The 2020 Audi RS7—our all-time favorite fastback just got even better

• 

  I was petrified that Audi would somehow make the second-generation RS7 not as good to look at or drive as its predecessor. I was wrong to be worried, because the new car hits both of those bases at once. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

FRANKFURT, Germany—Earlier this month, we checked out the new Audi RS6 Avant, a 591hp (441kW) station wagon that is finally—after much pleading and begging—coming to America. But Audi Sport’s big reveal at the Frankfurt auto show was actually that car’s mechanically identical but even better-looking twin: the RS7 Sportback. And since we were going to be in Germany for the auto show anyway, Audi invited us to spend the day driving the RS7.

Unlike the sporty station wagon, the RS7 is no stranger to our roads. The first-generation car was sold in the United States, and it was really good. Probably the best car in Audi’s lineup, in fact. You see, Audi has earned a reputation for building cars that are elegant to look at and luxurious to ride in, but they are often boring to drive. As the company frequently tells me, boring luxury is what its customers want, or at least most of them. For drivers who want something pulse-quickening, there’s Audi Sport. Based in Neckarsulm, Germany, it’s Audi’s in-house tuning and race shop, and it’s gotten pretty good at adding excitement to otherwise staid cars down the years.

The recipe is straightforward. In this case, take the attractive but dull-to-drive A7 fastback and give it a twin-turbo V8, uprated suspension, and a clever torque-vectoring rear diff, then build a few thousand each year. This recipe worked extremely well in the first-generation RS7, and I’ll admit I was terrified that the sequel wouldn’t quite live up to expectations. So finding out the new RS7 is actually even better is a great relief.