Audi Sport Quattro Concept Confirmed For Production

"Tim (Fractal Footwork)" (fractalfootwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:06 • Filed to: Audi Sport Quattro, Audi, Quattro, Concept, OppositeLock

1

12

Only problem is the price.

When the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the bosses put out the message that if it were to get the nod, it would likely be as a £100k-plus boutique car, using lots of carbonfibre in the body and an expensive plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

Trouble is, even with limited-edition cachet helping to get the selling price up, the engineers didn't think they'd be able to turn a profit.

Well, according to chief engineer Ulrich Hackenberg, that's changed. If they widen the range by adding cheaper engines, and drop the selling price, they can shift more of them and cover the costs of tooling-up. He told Top Gear "We used a powerful powertrain to position it. But the potential is to have more volume. It needs a high investment so it makes sense to use other engines."

Does he mean selling it for somewhere between the TT and the R8? "Yes. The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a pure sports car for two. The Frankfurt car was a four-seater, a comfortable GT." He says it uses the next-generation modular longitudinal matrix (MLB), which can use aluminium and carbonfibre to cut weight. If it gets the nod, expect it around 2016-2017.

I was hoping for around $30-40k. Nope.

[ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ]

bob and john > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:11

0

k, i'm getting real sick and tired of automakers being bitches.

here how it goes down:

they show us concept A. "it will go into production for 20-30k"
it will be homage to an old model

and then, one of two things happen.
either the car is exactly what they said it would be, but now it costs 2X the amount they said.
OR
it costs the same, but its not even remotely close to what the concept was or looked like (Chevy volt, i'm looking at you)

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:12

0

I know automakers have to care for their image and building halo cars that few can afford is certainly a way to do that, but I'll never understand why they'd take something that's sure to be a hot seller and turn it into a limited 100-and-done model and then have all the corporate types coming on the media to complain the people won't buy what they sell.

Audi-os, amigos > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:14

0

What cars does Audi make for ~$35k? Just the A4?

Battery Tender Unnecessary > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:14

0

Didn't the original Sport Quattro "revival" concept come with whispers of $100-200k?

Sn210 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:17

0

Damn. Why can't anyone make a simple sports car anymore?! Take out the carbon fiber and hybrid crap and give us a Quattro that can be an alternative to the STi

Jagvar > Audi-os, amigos 02/10/2014 at 14:20

0

The new A3 just came out.

Audi-os, amigos > Jagvar 02/10/2014 at 14:22

0

Oh. Well then, it wasn't really realistic to expect this bad mammajamma to cost the same as their entry-level compromise.

jariten1781 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:49

0

I mean, the Golf R is already 35k. If they drop this body on that and add an Audi interior it's probably a 50k car. If it's a new platform with a unique engine it's going to be 65+. That's just where they're priced.

Textured Soy Protein > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 14:59

0

Thought it was obvious as soon as the concept came out that this would be priced somewhere above the A5/S5/RS5 depending on motor.

Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ > bob and john 02/10/2014 at 15:14

0

That's because designers have way too much freedom when putting out pre-production prototypes. After the designers get done with a concept it goes to the engineers who have to tell the designers its unrealistic then they redesign it and it looks less like what they intended. this goes back and forth about 10,000 times until we end up with a production model that looks exactly not like what they promised.

Now I'm wondering what a vehicle designed and built completely by an engineer, probably turn out looking like a Gumpert, ugly as sin but completely built for its purpose.

Saracen > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 02/10/2014 at 15:38

0

$30-40k? You must be delirious.

Saracen > jariten1781 02/10/2014 at 15:39

0

the car is based on the A5/S5/RS5 platform. Not the Golf.