Audi wasn't kidding around when it pledged to get rid of the horribly fake exhaust tips. Praise be, the new S5 sold in Europe has reverted to a real quad setup. If you're wondering about its bigger brothers, the situation is a bit different. The S6 Sedan, S6 Avant, and S7 Sportback have dropped the fakery but without putting the four tips back. The change quietly occurred at least a year ago, but we can't see everything all the time.
Screenshots taken from the German configurator show the three cars with a clean rear-end design that does away with the exhaust tips. They're tucked away underneath the bumper, giving the sensation we're looking at one of Audi's new S-badged electric cars. But we are not. There's still a combustion engine underneath the hood, a V-6 different than the one Audi installs in North America.
When Audi launched the S6 and S7 models a few years ago, Europeans got the short end of the stick. Unlike the US-spec cars with the twin-turbo, 2.9-liter V-6 gas engines, the equivalent Euro models received a diesel instead. The German luxury brand motivated its decision by saying diesels were still popular in Europe at that time. However, there was another reason–putting an oil-burner in the S6 and S7 allowed Audi to lower its fleet emissions.
The smaller S5 also had TDI power in Europe but not anymore since the next-gen model rocks a 3.0-liter V-6 TFSI all over the world. Spy shots have revealed Audi is working on replacements for the S6 and those cars are likely going to lose the diesel as well. Per the company's updated nomenclature, the ICE-powered S6 will become the S7. As weird as the S7 Avant name might sound, it's coming to join the already-launched S5 Avant.
