^^ that G80 looks great! (damn you Lexus for abandoning this segment!)

As for the new G80, looks like a cross between traditional sedan and 4-door coupe slope.

 

Clearly targeting the A7 ...

 

Perhaps not. But the old model, when seen from the side, doesn't look like it could work as a hatchback IMO. The new one - maybe.

To be honest I like the current G80's looks a lot. Hopefully the new one as well.

 

I love that A7. Would love to see the G80 compete with it - the hatchback is a really nice touch on the A7 and would intrigue me to consider G80 if I were shopping and they offer it.

 

front overhang on the new g80 WAY better imo (shorter) than the A7. this is also due to front wheel on g80 being much further forward - look at distance from wheel to front door on both!
looking forward to seeing the real thing i love audi but i think genesis has a better starting point of a real rwd vehicle, not a platform that's been tied in knots with transverse/longitudinal engines and fwd and then 'quattro', etc.

 

so boujee

 

I wasn't seeing A7 with the G80. The Hyundai's greenhouse is distinctly taller and more proper, like a regular sedan. To get the four-door coupe look, one needs to have a low roof, like the A7 and CLS. Combining the fastback look with a traditionally tall(er) greenhouse looks bulbous and a bit goofy.

 

 

 

Yes and no. The BMW 6 Gran Coupe has the same, sleek recipe as the A7- a slim and low greenhouse. The MBZ GLE is more of a take on an SUV, not even close to what the A7 or called out G80 is trying to be.

 

This last bit puzzles me. The A7 is on the MLB platform, which has been longitudinal since day one, and there has never been a model on it with a transverse engine. Furthermore, the MLB is the next evolution of VWAG's B platform, which has been exclusively longitudinal mount since the day it was introduced in 1974. That's actually the reason that the Passat has always had a longitudinal layout, even though for the first few decades of its life it was FWD-only so there was technically no need.

In fact, the MLBEvo platform that the current (2017+) A7 is based on is used for pretty much every VWAG vehicle introduced since 2015, from the A4 on up with the exception of the mid/rear engined cars and the Porsche Panamera (on the MSB platform, that will be used by future Bentleys as well). This includes the Porsche Macan and Cayenne, Bentley Hideousness, Lamboroghini Urus, etc.

Now if what you meant was a Longitudinal/FWD platform, that would be much closer to the mark. MLB is kind of a unicorn in the industry, in that it's one of the only longidudinal-engine platforms I'm aware of with the majority of the engine ahead of the front axle, which is done to make FWD easier for those models that need it. That does result in a longer front overhang than platforms with the engine mounted behind the front axle.

 

^^^ i'm not an expert on their platforms for sure but yes, if they use a longitudinal engine platform for both fwd and rwd applications it's likely to have some trade-offs i think?

most audi sedans in my experience have never had great driving dynamics (handling) compared to bmw, mercedes or lexus. i drove some a8s in the past and came away very disappointed each time.

 

thanks for the lol

 

The main compromises are typically longer overhangs (as we're discussing here), and an upset weight balance if a large, heavy engine is used. That's why anything with the old 4.2L V8 (probably what was in the A8s you drove)--or worse the 6.0L W12 or V8 TDI, both of which are almost 550lbs--kind of handles like a pig, and part of the reason they put the small, lightweight 2.0T in everything.

I knew you would catch that.

 

Up until a few years ago, VW's (Audi's) longitudinal FWD / AWD drivetrains had the front differential at the rear end of the transmission (where the driveshaft to the rear axle would join the transmission). That gave old Audis, with both engine and long transmission, terribly long front overhangs and terrible front-biased weight distributions. But in 2007, VW / Audi redesigned their transmissions, moving the front differential forward, close to where the engine joins the transmission. With the new MLB platform to fit these new drivetrains, came longer wheelbases and front overhangs have been greatly reduced, as well as weight distribution improved also.

But the engine, at least, still sits ahead of the front axle (unlike RWD Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and Genesis models), so the larger (longer) the engine, the longer that front overhang. That's why all of VW's large AWD models (including Bentleys) have the terribly-long front overhang.

(I will let another member, to remain unnamed here, provide details of dates and fancy diagrams.)