The SEAT Tango roadster is a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

presented at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show, designed by a team directed by

Walter de Silva Walter Maria de Silva (born 27 February 1951 in Lecco, Italy) is an Italian car designer and former head of Volkswagen Group Design, until 2015. Since beginning his car design career in 1972 as trainee car designer for Fiat's Style Centre. De Sil ...

with the contribution of SEAT's chief of exterior design, Steve Lewis. Featuring a two-door two-seater roadster body style riding on a cut-down

SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a supermini car that has been manufactured by Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1984. It is SEAT's best-selling car. The Ibiza is named after the Spanish island of Ibiza and was the second SEAT model to be named after a Spani ...

platform, it is powered by a version of

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...

's 1.8L 20VT engine which drives the front wheels. While it was an internal concept, it was originally intended to be called the Tanga because of its rear end lines, however that name was turned down by Volkswagen Group's management as it was found rather provocative. Extensive safety measures were also integrated into the project: in addition to the progressive deformation structure and central passenger cell which help to cushion impact, it was also equipped with twin front

airbags An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. T ...

, side

Antilock Braking System An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a automobile safety, safety anti-Skid (automobile), skid Brake, braking system used on aircraft and on land motor vehicle, vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing t ...

Electronic Stability Control Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of traction ( skiddi ...

and

Traction Control A traction control system (TCS), also known as ASR (from german: Antriebsschlupfregelung, lit=drive slippage regulation), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicle ...

systems.

Potential production

The SEAT Tango was for a long time the subject of speculation on whether would become a production model. Although supported by SEAT's (and later Volkswagen Group's) chairman

Bernd Pischetsrieder Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder (born 15 February 1948) is a German automobile engineer and manager. Early life and education Pischetsrieder was born in Munich, Bavaria, and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich fro ...

, and an important model in order to boost the brand's ''auto emoción'' sporting image and the overwhelming response from the public, the Tango never got the green light for production: SEAT's integration in the following years in the 'Audi brand group' meant that decisions had to be made in consensus with guidance from Audi's management. However Audi was opposed to making the Tango a real road car at all costs according to Audi board chairman

Martin Winterkorn Martin Winterkorn (born 24 May 1947) is a German former business executive who was chairman of the board of management (CEO, ''Vorstandsvorsitzender'' in German) of Volkswagen AG, the parent company of the Volkswagen Group, chairman of the supe ...

who announced "I am not signing a production contract with blood until I see the right numbers." and instead favoured new models in segments that were thought to make more sense in sales terms, like the

SEAT Altea The SEAT Altea is an automobile produced by the Spanish automaker SEAT from 2004 to 2015 being previewed by the Salsa Emoción concept. As a compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), the car was designed by the Italian Walter de Silva, and was launc ...

MPV which was meant to succeed Audi's own

Audi A2 The Audi A2 (internally designated ''Typ'' 8Z) is a compact MPV-styled supermini car, with a five-door hatchback body style and four or five seats,ETKA official factory data produced by the German manufacturer Audi from November 1999 (for the 200 ...

model.

Awards

*'Autonis award 2002' for the concept car category Seat Tango receives the “autonis” design award

Engine

*Type: 20

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

Turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

Inline 4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

*Displacement cu in (cc): 110 ( 1781 ) *Power bhp (kW) at RPM: 177.5 ( 132.4 ) / 5600 *Torque ft·lbf (Nm) at RPM: 173 ( 235.0 ) / 2100-5000 SEAT Tango (front)

Suspension, brakes and tires

*Driveline:

front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional lon ...

*Suspension: front

MacPherson struts The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles, and is named for American automotive engineer Ear ...

/ rear suspension with a degree of self steer *Brakes front/rear: vented disc / disc, ABS- ESC-

TCS TCS may refer to: Organisations * Tata Consultancy Services, an IT company headquartered in India * Taxpayers for Common Sense, a US nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization * TCS Courier, a Pakistani courier service * Touring Club Suisse ...

Exterior dimensions and weight

*Length × Width × Height in: 145.1 × 67.5 × 46.5 *Weight lb (kg): 2535 ( 1150 )

Performance

*Acceleration 0–100 km/h s: 7.0 *Top Speed mph (km/h): 146 ( 235 )

Derivatives

Based on the SEAT Tango roadster, there have been some more derivative models: *SEAT Tango spyder *SEAT Tango coupé *SEAT Tango Racer

External links

* http://www.caranddriver.com/news/auto_shows/2001_frankfurt_auto_show_auto_shows/appearing/seat_tango_auto_shows * http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/13/tango-concept-could-see-production-says-seat/ * http://www.topspeed.com/cars/seat/2001-seat-tango-ar1268.html * http://www.channel4.com/4car/ft/feature/concept+car/1410/1 * http://www.supercars.net/cars/1739.html * http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z4033/Seat-Tango.aspx * http://www.autobild.de/artikel/seat-tango_34825.html

References

{{SEAT

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...