Skip to main content

Audi Partners with Will Smith Again to Show Off RSQ e-tron

Audi has done a great job getting its cars into movies. From I, Robot to Iron Man, Audis have been driven by some Hollywood’s coolest stars, but now the realms of photography can’t keep up, so Audi has turned to animation to show off its latest supercar.

The RSQ e-tron, as it’s being called, will once again be driven by a character played by Will Smith–though this time it will likely not be destroyed by a group of robots played by Alan Tudyk (only time can tell for sure, though!)–in Spies in Disguise.

In fact, the name of this new car is even a callback to that destroyed Audi (Tudyk, smash!), the RSQ—which, gosh there’s a lot of history there and many layers of meaning to unpack.

The RSQ was inspired by the Le Mans Quattro concept, itself a followup to the Rosemeyer concept, all of which would become the R8. The R8, it’s worth noting, is currently sans followup. Although the facelift has just broken cover, the rumor mills continue to turn around the idea that there will no longer be a V10 combustion engine powering an Audi supercar.

It may also be important to note that the e–tron GT is coming to the LA Auto Show later this month and that this is not that.

[See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com]

This, instead, is a two-door supercar that looks suspiciously like an—oh, I dunno—electric R8? To be fair, it also looks like a non-shooting brake version of the PB 18 e-tron, but as we learned at the turn of the century, Audi’s concept cars can be evolutionary.

Now, of course, this is all speculative. The design is for an animated movie about superspies, so of course, it looks spectacular, and it doesn’t necessarily need to lead to an actual distinct model if it does its job advertising the e-tron brand.

Still, though, an electric supercar based loosely on Audi’s Formula E program would be a pretty good way of sticking it to Mercedes, whose combustion supercar based on an F1 car currently can’t idle under 5,000 rpm reliably. And German premium brands are nothing if not excited to stick it to one another.

Regardless you’ll have to wait a while to see the RSQ e-tron, because Spies in Disguise doesn’t even come out until next September.

The post Audi Partners with Will Smith Again to Show Off RSQ e-tron appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2CVleKA
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...
Post a Comment
Read more