Audi Shooting Brake Concept
Published Oct 11, 2006
0 Ratings
What Is It?
Audi Shooting Brake Concept
What's Special About It?
Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Audi's chairman of the board, called the Shooting Brake Concept, "a strong indication of where we're headed in the near future." Translated from auto-showspeak, that means the Shooting Brake Concept is more than a design study — it's a car you'll be seeing in production form shortly.
With its squared-off, hatchback rear end, the Shooting Brake doesn't look like an obvious replacement for the TT coupe, but as Dr. Winterkorn mentioned later on, "the Shooting Brake blends the fascination of a sport coupe with the practicality of an Avant." Sounds like Audi is trying to broaden its audience a bit.
It definitely has the right hardware. The Shooting Brake uses Audi's 250-horsepower, 3.2-liter V6 along with quattro all-wheel drive and a six-speed manual transmission. Audi claims a 0-to-60 time of 6 seconds flat. The MacPherson-strut front and four-link rear suspension is aided by magnetically adjustable shocks with two driver-adjustable ride quality settings. The huge ceramic brake rotors help reduce unsprung weight, last longer and fade less under hard braking. They look pretty tough, too.
The car's cabin was kept simple, with two big analog dials in the dash and not much else. Audi pulled a page from the Japanese book of ergonomics and went with a new touchscreen navigation system. The Germans even took it a step further, allowing you to use an electronic pen to write in your destination address or even take photos to store as visual way points.
With a wheelbase that's 2 inches longer than a TT, the Shooting Brake has enough room for a pair of rear seats. Fold those seats down and there's nearly 26 cubic feet of cargo space available.
What's Edmunds' Take?
The idea of adding some utility to a small, luxury sport coupe might seem like a good idea — that is until you realize that most people who buy small luxury coupes park them next to their Cayenne. We like the way this car looks, but don't see big sales in a U.S. market that doesn't even like cheap hatchbacks, let alone expensive ones. — Ed Hellwig
Audi Shooting Brake Concept
What's Special About It?
Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Audi's chairman of the board, called the Shooting Brake Concept, "a strong indication of where we're headed in the near future." Translated from auto-showspeak, that means the Shooting Brake Concept is more than a design study — it's a car you'll be seeing in production form shortly.
With its squared-off, hatchback rear end, the Shooting Brake doesn't look like an obvious replacement for the TT coupe, but as Dr. Winterkorn mentioned later on, "the Shooting Brake blends the fascination of a sport coupe with the practicality of an Avant." Sounds like Audi is trying to broaden its audience a bit.
It definitely has the right hardware. The Shooting Brake uses Audi's 250-horsepower, 3.2-liter V6 along with quattro all-wheel drive and a six-speed manual transmission. Audi claims a 0-to-60 time of 6 seconds flat. The MacPherson-strut front and four-link rear suspension is aided by magnetically adjustable shocks with two driver-adjustable ride quality settings. The huge ceramic brake rotors help reduce unsprung weight, last longer and fade less under hard braking. They look pretty tough, too.
The car's cabin was kept simple, with two big analog dials in the dash and not much else. Audi pulled a page from the Japanese book of ergonomics and went with a new touchscreen navigation system. The Germans even took it a step further, allowing you to use an electronic pen to write in your destination address or even take photos to store as visual way points.
With a wheelbase that's 2 inches longer than a TT, the Shooting Brake has enough room for a pair of rear seats. Fold those seats down and there's nearly 26 cubic feet of cargo space available.
What's Edmunds' Take?
The idea of adding some utility to a small, luxury sport coupe might seem like a good idea — that is until you realize that most people who buy small luxury coupes park them next to their Cayenne. We like the way this car looks, but don't see big sales in a U.S. market that doesn't even like cheap hatchbacks, let alone expensive ones. — Ed Hellwig