Audi has created yet another benchmark with their new Sport quattro Concept, shown at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. The Laserlight edition of the concept car, widely expected to see production sooner rather than later, will use lighting technology from the 2014 R18 e-tron quattro race car. It will also pack performance and efficiency unlike any production car in their range.
The highlight of this new concept, an evolution of the Sport quattro, finished in Plasma Red, will use trademark quattro dual headlights which they consider the future of lighting technology. The headlights use a combination of matrix LED and laser light technologies. There are two visible low-profile trapezoidal elements within the headlights – the outer one is responsible for the low beam light using matrix LEDs and an aperture mask, while the inner element produces laser light which functions as the high-beam. The laser diodes are significantly smaller than the LED units and illuminate the way ahead for up to 500 metres (1,640 feet). The laser light technology offers approximately twice the lighting range and thrice the luminosity of LED lights.
Inside, you find all the elements which are typically Audi, high quality material and well-laid out instrumentation. The TFT 3D display information panel is powered by Audi’s technology partner and noted graphics name, nVIDIA, with their Tegra 30 processor doing duty in the Sport quattro Concept.
As a refresher, the Sport quattro Concept packs a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain, using the 4.0-litre, TFSI V8 with 560 PS and 700 Nm on tap. The engine also makes use of cylinder deactivation. In plug-in hybrid mode, the net output is 700 PS and 800 Nm. The eight-sport automatic transmission handles the four-wheel power delivery with the rear using a sport differential and 285/30 R21 rubber. Even so, the combined fuel consumption is 40 km/l. All-electric mode allows a range of 50 km.
The Sport quattro Concept measures 4,602mm long, 1,964mm wide and 1,386mm high with a wheelbase of 2,784mm. To keep weight as low as possible, the doors and fenders are made of aluminium, while the roof, bonnet and rear hatch are made of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). It weighs in at 1,850 kg, giving it a power-to-weight ratio of 380 PS/tonne!
With the world opening up to the prospect of super-fast hybrid and electric supercars, the new Sport quattro may just be what Audi needs to take it to the competition on the highest rung.
