Audi's striking A7 Sportback probably, you're thinking, didn't need much in the way of improvements; so for the new model year, Audi has quite sensibly kept the changes to a minimum.
Exterior
The most obvious external differences are at the front, where the lights, grille and bumpers have been subtly tweaked to give the A7 a slightly more modern, tech-y look, The most significant news is that Audi's clever all-LED headlights are now standard, with the even more high-tech Matrix LED lights (which are said to be able to light up the road like a runway without causing glare for other drivers) are an option. The rest of the exterior and body are much the same, and the boot space remains unchanged at 535 litres.
Interior
The cabin now has a wider choice of colours and materials including new aluminium and Beaufort walnut inlays for the dash and Valcona leather for the seats. The seats alone now have five different colour choices and can be equipped with ventilation and massage systems.
There are also some tweaks to the infotainment and driver assistance systems. The top system, 'MMI Navigation plus with MMI touch', utilises the latest generation of the modular infotainment system; its highlight is a powerful graphics processor from Audi's partner Nvidia. Touchpad control lets the driver scroll and zoom in lists and maps. The perfect supplement to MMI Navigation plus is Audi connect, which links the five-door coupé with the internet via the LTE high-speed data transmission standard. The Audi 'phone box' connects the driver's mobile device to the car antenna for improved reception. The top of the hi-fi line is the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System.
Mechanicals
On the engine front, the A7 now comes with a choice if two petrol TFSI engines and three diesels. The most efficient model is now the 218hp 3.0 TDI V6 diesel which is front-wheel drive and uses a completely revised seven-speed S Tronic (Audi's term for the Volkswagen Group's DSG dual-clutch gearbox) transmission. This equipped it emits 122g/km of CO2 and has an impressive official fuel consumption figure of 4.7 litres per 100km. There's also a 272hp version of the same engine or, our choice, the brilliant twin-turbo 333hp BiTurbo.
The top-line model is still the ragingly hot S7 which uses the 4.0-litre turbo V8 petrol engine to achieve 450hp and saves (some) fuel thanks to being able to run on just four cylinders under light throttle openings.
The chassis is more or less unchanged: steel springs as standard with the option of adaptive dampers or air suspension. The S7 gets air suspension as standard.
Anything else?
The revised Audi A7 Sportback goes on sale in October. Prices and final specs will be announced closer to that time.