Audi - Quattro Concept

Check these cool car pictures of an Audi Quattro Concept.

Check these cool car pictures of an Audi Quattro Concept.

Frankfurt Show Preview: New Audi A2 Concept

These past few years, Audi and the German premium automakers in general, have set out to fill every possible niche consumers may or may not think they need, from luxurious superminis to wild supercars. And they are far from done.

At the upcoming 2011 Frankfurt auto show, Audi will lift the covers off a new pure-electric concept study that revives the name of long gone A2.

The original model was a small MPV built from 1999 to 2005 that was way ahead of its time in several ways, but what made it truly unique was that it was manufactured entirely out of aluminum.

The new A2 concept is, however, a different car - and a very confused one at that. First of all, it’s a five-door hatchback but it's actually smaller in size than the three-door A1 measuring just 3.80 meters (12.47 ft) long, 1.69 meters (5.54 ft) wide and 1.49 meters (4.89 ft) tall. In comparison, the A2 is 3.95 meters long, 1.74 meters wide and 1.42 meters tall.

At this stage, Audi has not revealed many technical details on the A2 Concept, but it is believed that the car is based on a shortened version of the A1's platform.

The German automaker says that the A2 offers "plenty of room for four people" and that it features flat interior floorboard. There are four individual seats, with the center console attached to the driver’s seat and the rear console extending forward between the two rear seats. The load area has two levels with a frame creating the upper level.

The only piece of information we get about the drivetrain from Audi is that the A2 Concept sports a "powerful electric drive system for agile performance and long range".

And what does the future hold for the A2? Well, at last year's Geneva Salon, Audi execs hinted at the A2 but noted that if the company were to produce such a model, it would be offered with both conventional and electric powertrains.

We'll find out more about the A2 at the rapidly approaching Frankfurt Motor Show.

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Audi Publishes New Pictures of Urban Sportback and Spyder Concepts

After teasing us with a couple of videos and a few sketches, Audi has now unleashed a wave of computer generated images of its two-seat Urban Sportback and Spyder concept models, both of which will receive their world premiere at the upcoming 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

The German brand says the tiny pure-electric technical studies are not descended from any previous Audi model, and that their development "is based on the strict principles of lightweight construction, efficiency and reduction".

The tiny concepts with the exposed 21-inch wheel wheels stretch 3,200mm long, 1,700mm wide and a mere 1,200mm tall. Propulsion comes courtesy of two e-tron electric motors that draw energy from a lithium-ion battery.

To keep the weight down, Audi has used a mix of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer and aluminum to construct the two models.

The Urban Sportback model features a canopy that forms part of the body and slides up and to the rear to reveal a 1+1 seat layout with the passenger positioned back and to left of the driver.

In Spyder form, the concept does away with the sliding canopy but gains a pair of doors that open up diagonally along with a lowered windshield and continuous side window area.

More information on the two studies are to be released closer to the Frankfurt Motor Show.

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