7-days *no Reserve* '10 S5 V8 Awd Prem Plus Nav Back-up Led Warranty Best Price on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2014 Audi RS7 [w/video]

The subject of what makes up a true "supercar" is a difficult one, fraught with personal connotations and the rare ability to bring close colleagues into heated confrontation with one another in the blink of an eye. I say this because, while the 2014 Audi RS7 most certainly does not make the supercar cut on a few levels to my way of thinking - not rare enough, expensive enough or wearing an appropriately evocative body - it is unquestionably an "everyday supercar" of remarkable ability. And, pertinently, it is one that proved willing to ply its trade in every version of winter that Michigan had to offer it.
I had winter four ways during my week-long loan with the RS7. A period of crisp temperatures and dry roads, presided over by light blue skies as wide as the horizon, soon gave way to spitting, freezing rain blanketed in slightly misleading warmer air. Then there was snow. Not the massive blanket we saw in the first week of the New Year, but more than enough to see my neighbors stocking up on Ice Melt and replacing their shovels for the season. Finally, temperatures dropped to the mid teens, cottony snow compressed into a hard pack and all residual moisture on the mostly cleared roads morphed into the very slickest of ice. Timeless curses were uttered by cranky commuters in smoking breaths. Pure Michigan.

Audi reveals updated RS7 Sportback in Europe

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Audi revealed a few mild updates to its A7. It even ported those changes over to the warmed-up S7 performance version. All that was missing was the full-steam RS7, and that's precisely what we have here.
Now before you get all excited, note that the new RS7 packs the same powertrain as the model it succeeds, but then again, the existing RS7 hardly lacked in the power department. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 still churns out 560 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, transmitted to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic. Revealed initially for the European market (with US details presumably to follow), the 0-62 kilometers per hour time is quoted at 3.9 seconds, so the 0-60 mph time ought to match the 3.7 seconds of the preceding model.
What has changed are the subtle tweaks Audi has made to the exterior and equipment upgrades inside. The grille now features has a horizontal section at the bottom with the Quattro logo emblazoned across like all other recently revised RS models, flanked by new headlights (Matrix LED units for the European market). Inside the cabin the air-con vents and shift paddles have been reshaped, and the new MMI system ports over from the new A7 and S7 with 4G LTE connectivity and a Bang & Olufsen sound system.

Ken Block and friends race light in silly-beautiful Castrol commercial

How does one make fast, loud, drifting cars better? Well, you can add more fast, loud, drifting cars or you can add lasers. Either or, really. In this case, Castrol did the right thing and added both, creating a highly stylized commercial for its Edge Titanium motor oil starring South African racer Adrian Zaugg, BMW factory driver Augusto Farfus, Audi DTM and Le Mans staple Mike Rockenfeller and some bloke named Ken Block.
Their cars? No surprise, but Block is in his Ford Fiesta GRC, while Zaugg samples a Lamborghini Aventador and Farfus and Rockenfeller drive along party lines, with a BMW M4 and an Audi R8, respectively. And those cars look good, too, thanks to the creative light and laser work on display.
Take a look below for the video from Castrol.