The Audi Avantissimo was 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 ...

made by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

automobile manufacturer

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

. The car debuted at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show and also appeared at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Audi planned the car to be luxurious and distinguished, but also very fast. Many of its styling cues are visible on the 2002 Audi A8. The Avantissimo had a 4.2 L V8 engine equipped with twin

turbochargers 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 ...

. This engine developed about and of torque. The car had a six-speed

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

and quattro permanent

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...

. It also featured an

electrochromic Electrochromism is a phenomenon in which a material displays changes in color or opacity in response to an electrical stimulus. In this way, a smart window made of an electrochromic material can block specific wavelengths of ultraviolet, vis ...

roof. This concept introduced much of the technology later available on the series production A8 D3, including

Multi Media Interface The Multi Media Interface (MMI) system is an in-car user interface media system developed by Audi, and was launched at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show on the Audi Avantissimo concept car. Production MMI was introduced in the second generation Audi A8 ...

, six-speed automatic transmission with shift paddles, a V8 biturbo engine (similar to C5 RS6), self-levelling

adaptive air suspension Air suspension is a type of vehicle suspension powered by an electric or engine-driven air pump or compressor. This compressor pumps the air into a flexible bellows, usually made from textile-reinforced rubber. Unlike hydropneumatic suspension, ...

with continuously controlled damping,

electric park brake An electronic parking brake (EPB), also known as an electric parking brake or electric park brake, is an electronically controlled parking brake, whereby the driver activates the holding mechanism with a button and the brake pads are electrically ...

, bi-xenon headlights with static

Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS) A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

curve headlights, dashboard, and driver identification systems with

fingerprint scanner Fingerprint scanners are security systems of biometrics. They are used in police stations, security industries, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Function Everyone has patterns of friction ridges on their fingers, and it is this pattern ...

References

External links

Audi Corporate website
Audi concept vehicles {{Modern-auto-stub