2014 Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept - Review and New Design

Sporty, compact and versatile: It is with these attributes that the Audi allroad shooting brake makes its debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The two-door car is a crossover and so it is not limited to paved roads. Its high level of functionality makes it ideal for recreational sports. Its hybrid drive, which is as powerful as it is efficient, makes a new form of quattro drive possible - the e-tron quattro.

The Audi allroad shooting brake maintains a powerful stance on the road. The interplay of its cleanly drawn lines and the taut muscular tension of its surfaces create a sculptural, emotional design. The exterior skin appears as though it were sculpted from one solid piece, from the single-frame grille to the distinctive tornado line and crisp rear styling, in which the characteristics of the allroad and the shooting brake come together. With a wheelbase of 2.51 meters (8.23 ft), the show car - painted in Ice Blue - is 4.20 meters (13.78 ft) long, 1.85 meters (6.07 ft) wide and 1.41 meters (4.63 ft) tall.

The Audi allroad shooting brake represents the first time that Audi has combined the allroad and e-tron form languages. As on every Audi, the large hexagonal single-frame grille dominates on the impressive sculptural front; it is slightly offset towards the rear of the body. Typical of an e-tron model, it has an insert with narrow fins, which resemble the cooling ribs of an electronic component. There is a quattro logo on the lower part of the single-frame. The low-profile central air inlet is milled into the underbody protection that is made of aluminum.

The exterior skin of the Audi allroad shooting brake is a material mix of aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). The dark gray rub strips are typical allroad elements, and they visually reduce the volume of the body; they ascend dynamically from front to rear. Together with the large wheel flares, they highlight the car's offroad character.