Skip to main content

Audi Wants to Make a Big Convertible SUV and it Looks Weird AF

Audi recently took a patent out on a new type of convertible folding mechanism that allows for a convertible to be designed with B and D pillars.

The patent shows a very basic, two-box-design vehicle whose roof is broken into three parts in order to fold away and stow behind the rear seats.

The innovation here being that the vehicle has pillars at the rear as well as pillars in the middle, which help both with rigidity and rollover protection. All of which means that Audi can make a bigger SUV.

“Due to the presence of the side pillars and the rear pillars in the closed state of the roof [up], a motor vehicle is provided which has a far greater transport capacity than known convertible vehicles,” writes Audi in the patent application.

Not only does that mean a bigger SUV, but also more cargo capacity. The patent allows for a swing down tailgate to open when the roof is up or down. The tailgate can also slide into the body, allowing the owner to fill the trunk without having to lean over the tailgate.

There would also be lots of room in the trunk (relatively speaking) because of the unique way in which the roof folds.

By folding the middle section into the trunk, then simply placing the rearmost section of the roof over it as a lid, the whole roof would actually be pretty compact when it’s folded. And since the rear roof section does double duty as both roof and lid, it helps cut weight, too.

Mind you, people in the front seat wouldn’t quite be as open to the elements as they would be in most other convertibles.

That’s because the A pillar stretches all the way back over the front passengers for greater rollover protection. In fact, with the roof up at least, the whole design has great rollover protection because of how many pillars there are. The design is also apparently very stiff.

And it’s that combination of rollover protection, stiffness, and a tailgate that lead us to believe that this will be a convertible SUV. And since a big part of this is access to a trunk, we think it’s fairly unlikely to be an EV, since there would already be motors and junk back there. In the trunk.

So, a traditionally propelled vehicle, with lots of interior volume, no rear seats, and a two-box design. We’re betting on Q8 because it kind of feels right. It’s already a coupe, which is weird for an SUV, and Audi wants it to be the halo car so bold new ideas seem to be right up its alley.

That said, the requirement of the rearmost section of the roof to be the convertible lid, would make it difficult for an SUV-coupe to use this setup since its angled D pillars would make it sit funny. So we could be wrong.

Unfortunately, the drawing is so vague that, really, this could be any number of vehicles, but whatever the case, Audi is working on ways to change the cabriolet game.

The post Audi Wants to Make a Big Convertible SUV and it Looks Weird AF appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2H41Bj8
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway

Waterfest 24 will be held at Atco Dragway, in Atco, New Jersey. The summer event will take place at its new venue on July 21 and 22. Long held in Englishtown, New Jersey, the festival has been such a large part of the VW scene that the latest iteration of the Golf even comes with optional “Englishtown” wheels . The new venue, however, is an NHRA drag track a scant 52 miles southwest of Englishtown. The ¼ mile drag track opened in 1960, which makes it the oldest drag strip in New Jersey. The announcement came today on a social media post that announced the new location. Waterfest is North America’s largest VW/Audi show. As many 20,000 people show up for the annual show, making the second largest show in the world—with Worthersee being number one. 2018 will be Waterfest’s 24 th year in existence. The post Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2GQjkuc via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

Macau Gets Messy with 16-Car Pileup

The Macau Grand Prix is always good for an accident or two or 16— you may remember Audi’s race ending crash last year —and this year’s event didn’t disappoint. It didn’t take long for things to get messy on the tight road circuit. On the opening lap of the qualifying race a 16-car pileup caused the race to be suspended. Things kicked off when Daniel Juncadella hit a wall on the exit of Police bend, one of the tightest parts of the already tight circuit. The following car of Raffaele Marciello was able to avoid the carnage, but Laurens Vanthoor, who was in the upside-down Audi that ended the race last year, could not avoid Juncadella and together they blocked up the road pretty much completely. “I couldn’t see him [Juncadella] at first. Then I saw the car standing still,” Vanthoor told Motorsport. “I tried to brake but it was just understeering and I couldn’t do anything. There’s room for one car there and you’re blind.” Fourteen more cars would eventually crash into the corner c
Post a Comment
Read more

The First of its Kind: Integrated Engineering Releases Highly-Anticipated IE450T MK6 Golf R Turbo Kit

After two long years of development, the team at Integrated Engineering has finally announced the release of their IE450T kit for the MK6 Golf R. With their turbo kit bolted on right out of the box, the sport AWD hatch is transformed into a 450bhp monster, with hardly any noticeable increase in spool time. In fact, 435 ft-lbs of torque are achieved at all four wheels, at a mere 3300rpm! By now you are probably asking yourself how this is even possible on a 2.0L engine that made nearly half that power from the factory. By employing true twin-scroll technology into the cast turbo manifold and pairing it with a state-of-the-art BorgWarner EFR turbocharger, IE was able to keep spool time at a minimum and bring the fastest-spooling big turbo setup to the market. “We wanted to offer a kit that would dramatically increase the power output without making the car lose its amazing street-friendly drivability,” mentioned one of the IE engineers. We are told the IE450T leaves the car driving jus
Post a Comment
Read more