Side by side, the 2013 Audi S7 and its sister sedan, the A7, look strikingly similar. But only one of these well-appointed man-wagons can simultaneously thrill the ladies with its luxuriously accelerative sex appeal and comfortably cart the kids on alternate weekends, without angering the ex-wife so much with ostentatious overkill that she'll sue for child endangerment and additional alimony. It's the sport-oriented S version of Audi's newly updated five-door coupe.

There's a stealth to the S7, a WASP-y elegance belying its over-the-top, under-the-hood endowments, that will inspire men of a certain age and income bracket to part with the additional $18,700 it will take to buy the S rather than the A. The S7 mimics many of the exterior lines of the A7, with an aerodynamic profile so sleek, lean and low it almost looks extruded. But it's powered with a significantly larger, 4.0-liter V-8 boosted with twin turbochargers that make the exhaust so satisfyingly throaty that a male friend, who usually lets me drop his kids curbside after play dates, was drawn outdoors by the siren call of the S7.

"What sexy beast is this?" he asked.