Audi Sport Quattro - will it be built?
Audi's head of concept design on whether or not we'll see it on the road
Steve Lewis, British head of Audi's concept design studio, obviously agreed. Which is why we got another version of it at Frankfurt. So how's it different?
"Well, we changed the colour!" he laughs, before taking a more serious tone. "From our side we really believed in the original Paris concept car and we wanted to have another go at it to get it into the heads of our management that we need to get this car made." Promising!
So why the half tonne weight gain, longer wheelbase and on-message hybrid theme? Albeit 700hp's worth.
"I think before the marketing and management teams didn't see the numbers," he says. "Marketing said if it's going to sell we need more room in the back so with that influence we're testing the water again." A shift from an RS5-based platform to a newer RS6/RS7 one meant more room, a wider and more muscular stance to give it proper concept presence and that 560hp V8 too.
Whether it makes it into production or not certain styling elements will. "The traditional Quattro wheelarches ... that's something we're really going to pick up on in the future for sure," says Lewis. So why did they ditch them for the new RS6? "We did try it but there was a problem with the rear door handle position. The blister was exactly where the door handle was."
Four headlights and the sharper grille elements will become signatures for forthcoming performance Audis though so expect a clearer identity for fast Audis in the years ahead.
Bigger, massive extra weight, I just don't see it. It would sell of course but it's just not what the 2010 car was.
However a revival of the Sport Quattro name was a real chance for them to do something a bit different and win back some of that lost kudos amongst enthusiast drivers and the 2010 concept looked like a big step in the right direction. Unfortunately as is usually the case with Audi these days, it looks like the accountants and marketing men have stepped in again and turned that exciting concept into just another big fat Audi estate with too much weight and power.
That interview especially reads like a list of excuses as to why they couldn't do the original concept rather than reasons for why they should.
When the engineering department are allowed to, Audi can make some really exciting cars like the RS4 or the R8, it's just a shame that that marketing men don't seem to let them out to play very often.
I'd agree with the general consensus here and say no. It's not cutting edge enough in terms of tech or design to be at the top of the range (Vorsprung Durch Technik and all that). In fact, it's not cutting edge at all I'd argue.
Strikes me that it's an attempted spoiler to grab some headlines/coverage from BMW's altogether more intelligent i8. Or am I being cynical?
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