Car Noir: The 2022 Audi RS7 Exclusive Edition Shows Its Dark Side
Only 23 examples will be produced which makes it ripe for exorbitant dealer mark ups.
The 2022 Audi RS7 Exclusive Edition is set to be more rare than the first edition Charizard card that you watched an influencer show off on TikTok. Only 23 units of the RS7 variant will be produced with all of them earmarked for sale in the United States, if you can survive the likely markups.
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Under the hood, the RS7 Exclusive Edition is powered by the same 591 horsepower 4.0 liter twin-turbo V-8 found in a standard trim, so there isn't much to report in the way of increased engine performance. Though, the front ceramic brakes are slightly larger than the optional discs available for the standard trim. Other than that, the Exclusive Edition RS7 offers more in the way of cosmetic changes inside and out.
Starting with the exterior the 2022 RS7 Exclusive Edition is sprayed with "Mamba Black" paint with a pearl finish with "undertones of blue," according to Audi. The noir theme continues with blacked out Audi rings and emblems. The front spoiler, rear diffuser, and mirrors are carbon fiber pieces which enhance the look and technically saves an insignificant amount of weight. The Exclusive Edition comes with a set of 22-inch gloss wheels which cover blue painted brake calipers.
Inside, Audi has adorned the Exclusive Edition in more black leather than a Tim Burton film. Beyond the seats, the door armrests, door panels, center console and upper dashboard are all covered in leather and finished with "Sepang" blue stitching because they had to do something to match chose brake calipers we mentioned earlier. To mix things up, the headliner is made from black Dinamica, which is a synthetic suede similar to Alcantara.
If this black-on-black German super-sedan from Audi sounds like your type of party then you'll have to be ready to fork over $165,400 plus a $1,095 destination charge and whatever astronomical mark-ups that the dealer decides to tack on. Considering the low production run of this trim, don't be surprised if prices exceeding $250k start popping up on Audi reddit pages along with a lengthy debate about whether or not it's worth forking out California condo money for what is effectively a very rare appearance package.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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