Audi Avantissimo - Dare They Build It?
Some concepts are radical departures from conventional vehicles while others look as if they are already on the market. The Avantissimo fits the latter of these descriptions, building on Audi's popular Avant line. Does it have a chance to make it into showrooms?
Audi has answered a question that few people including myself were asking. Does the world even want a full-size luxury sport wagon? That's a question we'll leave to Audi's marketing team to answer. The fact is, other than the myriad of SUV crossovers currently hitting the market, an Audi A8 wagon would be a first in its segment. But if the Avantissimo was only about adding cargo capacity to one of the world's best luxury cars the story would be mostly over now. Its stylish sheetmetal and hot new technologies are even more intriguing, both strongly hinting at what we can expect in the next generation A8.
Its air suspension system incorporates continuously controlled damping, optimizing what Audi says is an ideal balance between ride comfort and handling. Ride height control helps to reduce the center of gravity while ensuring that adequate ground clearance is available despite load changes. Three suspension presets are available, either Automatic, Sport or Comfort. Automatic, as the name implies, applies suspension settings and vehicle ride height automatically. Therefore at highway speeds it lowers ride height to reduce aerodynamic lift and then, during more aggressive driving, will firm up the suspension. In manual suspension mode the driver can choose a setting, unless the electronically defined safety thresholds deem the choice unsafe - i.e. driving at highway speeds at full height extension. A variation of this system is already in use in the popular Audi allroad crossover wagon.