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Spyshots: 2019 Audi RS7 Mule Makes Snowy Return With The Same Deceiving Body

The old Audi A7 Sportback used to be the most exciting model of the Ingolstadt-based carmaker's lineup (excluding the R8 supercar), and even though the new model retains that title, its specialness has been a little deflated.
2019 Audi RS7 14 photos
Photo: CarPix
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Since the RS7 is the most powerful and the best-looking A7 variant, that makes it a special model for the German manufacturer. So special that it would test the new model out in the open, without any sort of camouflage on?

No, of course not, and if you've caught our previous batch of RS7 pictures, you would have known this is but a mule vehicle that uses the standard A7 body with only a few minor alterations. Look closely, and you'll notice the flared fenders and the rudimentary cutaways around the large, oval twin tailpipes.

Other giveaways include the huge and perforated brake rotors as well as the impressively large and yellow (in the front) calipers. Apart from these things, the mule could pass as an ordinary A7 Sportback, which is actually a very clever method of attracting as little attention as possible to your vehicle.

The real RS7 will surely feature the mandatory sporty bits: larger air intakes in the lower bumper to cool off those brakes, a sportier design, more aggressive side skirts, some kind of a lip spoiler and a redesigned rear bumper. The wheels also would probably be closer to the ones used in the first spotting.

The real big question about the 2019 RS7 is what power output Audi will decide on. There's no doubt it would fit a V8 engine under its hood, but the exact number of ponies running toward all four wheels through the quattro system is still a mystery. We're leaning toward any number over 600 hp, and we're pointing the finger at the Mercedes-AMG E63 S for that.

Sometime after the initial launch, the RS7 should receive an e-tron version as well, which is another way of saying it will borrow the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid powertrain for even more potency, meaning it should be grazing the 700 hp area for it to make sense.

A hybrid RS7 might be a tough pill to swallow for some, but considering how many of today's hypercars use the aid of electric motors, resisting it means resisting the future as well as improved performance. We're looking forward to both versions, with at least one of them launching later this year.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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