THIRD ITERATION OF THE AUDI PROLOGUE CONCEPT

4x4magazine | 28/04/2015 | 0 Comments

15 years ago, a new class of automobile debuted with the Audi allroad quattro: a car combining the comfort and dynamics of the luxury class with maximum variability and masterful off-road capability. Audi is now presenting the third iteration of the acclaimed Audi Prologue design concept with rugged allroad theme and hybrid drive at Auto Shanghai.

The 5.13 metre five-door show car with its raised body and tougher stance provides a new emphasis in the conceptual Audi prologue family and a clear glimpse into the brand’s design future.

With its elegant and highly variable interior, the Audi prologue allroad is the perfect car for everyday driving and recreation. Driver and passengers experience the spacious interior of the show car as a luxurious lounge. The continuous centre console and the front seats appear to float.

Across its full width, the front of the instrument panel is designed to be a display surface which integrates three touch displays. Aluminium frames surround the driver displays to the right and left of the steering wheel. The front passenger can configure infotainment options using a widescreen display fully integrated into the instrument panel. He or she can swipe to send these to the right driver display or to the Audi virtual cockpit future, which lies in the driver’s field of view. High-resolution displays and three semi-transparent mirrors generate a virtual visual stage with three levels. Thanks to this staggered approach, information is structured better and is easier to grasp.

The centre console tunnel houses an additional driver display, featuring innovative OLED technology, for climate control system, infotainment and text input. When inactive, the display is in a flat retracted position; as soon as the car is started, it moves up at an angle.

Rear passengers in the Audi prologue allroad sit in individual seats. They use an additional OLED display on the centre console to adjust the seats, the climate control system and the infotainment for their area or to exchange data with the driver. Two extremely thin and slightly curved Audi tablets, which can be mounted in the backs of the front seats, also use OLED technology.

The 4.0 TFSI engine – a V8 with twin turbochargers – and the electric motor integrated into the eight-speed tiptronic produce 734 PS of system power and 900 Nm of system torque. The quattro all-wheel drive system utilises the power of the Audi prologue allroad perfectly in every situation.

The show car rockets from 0 to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds, yet is capable of achieving up to 117 mpg according to the NEDC standard for plug-in hybrids, which corresponds to 56 grams CO₂ per km. The lithium-ion battery mounted in the rear of the car has a capacity of 14.1 kWh for a purely electric range of 33 miles. With its AWC (Audi wireless charging) technology which the brand is developing for series production, the Audi prologue allroad can also be charged inductively.