Audi Sportback Concept: 40 High-Res Photos of Detroit Show Sport Saloon

Foreshadowing the production version of the A7 sports sedan that's expected to make its arrival in late 2010 or early 2011, the Sportback Concept was unveiled at 2009 North American International Automobile Show. The large, five-door sport saloon with its coupe-like silhouette is slightly larger than the A6 measuring at 4.95 m long (16.24 ft), 1.93 m wide (6.33 ft) but only 1.40 m high (4.59 ft).

Audi says the Sportback Concept not only offers a glimpse at the Audi's future design vocabulary, but it also signals the company's determination not to limit fastback/ hatchback Sportback versions to the compact segment.

The Sportback's exterior design is outright sexy with its low-slung, coupe-like roofline and the Lamborghini Estoque-inspired buttocks - though Audi unimaginatively tries to convince us that the tail of the show car is "evidently related to the A5 Coupe". Inside, the Sportback gets a four-seat layout and a wide center console that stretches from the dashboard to the back. Passengers will be happy to know that the Sportback's trunk has a volume of 500 liters (17.66 cubic feet).

Not surprisingly, Audi equipped the show car with a 3.0-liter V6 TDI clean diesel engine. As in the U.S. version of the Q7 3.0 TDI, the V6 also produces 165 kW (225 hp) and 550 Nm (405.66 lb-ft) of torque in the Sportback concept. Power is transferred to the wheels via Audi's new 7-speed tiptronic transmission.

Weighing in at 1,800 kilograms (3,968.32 lb) and with a drag coefficient of 0.30, the coupe-like fastback saloon accelerates from 0 – 100 km/h (62mph) in less than seven seconds and reach a top speed of 245 km/h (152mph). According to Audi, the Sportback concept's average fuel economy according to the European ECE standard is 5.9 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers (39.87 US mpg), and its CO2 emissions no more than 156 g/km (251.06 g/mile).