Audi Nanuk Quattro Concept Breaks Cover At Frankfurt

By Ganesh

Updated: Tuesday, January 28, 2014, 16:14 [IST]

Do you feel this Audi concept looks very similar to some other car you have seen before? Would that car be the Italdesign Giugiaro Parcour concept, that impressed crowds at the Geneva Auto Show? You would perfectly right in thinking so because it is. named by Audi as Nanuk Quattro, this concept was designed in association with Italdesign Giugiaro.

The concept could be considered a rebadged version of the Italdesign Giugiaro Parcour concept. Not surprising, considering Italdesign Giugiaro is actually an Audi owned company. Looks like Audi liked it so much so that it came out with its own version based on the Parcour design.

The Parcour concept took the Lamborghini Gallardo as its base. But Audi has not mentioned Lamborghini anywhere when talking about the Nanuk Quattro concept.

While sharing the same low-slung sports car-SUV crossover look, the Nanuk Quattro concept gets Audi specific touches such as the broad and flat front air intake inplace of the narrow one seen on the Parcour concept. Also, note the R8 inspired side air-intake blades.

But performance wise the Audi Nanuk Quattro concept, like the Parcour offers supercar like performance, combined with the off road ability of an SUV.

Powering the Nanuk Quattro concept is a 5.0 liter twin turbocharged V10 diesel engine. Audi's seven-speed S-tronic gearbox distributes power to all four wheels.

Audi Nanuk Quattro is not the lightest of cars. Mainly due to its all wheel drive configuration, the concept weights 1,900 kg.

This is where all that torque comes in. With so much pulling power available right from the start, the Nanuk Quattro can reach 100km/h in only 3.8 seconds and go on till 305 km/h.

Even in terms of fuel economy the Audi Nanuk Quattro concept car impresses with its 12.82 km/l figure.

The air-suspensions are adaptive, meaning the ground clearance can be varied. For high speeds the body can be lowered by 30 mm below normal and for off roading, it can be raised 40 mm above normal.

Another feature to be noted is integral steering, which in other words is refered to as, active rear wheel steering (a feature offered in Porsche 911 GT3 models).

While turning at low to medium speeds the rear wheels turn up to 9 degrees opposite to the front wheels (aids in maneuverability) . This creates the same results as a shortening the wheelbase by 100mm and reduces the turning circle to around 10 meters.

While turning at high speeds the rear wheels turn 2.5 degrees in the same direction as the front wheels, thus improving stability. This is the same as extending the wheelbase by around 140 mm.