If you go around a room full of people, odds are not everybody is going to give you positive feedback to the Audi A7 Sportback, regardless of generation.
That's the way it's always been for these somewhat controversial models, like the A7 or the BMW X6. Basically anything that's trying to walk the line between multiple body styles.
The A7 Sportback is supposed to be a Sedan, an Avant (ok, a hatch) and a Coupe, all rolled into one, and if you're not into that sort of thing, there's not much else Audi can do to talk you out of it.
Let's not dwell on the negatives though and dive into what Audi has achieved with the second-generation A7 Sportback. For starters, it might be their best application yet of the Prologue concept's exterior lines, which some still say don't work all that well on the new A8. Compared to its larger sibling, the A7 is shaper and has a wider grille, positioned lower for a sportier effect. So yes, compared to the old A7, the new one immediately jumps out as being more aggressive visually, especially when viewed from the front.
The profile however is even more interesting, because this is where Audi went on to fix the things that were supposedly wrong with the old car. For example, they extended the length of the 3rd window to fix the C-pillar's "no man's land" situation. There was a lot of metal and no design elements on the old A7 in that particular section, and now they've made it so the rear end flows more naturally. In fact, the entire profile looks busier and more stylish than before, although some would argue the old A7's continuous shoulder line was pretty sweet/imposing to look at.
Moving on to the rear of these cars, the second-generation A7 Sportback boasts a full-length light strip with 13 vertical segments that can perform multiple light animations. It's modern, stylish though perhaps slightly less aggressive than before. The old car had a "no nonsense" look from behind at a 90-degree angle, and some people liked that.
As for the interior, there's obviously nothing the first-generation A7 can say or do to get an upper hand in this department. Audi didn't even give it their Virtual Cockpit tech during the 2014 facelift, leaving it with much of the same ergonomics and systems you could find on a 2012 model, and even a 2012 A6.
On the new A7, Audi went with an A8-styled upper dash, with some minor differences here and there. Tech-wise, it's got all the goodies you could want, like the Virtual Cockpit, the two large touchscreen displays, head-up display, voice control tech, ambient lighting, plus a wide range of advanced driver assistance systems, including Audi AI.
In the end, it does seem as though the all-new A7 Sportback represents a significant improvement over its predecessor. Is that enough to win over people who didn't like the first-gen model to begin with? Sound off below.
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