BMW's new M5 will premiere this coming summer with a plug-in hybrid twin-turbo V8 powertrain rated at 700-plus mechanical ponies. Following in the footsteps of the V10-engined E60/E61 generation, the newcomer will be offered in two flavors: four-door sedan and five-door wagon.
Volkswagen Group's Audi division will retire its current-gen RS 6 Avant in favor of the RS 7 Avant, which – as you can tell from these pictures – also flaunts a level of hybrid assistance. It's most likely a plug-in hybrid because a non-pluggable hybrid system would produce insufficient power and torque to come close to or match the Bimmer.
Pictured at Germany's most famous of racetracks, the RS 7 Avant mule flaunts a set of sticky tires mounted on black-painted wheels featuring a rather generic design. The brakes don't appear to be final either, more so when compared to the current generation's carbon-ceramic brakes with 17.3- and 14.6-inch rotors. If you prefer the metric system, make that 440 and 370 millimeters, respectively.
Equipped with a grille motif that appears to be influenced by South Korean automaker Hyundai rather than Audi's vast roster of models, the Pirelli-shod mule further shows a dual-tipped exhaust on the driver's side of the rear bumper instead of quad outlets split into two pairs. Despite being a thriller in the twisties and a bit of a screamer on the straights, the camo'd mule also rocks a tow ball.
In markets outside the United States, the RS 6 Avant is rated at 2,100 kilograms (4,630 pounds) braked or 750 kilograms (1,653 pounds) without trailer brakes. Due to the switch from a mild-hybrid V8 to a plug-in hybrid system, the forthcoming RS 7 Avant should be a bit worse in this regard. After all, the high-voltage battery does weigh a lot.
Hearsay suggests a curb weight of 2,435 kilograms (5,368 pounds) for the new M5 Touring, whereas the 8,250-rpm E61 tips the scales at 1,880 kilograms (4,145 pounds). The RS 7 Avant will obviously exceed two metric tons, and similar to the BMW, the current platform will be reused.
MLB is Volkswagen Group's weapon of choice, a platform that rolled out back in 2007 with the original A5. Many iterations later, the MLB underpins pretty much everything from the front-wheel-drive A4 to the Q8 e-tron, Touareg, Lamborghini Urus, and Bentley Bentayga. It's a highly modular design, and the Volkswagen Group's 4.0L twin-turbo V8 isn't shabby either.
It's not clear if Lamborghini's 10,000-rpm V8 is derived from it or a completely different animal, but in any case, don't look forward to a high-revving monster in the RS 7 Avant and its four-door sibling. There is no incentive for it because of the RS 6 e-tron. Indeed, the RS 6 designation will be reused for a pair of zero-emission models underpinned by the group's PPE architecture.
Lower down the spectrum, the RS 4 will also be discontinued for the plug-in hybrid RS 5 and the all-electric RS 4 e-tron. The former has been spied on numerous occasions with high-voltage stickers on its windows and camouflage, with said mules and prototypes making 2.9-liter TFSI V6 sounds.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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