NEW ERA:  The Audi prologue concept takes to the stage at the 2014 LA Auto Show, premiering a new era of design for the premium brand under the leadership of Head of Design Marc Lichte.
NEW ERA: The Audi prologue concept takes to the stage at the 2014 LA Auto Show, premiering a new era of design for the premium brand under the leadership of Head of Design Marc Lichte.

Audi is launching into a new design era which is being showcased at the Los Angeles Auto Show, with the presentation of the prologue concept car, which the brand says is a ‘signature car’ for Audi.”

Audi’s head of design Marc Lichte says they have “put the sportiest car in the luxury segment on wheels”.

The two-door coupe has a flowing, elegant shape and taut design. The entire front of the instrument panel is a large touch display, and a portion of the user interface operates with a new type of OLED display made of organic LEDs.

The show car’s technology combines power, comfort and efficiency. The 4.0 TFSI produces up to 605PS of power and 750 Nm (553.2 lb-ft) of torque; it accelerates the Audi prologue from 0 to 62mph in 3.7 seconds. Its dynamic all-wheel steering, in which the rear wheels can turn up to five degrees, makes the large couple extremely responsive and stable while driving.

The Audi prologue is somewhat shorter and flatter than today’s production A8, with a length of 5.10 metres, wheelbase of 2.94 metres, width of 1.95 metres and height of 1.39 metres.

A dominant feature at its low front end is a single-frame grille displaying the four rings that is integrated into the automobile architecture. The large radiator grille has been widened much more, and it is positioned lower than on today’s production models. Its strong horizontal effect expresses an image of powerful dynamics. The cross bars have a finely structured diamond pattern, and their ends are split.

The headlights – shaped like wide, flat wedges – are located with their tips above the Singleframe. They present high-resolution Matrix laser technology: an innovation from Audi, which opens up new approaches to headlight design and enables completely new functionalities.

The pupils of the headlights are formed by a projection lens with a laser light source – they generate a matrix that illuminates the entire street in high resolution.