It's facelift time for Audi's monster pseudo-coupé RS 7 Sportback, given that it's feeling a bit long in the tooth as it has been around since... er... 2013. Oh.
Exterior
You would need to be the mother of all car anoraks to spot the changes unassisted, because they are minimal - so allow us to identify them. Audi's continuing fascination with headlights means the RS 7 now benefits from LED units as standard at the front, which have a slightly different shape thanks to the new 'Singleframe' grille: this is more obviously hexagonal, rather than trapezoidal as before. There are slight amendments to the bumper and its air intakes, while the honeycomb grille comes with the 'quattro' lettering as standard. Options include Matrix LED lights, which feature dark trims and 'dynamic' turn signals at the front (they 'sweep' in the direction you're intending to go, rather than just flashing on and off), and three exterior trim finishes of matt aluminium, gloss black and carbon are available. Audi says the rear lights are the same, albeit with 'new interior design', and there are four fresh colours for the RS 7: Floret Silver metallic; Glacier White metallic; Mythos Black metallic; and pearl effect Sepang Blue.
Interior
Enhanced infotainment is the order of the day, the RS 7 benefitting from the latest generation modular platform for its MMI Navigation Plus with MMI Touch, powered by an efficient graphics processor from Audi's partner Nvidia. There are also some subtle upgrades to the air outlet controls of the vent nozzles, the shift paddles behind the steering wheel and the quattro emblem on the instrument panel. Well, we did say subtle...
Mechanicals
Its mighty 4.0 TFSI twin-turbo V8 engine seemingly remains unchanged from before, serving up 560hp from 5,700- to 6,600rpm and 700Nm between 1,750- and 5,500rpm. It also still employs Cylinder-on-Demand technology, which allows it to run as a V4 under light engine load situations. However, Audi says it can achieve 221g/km of CO2 and combined consumption of 9.5 litres/100km; these compare to 229g/km and 9.8 litres/100km on the 'old' car. These modest improvements might be to do with a long eighth gear in its automatic transmission, offering more efficient cruising.
Elsewhere, it's 'as you were'. So 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds, a limited top speed of 250km/h as standard, with 280- and 305km/h offered as part of optional dynamics packages, quattro all-wheel drive, RS adaptive damping air suspension with Sport suspension plus an option, the chance to fit dynamic steering, carbon fibre ceramic brakes available and 20-inch alloys at all corners with 21s a possibility.
Anything else?
The revised RS 7 Sportback can be ordered from the third quarter of this year, with deliveries expected in the early part of 2015. Prices and final specs will be released closer to launch.