Audi Prologue Avant Concept: A Shooting-Brake For The Future

Back in November 2014, Audi presented the Prologue concept car at the Los Angeles Motor Show. Now, the German car maker is ready to introduce a variant of that concept at this year’s Geneva Motor Show next month and this is it, the Audi Prologue Avant, a shooting brake variant of the coupe concept.

Measuring 5.11 metres in length and 1.97 metres in width, the five-door car is quite the looker with its stretched roof and grille. Carried forward from the Prologue concept are the wide but thin wedge headlamps that feature Audi’s Matrix Laser lighting technology.

Moving along the side, the long roof section continues to the back where the sloped and flat D-pillars form the shooting brake element of the Avant’s profile. Viewed from the side, the 22-inch wheels play host to large 285/30 tyres.

At the rear, a lamp strip runs across the full width of the car and is combined with the LED taillights as well. Audi say they consist of 3D glass that provide a sculptural effect.

It isn’t just all looks either. The Audi Prologue Avant concept is powered by the Audi Q7 e-tron quattro’s plug-in hybrid powertrain which has been revised. A 3.0 TDI engine works with an electric motor to output 455 hp and 750 Nm torque. Performance-wise, the Avant hits 100 km/h from a standstill in 5.1 seconds up to a 250 km/h top speed.

The 14.1 kWh lithium-ion battery pack allows the car to travel on pure electricity for up to 54 kilometres and can be charged inductively via Audi wireless charging technology.

The chassis is equipped with adaptive air suspension featuring lightweight five‑arm wishbone on the front and rear axles and an all-wheel drive steering system. 20-inch carbon ceramic brake discs round things off.

Stepping into the cabin, modern luxurious design elements can be found everywhere from the long centre console, perforated trim panel over the air vents, virtual cockpit, and shift-by-wire selector lever for the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission.

One of the highlights however, is the display on the centre console for text entry, air conditioning, and infotainment. Consisting of organic light emitting diodes (OLED) that are extremely thin and bendable. When the vehicle is inactive, the OLED display is in a flat retracted position and when started, it moves up at an angle.

Rear passengers are also able to take advantage of the flexible OLED display to manage seat adjustment, climate control, audio/video and ambient values from the back of the car. Additionally, two Audi tablets mounted on the backrests of the front seats are available as well, also found on the new Audi Q7.