Key facts
Model tested: Audi A7 Sportback 3.0TDi SE, Audi A7 Sportback 3.0TDi quattro S line
Price: £43,775, 49,790
Date tested: September 2010
Road tester: Richard Dredge

The Audi A7 Sportback is the latest model from a German car maker intent on world domination. It's easy to be confused by it though, so think of the A7 as a hatchback version of the all-new A6, which will arrive next year.

Buyers wanting more practicality have demanded something like the A7 Sportback be created. Audi has been happy to oblige with a long, wide and low design that looks classy, sporty and luxurious.

The generous dimensions ensure a decently spacious cabin and load bay. Legroom is plentiful front and rear, but the plunging roof line means anyone in the back who is well over six feet tall, may end up with their hair buried in the roof.

Audi claims the A7 Sportback combines the sportiness of a coupé with the practicality of an estate and the comfort of a saloon. With fold-down rear seats that boost carrying capacity from 535 to 1,390 litres, there's ample space available, but that tailgate ensures estate-like practicality isn't on offer.

What you do get, is excellent performance. At first there will be V6 engines only - a pair of diesels and two petrols, all with stop & start as standard. On offer are:

• 2.8FSi: 201bhp, 187g/km, 146mph, 0-62mph in 8.3 seconds.
• 3.0TFSi: 296bhp, 190g/km, 155mph, 5.6 seconds
• 3.0TDi: 204bhp, 139g/km, 146mph, 7.4 seconds
• 3.0TDi quattro: 242bhp, 158g/km, 155mph, 6.3 seconds

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Apart from the entry-level 3.0TDi, all A7s have quattro four-wheel drive and a semi-automatic gearbox. Even the entry-level model is fast, refined, handles tidily and offers good ride comfort.

Two trim levels will be offered; SE and S line, the latter carrying a £1,790 premium. The SE has a tyre pressure monitoring system, xenon headlights, parking sensors all round, sat-nav, leather trim and electrically adjustable heated front seats as standard. Also included are cruise control, dual-zone climate control and Audi's brilliant Multi-Media Interface.

S line trim adds sportier cosmetics, with 19-inch alloy wheels, a body styling kit plus interior details such as a three-spoke steering wheel and a black headlining.

Further upgrades include 20-inch alloys, air suspension, double glazing, a head-up display, massaging seats and four-zone climate control.

Standard-fit safety kit includes airbags galore, ESP, traction control and anti-lock brakes, while optional are lane assist and night vision, which uses a thermal imaging camera to show if there are any pedestrians in the road after dark.

The A7 Sportback will start at £43,755 when it arrives here in January 2011, and if you can afford one, it's hard to see why you wouldn't buy one. It looks classy, is spacious, practical, great to drive and is superbly equipped, while also being beautifully built. As such, it's easy to argue that the A7 is in a class of its own.