Audi reveals prologue allroad

Audi has unveiled the third iteration of its prologue design concept with the allroad variant.

The five-door hybrid show car was revealed in China at Auto Shanghai. Featuring a more raised body and tougher stance the new emphasis provides a glimpse into the brand’s design future. The fresh interpretation of the Audi allroad themes, when viewed from the side, displays a long front-end, a roofline that quickly begins to drop again and ‘extremely flat’ D-pillars giving it an ‘athletic profile and emphasise the elegance and dynamics of the allroad concept in a fresh way’ according to Audi. Prominent bumpers and the wide flared wheel wells, which house 22-inch wheels with a five-arm design, emphasise the cars off-road qualities.

Aluminium accents are present on the roof rails, the mirror housings, the area around the windows and both the front and rear of the car. A flat and wide brushed aluminium Singleframe grille dominates the front while the show car’s wedge-shaped headlights feature Matrix laser technology.

The rear of the prologue allroad features a narrow strip of lights connecting the LED rear lights. The housings are made of 3D glass producing three-dimensional, sculpted effects. The rear apron includes flat, horizontally split openings on both sides that houses the exhaust system.

The prologue allroad’s operating concept enables digital interaction between driver and passengers. The continuous centre console and the front seats appear to float and the instrument panel features a horizontal orientation. Its upper level is part of the wraparound – the arc encircling the cabin and the luggage compartment. The interior architecture of the prologue allroad merges with a new display. 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 behind the steering wheel.

Rear passengers 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. When the audio system is switched on, a sound spoiler moves out of the rear wheelhouse panelings, distributing music in the interior in top quality. Two thin and slightly curved Audi tablets, which can be mounted in the backs of the front seats, also use OLED technology.

Power comes from a 4.0-litre TFSI engine – a V8 with twin turbochargers – and the electric motor integrated into the eight-speed tiptronic for 734 PS of system power and 900 Nm (663.8 lb-ft) of system torque. The quattro all-wheel drive system utilises the power of the Audi prologue allroad in every situation.

The show car launches from 0 to 62mph in 3.5 seconds, yet is capable of achieving up to 117mpg 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.

The body of the allroad is 77 mm higher than that of the Audi prologue Avant. The front and wheel axles are lightweight, five-link constructions. The 20-inch brake discs are made of weight-saving carbon-fibre ceramic. The adaptive air suspension sport – an air suspension system with controlled damping – offers a wide range between ‘extremely comfortable’ cruising and tight handling. The dynamic all-wheel steering combines a variable-ratio, dynamic steering unit with an additional steering unit for the rear wheels to harmoniously resolve the conflict between dynamic driving and stability.