Audi seems to be more keen on the 2015 CES than it is on any other major motor show. Case in point is the fact that one self-driving car wasn't enough for the German marketing teams. Besides the A7, they've just unveiled another piloted driving concept, this time based on the sexy Prologue, which they showed at the Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Just like the A7, this makes use of high-powered laser scanners, cameras and radar sensors to plot a course and keep the car within its lane, braking and even overtaking if necessary.
But it is this editor's humble opinion that most motoring magazines got the story all wrong. Audi didn't need another self-driving car concept for the CES. The real scoop is that since the Prologue concept previews the future A9 model, Audi is actually letting us know that it wants to make a performance hybrid flagship model.
The new powertrain still consists of a 4-liter twin-turbo V8 and an eight-speed automatic transmission. But engineers have also added, an integrated electric motor feeds off a 2.6 kWh lithium-ion battery. The combined output of the system is 677 PS (505 kW) and 950 Nm (701 lb-ft) of torque.
Thanks to more power than an S65 AMG's V12 engine, the Prologue is now capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in only 3.5 seconds. That kind of makes it faster than almost any Audi on the market, save for the hardcore R8 Competition. In terms of efficiency, the concept is said to achieve 7.9 l/100 km (29.8 US mpg) and boasts CO2 emissions of 185 g/km.
Remember, while there are other e-tron cars with plug-in hybrid tech, none of them are based on what's essentially an RS powertrain. Such a combination would only really work with a large car like the A9, where the buyers are less put off by high purchasing costs and slightly increased weight.
So what should we call this 677 PS Audi concept come production time? RS9 e-tron… yeah, that has a nice ring to it.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News