This is the new Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept car, which will be unveiled in the metal at the Detroit motor show this week. But don’t be caught out by this red herring – Audi isn’t about to put a high-riding two-door estate into production as the next TT.
Instead, this Allroad Shooting Brake is a smorgasbord of new Audi cues, hinting at everything from the new TT’s minimalist dashboard (which we saw revealed on CAR Online last week), to the styling direction of soon-to-be-replace models like the existing TT, A4, and Q7. There’s an eco-friendly new powertrain under the skin too. Read on as we separate the showroom-bound fact from the show-floor fiction.
So the Audi Allroad Shooting Brake concept doesn’t actually preview a production car?
No – but it gives clues to several. Let’s start inside, where you’ll immediately recognise the digital dial display, slim dashboard structure and triple air vents with integrated control screens from the new TT.
Detail changes include an engine start and E-mode button on the Sport Quattro concept-sourced steering wheel, but aside from that and some blue trim detailing, this is the next TT. Who says concept cars never make it to production?
What’s that electric mode button for?
This is an E-tron Audi – Ingolstadt code for electric, and in this case, we’re looking at an electric hybrid. The powertrain isn’t as potent as the 690bhp monster lurking in the Sport Quattro concept: Audi claims 400bhp and 479lb ft, developed in tandem by a 288bhp 2.0-litre petrol turbo and a diminutive e-motor integrated directly into the six-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
Despite the prodigious 1600kg weight, Audi claims this all-wheel drive concept can hit 62mph in 4.6sec and runs to a limited 155mph – figures on a par with the incredibly thirsty TTRS Plus, which runs a 2.5-litre five-pot turbo. Sounds like our kind of hybrid.
Thanks to its plug-in charge capability, which affords 31 miles of electric driving juiced by boot floor-housed lithium batteries, the claimed economy is an ambitiously inflated 123.8mpg, and emits an average of 45g/km.
Tell me more about this tantalising styling
There are so many Audi cues going on here, it’s tricky to know where to look. The bold ‘three-dimensional ‘single frame grille and LED headlight elements are point to the front-end of the forthcoming TT as well as the next A4, while the taillights are a more reminiscent nod to the current TT.
There’s also a flash of A3 3-door in the C-pillar, and the overall profile recalls one of our favourite Audi concept cars ever, the breadvan-shaped Shooting Brake study of 2008 which got canned prior to series production approval.
>> Do you like the look of Audi’s future? Should Audi make a limited run series of Allroad Shooting Brakes? Tell us your opinion in the comments below
>> For CAR’s complete A-Z guide of the 2014 Detroit motor show, click here