Concept cars are usually confined to auto shows and museums, but not this one. Audi went through the trouble of registering the Concept C for street use, even though it’s not for sale. To make it road compliant and earn a license plate, the performance coupe had to be fitted with turn signals, windshield wipers, and a horn.
Most concepts can’t move under their own power, and even when they can, you could probably outrun them since they typically weak electric motors meant only to shuffle them on and off a stage. The Audi Concept C, however, is much closer to the real thing than the typical concept. A rear-mounted electric motor allows it to reach around 90 mph. The production version due in 2027 will be considerably faster, but even so, that’s an impressive top speed for what most people assumed was a static showpiece at this past September’s IAA Mobility Show.
Since the car’s debut is still a couple of years away, Audi understandably isn’t sharing full technical details yet. What’s known is that a single motor drives the rear wheels. Daniel Schuster, Spokesperson for Technical Development, told Motor1 that the Concept C rides on a newly developed architecture “that will be shared within the [Volkswagen] Group.” That likely means the low-slung coupe is related to Porsche’s upcoming electric Boxster and Cayman. A dual-motor, Quattro-equipped variant with more power is also in the works.
It weighs 3,725 pounds (1,690 kilograms), or about the same as a rear-wheel-drive R8 V10 Spyder. The Concept C houses its battery pack behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, mimicking a mid-engine layout. Autocar, which briefly drove the car in the Italian Dolomites, learned from Audi that a new suspension was developed specifically for this model instead of sourcing parts from the TT or R8.
Photo by: Audi
Most of what you see here will reach showrooms in a couple of years. Audi’s Chief Creative Officer, Massimo Frascella, has already confirmed the exterior design reflects “87 percent” of the final production look. A first for the brand, the electrically retractable hardtop will make it to production as the sole body style since a fixed-roof coupe isn’t planned.
It won’t be a TT or R8 revival, even though new images show the Concept C alongside first-generation versions of both. Interestingly, the photo shoot also featured an RS6 (C6) and the legendary 1936 Auto Union Type C race car with its supercharged 6.0-liter V-16 engine.
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Source: Audi
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner expects annual sales in the “very low five-digit” range but is confident the Four Rings can still turn a profit. Sharing development costs with the electric 718 could help the VW Group achieve economies of scale, but we’ll have to wait for confirmation that the two cars are indeed related.
While the Boxster and Cayman will get their gasoline engines back, Audi’s new sports car will be offered exclusively as an EV. Missed opportunity? We think so.
