At the Tokyo Motor Show Audi presents the Shooting Brake Concept, the latest in a long line of show-stopping design studies, several of which have successfully made the transition into full production.
Exterior Design
"Inspiration for the Shooting Brake Concept has come from sources as varied as the A4 DTM racing car campaigning the German Touring Car Championship, the RS Q coupé conceived for the film ‘I, Robot’ and the recently launched RS 4 quattro.
"Blending hatchback and coupé characteristics to stunning effect, it is every inch a sports car, but dedicates more inches than usual to valuable passenger space and practicality." |
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The Shooting Brake Concept combines the futuristic and sporty look with practical features, like the spacious cabin and the load bay with a maximum capacity of 730 litres.
Interiors
The futuristic interior uses a striking body-coloured ‘Electric White’ pearl effect finish for the centre console, door handles and air vent surrounds, while the instrument panel, roof and door trims are made up with a high-tech synthetic material.
Its focal point is a new version of the Multi Media Interface operating system (MMI) featuring innovative 3D navigation from a new touch screen monitor onto which destinations can simply be ‘written’ using the tip of a finger.
The system’s character recognition is capable of identifying characters in the Latin and Japanese alphabets. Destinations and details can also be input via a PDA-style remote control handset.
Another interior highlight is an innovative chronograph designed using organic light emitting diodes (OLED) that make it easier to read in adverse conditions than a conventional liquid crystal display (LCD), and enable it to show information in both analogue and digital forms. |
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Powertrain and chassis
Powered with a transversely mounted 3.2-litre V6 engine that delivers 250PS at 6,200rpm and a 320Nm maximum torque output at 2,500rpm, the Audi Shooting Brake Concept can accecerate from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.0 seconds and the maximum speed is limited to 155mph. The braking system includes fade-free ceramic discs.
The multi-plate clutch for the standard quattro four-wheel-drive system is mounted at the rear of the car to optimize the weight distribution.
The suspensions, a front McPherson strut and four-link rear set-up, are bolstered by the new Audi Magnetic Ride adaptive damping system, that replaces conventional damper fluid with a special magnetorheological fluid whose viscosity can be influenced by an electromagnetic field, thus helping to keep the body flat and composed under duress.
This system is governed by computer controlled sensors that determine the prevailing driving conditions in few milliseconds, but the driver can also have input through a choice of two optional driving programs - a sports setting, in which the magnetorheological fluid exhibits high viscosity, or a more comfort-biased option.
The tyres dimension are 245/40, mounted on 19 inches wheels.
The future
According to Audi, the future of Shooting Brake Concept will be deeply influenced by the public approval at the next motor shows: in the recent years, many concepts went into production thanks to their success: from the A8 ASF study to the TTS (TT) to the Al2 (A2) and the allroad quattro concept.
