New heights for Audi Prologue 16 | 04 | 2015
ON THE EVE of the Shanghai Motor Show, Audi has revealed another take on its Prologue concept car: this time it's a mighty 724bhp plug-in petrol-electric hybrid-powered Audi Prologue Allroad variant.
Due to be unveiled in Shanghai on Monday, the high riding estate is the third in a series of Prologue concept cars, following the initial coupe variant at Los Angles last November. A more practical five-door Avant version was revealed at Geneva last month.
The new concept car also provides hints to the next-generation A6 Allroad tentatively due to be introduced in 2017. Not surprisingly, the styling of the Prologue Allroad draws heavily on the Prologue Avant, with both concept cars sharing the basic body and detailing.
In line with current Allroad models, the latest concept receives an additional 77mm of ground clearance as well as more rugged looking bumpers with integrated skid plates, aluminium roof rails along with cladding within the wheelarches and along the flanks.
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At 5130mm in length, the new Audi concept is 185mm longer than the existing third-generation A6 Allroad, hinting the fourth-generation model is set to grow in size.
The Prologue Allroad is powered by a new plug-in petrol-electric hybrid system currently under development in Ingolstadt.
The 4.0 TFSI engine — a V8 with twin turbochargers — and the electric motor integrated into the eight-speed tiptronic produce 734PS of system power and 900Nm (663.8lb/ft) 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 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.
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Jim McGill