Even though we've yet receive any official confirmation on the production model, the German automaker continues to release new material on the Quattro concept. This time, the Ingolstadt firm has published a new promotional film showcasing the design study as well as its spiritual predecessor, the 1984 Quattro Coupe. Watch the video right after the break.
British magazine Autocar reports that a team of engineers at Audi's Ingolstadt headquarters are advancing plans to put the Quattro Concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show into limited production. If approved, this would see the nouvea-Quattro being built in limited numbers at ItalDesign's plant near Milan.
The e-tron system in this car will help it hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.4 seconds on its way to a limited 250 km/h (155 mph), provide an all-electric range of 31 miles, return a combined 128.4 mpg, and only pollute your air with 59 g of CO2 per kilometer. Total range is 621 miles for the 1,450-kg car.
In this case, though, the 2.5-liter unit makes 408-horsepower / 300 kW and uses a 6-speed manual transmission to drive all four 20-inch wheels with 480 Nm / 354 lb-ft. Behind the center-locking dubs are carbon-ceramic discs wearing 6-piston grippers.
With its high-output 5-pot and diet, the new quattro is said to be able to spring to 100 km/h / 62 mph in a scant 3.9 seconds and return a fuel economy of 8.5 liters/100 km (27.67 mpg US).
This here is the Autonomous Audi TTS, a research model for a car that does away with the driver altogether in order to explore the best capabilities of current and future driver assistance technologies. The prototype car is the collaborative work of the Volkswagen Group Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL), the Stanford University Dynamics Design Lab (SDDL) and Sun Microsystems.Nicknamed after Michelle Mouton, one of the most successful female rally drivers ever, the Autonomous TTS is equipped with a fully automated drive-by-wire system that controls the steering, throttle, brakes, gearbox and parking brake as well as a special GPS system to help communicate with the piloting software developed by the researches over at Standford University.
The software package is what enables the vehicle to drive at the limits of handling in various speeds and conditions on a range of surfaces.
While Audi doesn't intend to use the Autonomous TTS to completely substitute the driver (or at least we hope it doesn't...), the company says that the technology found in the car could help dramatically reduce the number of fatalities worldwide by intervening in hazardous situations as well as to take over routine driving tasks such as parking the car in an assigned spot in a garage.
The prototype model is still in the testing phase but if all goes well, Audi is considering a run up at Colorado's famous Pikes Peak to replicate the 12.4-mile Pikes Peak International Hill Climb sometime in the first quarter of 2010.
Today's concept study comes to us from Marouane Bembli, a 23-year old industrial design student from Sweden. The futuristic-looking supercar was designed as a 'halo' vehicle for Audi that would in theory, either sit atop or replace altogether the current R8 in the automaker's model range."I've designed what I believe will be Audi's new supercar, the R10", Bembli told Car Magazine. "It features a mid-mounted V10 engine and a dry weight of 1200kg. I hope you like it!"
Well, minus the proportions of the passenger cabin area that looks way too small when compared to the rest of the body, we must say that we find the R10 Concept pretty impressive.
Photos: Marouane Bembli , Via: Worldcarfans and Car
Making further use of its aluminium Audi Space Frame (ASF) concept, Audi has presented a special A5 Coupe prototype that has sheds 110kg or 240 pounds over the standard steel-bodied production car with a 2.0-liter TFSI. This was achieved by swapping steel for advanced aluminium and carbon fibre construction. Audi says that the aluminium A5 prototype has a kerb weight of 1,310kg (2,888 lbs), versus a total of 1,420kg (3,130 lbs) for the equivalent steel-bodied series production model.This means that with the 211HP 2.0-litre turbocharged FSI engine, the A5 Prototype achieves a power-to-weight ratio of 161HP per tonne. For comparison, the 'standard' A5 Coupe 3.2 FSI V6 quattro with 265HP that weighs in at 1,540kg, is only slightly better at 172PS per tonne.
"The lightweight design of the test car not only enables a smaller engine to supplement a larger one with no impact on performance and gains in economy and emissions, but also has a knock-on effect on ancillaries such as the brakes and transmission, which can also be reduced in size and weight," said Audi.
"It also enables the car to change direction noticeably more keenly and nimbly and, thanks to the reduction in unsprung weight, to ride with even more refinement," the company added.
Even though the aluminium A5 Coupe Prototype isn't intended to make production, we suspect that the next generation model will most likely benefit from this lightweight concept.
One of the main attractions at Audi's IAA stand in Frankfurt is the new e-Tron Concept, a high-performance sports coupe with a pure-electric drive system that looks like an R8 that shrunk while travelling into the future. The e-Tron utilizes four electric motors, two each at the front and rear axles driving all four wheels, that produce a combined output of 230kW or 313HP along with a mind-blowing 4,500 Nm (3,319 lb-ft) of torque!
That's enough power to accelerated the two-seater coupe from to 100 km/h (62mph) in 4.8 seconds, and from 60 to 120 km/h (37 – 75 mph) in 4.1 seconds. The top speed is limited to 200 km/h (124 mph), as according to Audi, the amount of energy required by the electric motors increases disproportionately to speed. Under normal circumstances, roughly 70 percent of the power goes the rear and 30 percent to the front wheels.
The lithium-ion battery that powers the electric motors has a storage capacity of 42.4 kilowatt hours giving the e-Tron a driving range of approximately 248 kilometers or 154 miles. Located in front of the rear axle, the battery unit weighs in at 470 kilogram (1036 lb) accounting for more than a quarter of the vehicle's total weight which is around 1,600 kg (3527 lb), or about 20kg less than the R8 5.2 FSI V10. According to das Germans, the concept car's weight distribution is 42:58.
The body structure of the e-Tron is based on Audi's Space Frame (ASF) technology while all add-on parts, including the doors, covers, sidewalls and roof are made of a fiber-reinforced plastic.
At 4.26 meters (167.72 in) long, 1.90 meters (74.80 in) wide and 1.23 meters (48.43 in) tall with a wheelbase of 2.60 meters (102.36 in), the e-Tron is more compact in every dimension than the R8 (4,43 meters long).
