guy driving it wouldn't even notice you tried to race him.
If sticks were some flawless cure-all for skill and performance, the Demon and the RS7 and the ZR1 and many other supercars would have them as an option, but they don't. Because stick shifts absolutely suck to drive with that much power, and not a single one of them will last past 20,000 miles of spirited driving behind 600+hp engines. Well, some will, but they're found in tractor trailers.
Never once did I say I was a REAL MAN for driving stick nor that I drive a Miata (never would....) or that a manual transmission had anything to do with macho. Learn to read, I mentioned NONE of the things you said, dumbass. Your preconceived stereotypes are ridiculous and insulting. How about go fuck yourself, go play your stereotypes elsewhere.
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Sure, ...
... none of those are real sports cars because... well, 'notAfan' said so on the internet. It's a miracle these companies haven't gone out of business yet, with all the real sports car enthusiasts not buying their cars. On the internet.
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Statistical
Ars Legatus Legionis
In 30 years virtually all cars will be BEV and they absolutely won't have a manual transmissions. Hell most wont have a multi-gear transmission at all. So in a couple decades I guess you will be walking everywhere or buying increasingly ancient and (hopefully prohibitively expensive to operate) vehicles to prove a point.
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No he won't, there's a reason most buyers of a certain age don't buy manuals anymore.
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Car makers are certainly investing more resources in non ICE vehicles than ever before but the idea that we are even close to the end of ICE development is utterly laughable honestly. Such a suggestion is massively out of line with any projections from reputable agencies.
Like by the late 2030s early 40s we could see EV sales hitting 50% of new sales in the US, at which point you can start talking about the end of major ICE development as something that will probably happen within the next couple decades (by the 60s and 70s or so).
Mercedes can do what they want, but they are a tiny fraction (2 percent) of the market and there's plenty of other players who are more than happy to gobble up those sales.
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age has nothing to do with it. Hardly anyone buys manual transmissions anymore. And that's a trend that started the instant the automatic transmission arrived. Dickhead car snobs love to invent their own reality where "people would buy manual transmissions en masse if only more were available." when in the real world, car buyers have been rejecting manual transmissions in greater and greater numbers as time has gone on. Manuals are disappearing because few people want them anymore
this isn't the 1980s. You're not choosing between a 3 speed non-OD automatic or a 5-speed OD manual where the difference in fuel economy could be 10 mpg or more. Where you have a choice you are looking at a 6-10 speed automatic vs a 6 speed manual, and the automatic wins on fuel economy. Plus automatics are stronger and can handle much higher input torque; GM and Ford dropped manuals from their HD pickups years ago, and Ram has to de-rate the Cummins 6.7 to 660 lb-ft of torque if you opt to shift for yourself. You want the full 1,000 lb-ft? You get the Aisin 6 speed auto.
There's literally NO practical benefit to a manual transmission anymore, and the vast majority of people drive because they have to, not want to. A manual transmission would be nothing more than a hassle to them.
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Every time I read an article about a cool Audi, I remember reading that Audi decided to save "weight" by switching to aluminum alloy wiring. Until I hear definitively that they have given up this practice, their cars are off the menu for me.
If they feel the need to save weight on the electrical system, they could take a cue from cordless tool makers (and hybrid car makers) and switch to higher voltage lithium batteries, allowing them to save weight by using smaller diameter copper wires and also by not having heavy lead batteries. I'd much rather replace an obviously failing lithium battery more frequently than than to keep having to chase down the next place I'm having trouble because no longer new aluminum isn't getting the full 12v where it needs to go.
If they feel the need to save weight on the electrical system, they could take a cue from cordless tool makers (and hybrid car makers) and switch to higher voltage lithium batteries, allowing them to save weight by using smaller diameter copper wires and also by not having heavy lead batteries. I'd much rather replace an obviously failing lithium battery more frequently than than to keep having to chase down the next place I'm having trouble because no longer new aluminum isn't getting the full 12v where it needs to go.
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