Audi unveils new styling direction

Audi's Prologue concept grabbed a lot attention at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. The concept basically showcased what design philosophy Audi will be following in the future. It is not a major overhaul, but the concept does have some tweaks to push this design of the Audi cars into the forefront.

This two-door coupe has a flowing, elegant shape and taut design. The prologue is shorter and flatter than the current A8, with a length of 5.10 metres, wheelbase of 2.94 metres, width of 1.95 metres and height of 1.39 metres. It has a wide imposing grille that displays the four rings, though it is positioned lower than the current production models.

The headlights, equipped with the company's latest Matrix laser-light technology, is shaped like wide, flat wedges and are located with their tips above the grille.The new laser technology lets lighting designers create an extremely lightweight, compact and elegant eye-shaped form.

The concept comes with a virtual touch display, which also reveals the instrument panel. It comes with a front passenger display, which enables digital interaction between the driver and front passenger for the first time. A wiping movement by the passenger is all it takes to send pre-configured routes to the driver’s display and input them into the Audi virtual cockpit future. On the console of the centre tunnel, there is another flexible touch display that is ergonomically adapted to the driver; it is used for climate control, handwriting input and other vehicle settings. This display consists primarily of thin, bendable OLED film (organic light emitting diodes), and it displays extremely sharp images that are rich in contrast.

The Prologue is powered by a 4.0-litre TFSI, which produces up to 605PS of power and 750 Nm of torque; it accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds. Its dynamic all-wheel steering, in which the rear wheels can turn up to five degrees, makes the large couple extremely responsive and stable while driving.

Audi Prologue is the first car concept to come from the company's new design chief, Marc Lichte, the man behind noteworthy designs of MK7 Golf and European Volkswagen Passat. Lichte's work with Audi's concept car progresses in a positive direction, promising a sporty look in the luxurious package.Lichte himself describes the character of the show car in this way, “Audi stands for sportiness, lightweight design and the quattro permanent all-wheel drive. In the Audi prologue, we are expressing this know-how in a new form – we have put the sportiest car in the luxury segment on wheels. Our team took new approaches in both exterior and interior design.”