Audi will bring an updated version of its Sport Quattro Concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (January 6-10).
To justify the display of an existing study at the show, the carmaker has fitted it with laser headlights and has painted it in a new Plasma Red color. The rest of the car looks just like the concept that was first shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year.
The study’s dual headlights showcase the future of lighting technology by combining matrix LED and laser light technologies. Two low-profile trapezoidal elements are visible within the headlights – the outer one generates the low beam light using matrix LEDs and an aperture mask, while the inner element produces laser light for high-beam functionality.
The laser diodes are significantly smaller than LED diodes, having a diameter of only a few microns. Furthermore, they illuminate the road for a distance of nearly 500 meters (1,640 feet), about twice the lighting range and three times the luminosity of LED high beam lights. For the moment, Audi says it will use the system on the race track in the 2014 R18 e-tron quattro.
On the inside, the show car sports the same dashboard and controls, while under the bonnet there’s the same hybrid powertrain pairing a 552hp (560PS) 4.0-liter turbocharged V8 engine with a 148hp (150PS) electric motor. Combined system output is 691 hp (700PS) and 800Nm (590 lb-ft) and is transmitted to all four wheels via an 8-speed tiptronic gearbox.
Audi says the Sport Quattro Laserlight concept averages 2.5 liters/100 km (94.09 US mpg), equivalent to CO2 emissions of 59 g/km. The Sport Quattro Concept accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in 3.7 seconds and reaches a top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph).
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
