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2009 Audi Sportback Concept: official details

Audi Sportback

Audi says the success of the Audi Sportback started with the Audi A3 Sportback. Sales of the 5-door wagonish model outperformed the 3-door hatchback version. They consider this a market trend so Audi wants to expand this Sportback brand with both a larger and a smaller model. We’ve previously seen the smaller model, the Audi A1 Sportback showed in concept form sometime last year. Now it’s time to take a look at the bigger car, the new Audi Sportback Concept which previews the future Audi A7 four-door.

Audi Sportback

Most of the styling elements have been derived from the A5 coupe, but the wavy shoulderline that made the A5 unique is missing. The front end has a new interpretation of Audi’s single frame grille which eliminates the vertical struts, leaving only the horizontal lines which like their counterparts on shirts make the car look wider. The outer countour of the single-frame grille is also an evolution of the one shown on the Audi A1 Sportback concept car.

Audi Sportback

The new Audi Sportback measures 4,950mm long, 1,930mm wide and 1,400mm tall, compared to the Audi A6 sedan’s 4,916mm length, 2,012mm width and 1,461mm height. So this vehicle is longer, wider but sits lower. It’s so long that it even exceeds the Audi A6 Avant’s 4,933mm length. But it is shorter than the Audi A8 SWB’s 5,051mm length. It’s quite a porker too, but understandable based on its size, weighing in at a massive 1,800kg.

Audi Sportback

Under the hood, and pretty unusual for an American debut until recently is the use of a 3.0 liter TDI V6 engine that is equipped with an AdBlue catalytic converter. AdBlue is an additive thats added to the exhaust stream to reduce harmful content in emissions. This engine makes 225 horsepower and 550Nm of torque, mated to a 7-speed S-Tronic transmission. The car also has quattro all-wheel drive to channel all that torque to four wheels effectively. The S-Tronic gearbox has a new feature in this concept car, it has transmission oil heating which helps it reach the optimum internal operating tempreature earlier for a lower level of internal friction.

Audi Sportback

More features that help it sip fuel include brake energy regeneration, low roll resistance tyres, an automatic start-stop system, and an electric power steering that only uses energy when cornering and not when the car is driven in a straight line. This helps it achieve an ECE fuel economy of 5.9 liters per 100km and 156g/km of emissions.




Audi Sportback Concept pre-Detroit leaked images preview upcoming Audi A7 four-door coupe

Audi A7
Click for enlarged image

First hi-res images of the Audi A7 Sportback Concept (the nameplate on the car seems to say Audi Sportback Concept) set to be displayed at the Detroit Auto Show tomorrow have been unveiled on the internet. The front-end looks alot like the ones shown on the Audi metroproject quattro and its evolution, the Audi A1 Sportback Concept, except the front grille loses the vertical slats, leaving only the horizontal ones.

It has a fastback roofline, more like the Porsche Panamera rather than the Aston Martin Rapide, which might lead some to think its going to have a hatchback boot, but a look an image of the rear after the jump and you can see the bootlid’s lines do not really meet the rear glass in a way that a hatch would, but then again Audi could also be doing a hatchback-sedan dual bootlid combo much like Skoda’s new Superb.

The Audi A7 is said to be larger than the Audi A6 and built on the new Audi MLP platform, which is modular in terms of length and width to suit different sizes of cars while retaining many components in the interests of economies of scale.

4 more images after the jump!














New Subaru Legacy Concept at the NAIAS 2009

Subaru Legacy Concept

The new Subaru Legacy has been previewed in concept form at the 2009 NAIAS, or the Detroit Auto Show as it is frequently referred to as. From what was previously a sleek luxury cruise with that ever subtle tinge of sportiness, the new Subaru Legacy has grown rather large and has a noticeably high roofline, which Subaru says is designed to improve headroom in the interior. The car even has a little Hoffmeister kink at the C-pillar, so the Accord isn’t the only one doing that now!

Subaru Legacy Concept

The new car is larger, with a 2,751mm wheelbase that is longer than its predecessor, and even slightly longer than the large Subaru Tribeca. Like all proper Subarus (as in those that are not Daihatsu supermini rebadges), the Subaru Legacy Concept has Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive thats hooked up to a 3.6 liter 6-cylinder boxer engine. Subaru did not quote any power figures for this concept’s engine but it’s probably safe to assume that it is similiar to the EZ36 boxer-6 in the Subaru Tribeca that can produce 256hp.

Subaru Legacy Concept

The concept car has a few characteristics that probably won’t make it into the production model, and some of these include the tiny aerodynamic wing mirrors that use cameras instead of a mirror, as well as the 4-seater seating position which is most likely to be traded with a more practical 5-seater that uses a bench at the rear. There is a very comprehensive in-car entertainment system there too, and while it’s not likely to become a standard feature (or even a feature at all), it shouldn’t be too hard for any experienced accessory shop to reproduce it.

Check out a whole hi-res gallery after the jump.

2010 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang with 540hp

2010 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang

The 2010 Ford Mustang comes with either a 210 horsepower V6 or a 300 horsepower V8 engine, but for power freaks these options look rather anaemic compared to the 422hp 6.2 liter V8 in the new “Bumblebee” Camaro SS, or even the 375hp 3.7 liter HEMI V8 in the Dodge Challenger.

Here comes Ford’s SVT team to the rescue, with the new 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang that puts out 540 horsepower and 691Nm of torque, thanks to larger 5.4 liter V8 engine coupled with a supercharger and an intercooler. The classic Cobra snake badge has been moved from its traditional position to the other side of the grille in order to configure the cold air intake in its optimum position.

Whatever’s under the hood, it sure looks bloody fierce. Just look at the image above, and picture it coming up in your rear view mirror. Those large gaping air intakes could gobble a little Viva hogging the fast lane up anytime! There will surely be many who will pick this based on looks alone in markets where it’s offered.

There are other technical changes as well. The transmission’s final ratio has been changed from 3.31 to 3.55, and while gears 1 to 4 remain the same, the 5th and 6th gears have been changed from 0.80:1 to 0.74:1 and 0.63:1 to 0.50:1 respectively. This allows better performance in the first four gears thanks to the new final drive, but maintaining proper highway ratios for the last two gears for fuel economy. The gearbox’s twin-disc clutch has also been uprated (larger - 250mm vs 215mm diameter) for better driveability and NVH. Wheels are 19 inch forged aluminium alloys wrapped with 19 inch Goodyear F1 Supercar tyres.