Audi RS7 Sportback refreshed with 190 mph top speed

Audi has fitted the RS7 Sportback with a series of mild styling changes only 18 months after its reveal at the 2013 Detroit auto show.

Among the subtle visual modifications brought to the plush performance liftback is a lightly reworked front end. It features a restyled single-frame grille set within a slightly more structured bumper, bringing its appearance in line with less-powerful versions of the A7 Sportback revealed last week.

The RS7 Sportback also gets reworked LED headlamps as standard. Audi is making its Matrix LED headlamps an option on the new car. They come with darkened graphics to provide the car with greater visual differentiation.

Further stylistic tweaks include tail lamps with new LED graphics and restyled 20-inch wheels.

Inside, Audi has added revised instruments, modified shift paddles and altered controls for the air vents. The optional MMI (Multi Media Interface) Plus infotainment system also receives an updated graphics processor for faster operation.

The facelifted RS7 Sportback runs the same turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 direct-injection gasoline engine as before. It continues in the same state of tune, with 552 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque between 1,750 and 5,500 rpm. The power is channeled through a standard eight-speed automatic gearbox to all four wheels via Audi's Torsen torque-sensing Quattro all-wheel-drive system.

Audi claims the same 0-62-mph time of 3.9 seconds as with the earlier RS7 Sportback. Top speed is nominally limited to 155 mph but can be raised to either 174 mph or 190 mph in combination with an optional “Dynamic” package.

The first North American deliveries of the revised Audi RS7 Sportback are planned for the last quarter of 2014.

By Greg Kable