Audi
Prologue Avant Concept
The striking new Audi
Prologue Avant concept has made its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show 2015.
The new estate concept follows the Audi Prologue Concept prototype first shown
at last year’s LA Motor Show, highlighting the German firm’s future design
direction.
From the front and
waist down, the Prologue Avant clearly takes cues from the Prologue saloon
concept. A new ‘singleframe’ grille that’s stretched across the width of the
car features, as do slim LED laser headlights – the next generation in lighting
technology from Audi.
More importantly,
though, the car not only previews a future shooting brake estate, but how all
Audis penned by design chief Marc Lichte will look in the coming years.
At 5.1 m long the
Prologue Avant is roughly 15 cm longer than Audi’s current A6 estate, although
that swooping roofline makes the car look even longer. This means there should
be plenty of room inside the four-seat cabin – expect this to grow to a full
five-seater for any future production model that evolves from this concept
stage.
Featuring a hybrid
drivetrain with a 3.0-litre TDI diesel engine under the bonnet, the Prologue
Avant is loaded with Audi’s next-generation of powertrain technology, also
giving an idea of where the company is heading for its future engines.
The diesel unit kicks
out 358 bhp, while the electric motor mounted inside the Prologue Avant’s
eight-speed automatic gearbox adds another 134 bhp. In total the concept estate
can muster 461 bhp, with a massive 750 Nm of torque helping it accelerate from
0-62 mph in 5.1 seconds. Top speed is limited to 155 mph.
On top of this, Audi
claims the Prologue Avant can return up to 176 mpg combined, emitting an
impressive 43 g/km CO2. The rear-mounted lithium-ion battery pack also means the
concept estate can travel up to 33 miles on electric power alone, which should
come in useful in congested cities where air quality is poor.
The driver can keep an
eye on energy usage the car features a three-part display that Audi describes
as ‘game-changing’. The whole of the
dashboard has been designed as an information screen, with three touchscreen
‘zones’ – two displays left and right of the steering wheel give the driver
vital information on assist and multimedia functions, while a third widescreen
unit spans the width of the centre console.
As the Prologue Avant
concept only gives us a window on Audi’s future design direction there are no
plans to put it into production just yet, but watch out for new tech and
styling cues seen here filtering down to Audi’s model range soon.
