2014 Audi RS7 brings 560 hp with its U.S. passport

Here in America, we are often left wanting when it comes to Audi’s top of the line RS models. The German manufacturer offers cars such as the RS4 Avant to its European customers, but here, we can only dream. So when Audi brought its M3 fighter, the RS5, to U.S shores this past year, finally we had a reason to scream “fantastisch.” And now we can shout it even louder, as Audi revealed the 2014 RS7 Sportback at the Detroit auto show – a car that we will actually get.

Of course, we already have the A7 and its more muscular twin the S7, but the RS7 takes a double dose of steroids to boost its 4.0-liter TFSI twin-turbo V-8 into producing 560 hp and 553 lb.-ft of torque. It’ll also explode to 60 mph in a scant 3.9 seconds, with a governed top speed of 189 mph.

The RS7 comes fitted with an 8-speed Tiptronic gearbox, and boasts Audi’s equivalent of power shutoff, that can close off the valves for cylinders 2, 3, 5 and 8, to effectively make it a 2.0-liter engine when being driven gingerly. This equates to an average fuel consumption of 24 mpg.

Audi unleashed the RS7 at the auto show directly after BMW revealed the M6 Gran Coupe, just a stone’s throw away. Perhaps sensing the beady eyes of the BMW execs watching their every move, Audi had their boxing gloves on, and presented fighting talk such as, “we are number one,” and “Gen X and Y who want to buy a luxury vehicle prefer Audi over any other manufacturer.”

That was all followed by a rather clever magician (or illusionist, as I’m sure he would prefer to be called) make an RS7 appear out of nowhere. The RS7 doesn’t look as menacing as the RS5, but no doubt it will be a worthy competitor to its German rivals, the BMW M5 and Mercedes E63 AMG. And just to reiterate, this is no illusion. America IS getting the Audi RS7 Sportback. Fantastisch.