Audi is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its iconic Quattro with this Paris show star: the Quattro Concept.
Based on a shortened RS5 platform, the concept is actually closer in spirit to 1984?s Sport Quattro, a more compact version of the original coup? that was designed to improve the car?s agility on the world?s rallying stages.
The concept?s wheelbase is 150mm shorter than the RS5?s, its roofline is around 40mm lower and the 4.28m overall length is around the same as a Volkswagen Scirocco?s. Unlike the RS5, though, the concept is a strict two-seater.
Most of the bodywork is aluminium, but the bonnet and rear hatchback are carbonfibre. Audi says the car weighs approximately 1300kg, around the same as the Sport Quattro.
Audi has not released a power figure for the concept, but it has confirmed that it has a five-cylinder engine. That?s likely to be a version of the TT RS?s twin-turbocharged powerplant offering at least 335bhp, comfortably more than the 300bhp of the original roadgoing special.
The front styling is dominated by a huge rectangular grille, while the side profile?s key feature is an extra-thick C-pillar that also has Audi?s four-ring logo stamped into its metal. No images of the cabin have been released, but Audi says it features a slender, ?floating? dashboard and bucket seats that are 40 per cent lighter than regular items.
Insiders say that Audi will gauge reaction to the car at the Paris show with interest but insist that the Quattro Concept is purely a celebration of the classic coup? and that there are no production plans at present.
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