Simply Abu Dhabi XXXI

I t may have started as a niche segment to throw a curveball into the conservative mindset of saloon buyers, but the four-door coupé has rapidly found its home in the luxurymodel portfolio of the major Euro car brands. Mercedes set the trend over a decade ago with the CLS and BMW followed suit with a brace of models across its range, but Audi’s A7 has taken the lion’s share of the market—clocking up 250,000 sales—making it the most successful four-door coupé on the road. For a segment that’s driven by style, you could argue the initial A7 was successful more for it engineering than its looks, as its style was a ‘love it or leave it’ proposi- tion for most who considered the first- gen model. Audi’s product offensive for 2018 has been intensive to say the least, with the A8 luxury saloon recently filtering into showrooms and the dynamic and luxurious Q8 off-roading limousine not far away, its attention right now is on the all-new A7, which is starting to enter UAE dealerships as we go to press. It’s also been cleaned up on the styling front as well, with a cleaner, more contemporary nose while the tail is a complete departure from old, fitting in Audi’s full-width LEd light bar to give the car girth. When combined with the full LEd lights front and rear, it gives it a sophisticated, yet sporty signature look all of its own. Based on the same MLB platform as the A8, the new A7 isn’t a complete clone of the flagship model as its wheelbase is shorter and it has a 66mm lower roofline, despite sneaking in 5mmmore headroom. This has also lowered its centre of gravity and in addition to this, the software boffins have been hard at work to ensure that it feels and drives entirely differently by being somewhat sportier than the A8 as well. Like the upcoming A6 that will also sit on the MLB architecture, what it does share with the A8 is its 48-volt mild hybrid assist system and greater self- driving capabilities.