(continued from above)
The very first glimpse of the new Col de Turini White show car awakens
memories of another legendary ancestor: the 1984 Sport quattro, a 306 hp
evolutionary stage of the Audi quattro Coupe with a shortened wheelbase. In
fact, the Audi quattro concept also represents the systematic further
development of a production coupe using high-performance technology. The
foundation is provided by the powerful Audi RS 5, one of the brand's sportiest
production vehicles ever.
The Audi development engineers shortened the
wheelbase by 5.91 inches and lowered the roofline by around 1.57 inches compared
to the four-seat coupe on which it is based. Like its predecessor from 1984, the
2010 show car is now also a two-seater. The heavily modified body is made
primarily of aluminum, with the hood, the rear hatch and other components made
of carbon.
The low weight of the superstructure leads to significant
secondary effects in other components of the vehicle, such as the transmission,
the chassis and the brake system. As a result, the Audi quattro concept weighs
just 2,866 lbs, almost exactly the same as the Sport quattro from 1984. This
once again moves Audi, the pioneer of lightweight construction, to the head of
the pack.
The know-how and technologies of the quattro concept body will
characterize Audi's entire production model portfolio in the future.
In
another move that benefits the vehicle's weight, the eight-cylinder engine from
the production model has been replaced under the hood by a turbocharged, inline
five-cylinder engine that can trace its roots back to another Audi sports car -
the TT RS. In the Audi quattro concept, the longitudinal FSI turbo produces 408
hp and accelerates the car from 0 to 60 mph in only 3.7 seconds. Torque is
distributed as needed via a six-speed manual transmission.
The Audi
quattro concept uses the latest evolutionary stage of the quattro permanent
all-wheel drive system to deliver its power to the road. The key innovation, the
crown-gear center differential, is compact, lightweight, and can vary the
distribution of power between the front and rear axles over a broad range,
enabling the quattro drive system to react within milliseconds to coax the
maximum of fun and safety out of every last bit of torque.
Audi Quattro Concept: Review (2/2)