Audi Presents 'Project Steppenwolf' - The All-Around Vehicle

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    DETROIT, Jan. 9 At the 2001 North American International Auto Show Audi 
will display a concept vehicle for on-road and demanding off-road use.  
Following the successful launch of the Audi allroad quattro, this concept 
vehicle now shows how the Audi development engineers visualize a high-
performance all-around vehicle for the compact class.  And it embodies a study, 
which represents the consistent evolution of contemporary Audi design.
    
    But that's not all:  "Project Steppenwolf" -- as this three-door four-
seater is known -- also provides evidence of the kind of "Vorsprung durch
Technik" (Advancement through Technology) that has long since become
synonymous with the name Audi.

    This study for the compact class also makes use of Audi's quattro
expertise and experience with the height-adjustable air suspension.  The
engineers had set themselves the following goal:  "Project Steppenwolf" should
be able to master rough terrain in extreme conditions just as effortlessly as
high-speed driving.  It should feel equally at home in the outback as on the
highway.

    The free-revving 3.2-liter V6 engine developing 225 hp (165 kW) allows
acceleration from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in under eight seconds.  Its top
speed is well over 143 mph (230 km/h).  Its peak torque of 235 lbs. ft.
(320 Nm) is available across a wide speed range.

    The quattro permanent four-wheel drive system ensures maximum traction and
excellent directional stability in all conditions and in all types of terrain.
The electronically controlled Haldex clutch distributes power between the
front and rear wheels.  If the front wheels slip, part of the torque is put to
the road smoothly via the rear wheels as required.  In addition, the
Electronic Differential Lock (EDL) distributes torque between the wheels on
one axle.  And the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) helps the driver remain
in control if confronted with potentially critical driving situations at the
limit.

    One of the special features of "Project Steppenwolf" is its 4-level air
suspension with an adjustment range of 2.4 inches (60 mm).  This
groundbreaking Audi system qualifies the compact three-door model as an all-
around vehicle in a class of its own: ample ground clearance of up to 8.8
inches (223 mm) for difficult terrain is just as feasible as a low center of
gravity and optimum aerodynamics at high speed.

    Audi development engineers have come up with an innovative solution for
the parking brake, which acts on the rear brake discs.  An electronically
controlled electrohydraulic system performs the function of the conventional,
manually activated handbrake.

    The body of "Project Steppenwolf" interprets contemporary Audi design in
its own new way.  Sports character and elegance, functionality and geometric
precision are its most important traits.  Wide, clearly contoured lines and
large, pure surfaces combine to produce an architecture in which calm and
tension are equally present.  No superfluous swage lines or curves upset this
visual clarity.  Function and form become one, aerodynamics and aesthetics
come together to produce an unmistakable synthesis.

    Just like its legendary ancestors, the Audi quattro and Sport quattro, it
offers the technology of a full-blooded sports car -- on both asphalt and
gravel tracks.  It unites the indisputable authenticity of a driving machine
with the advanced elegance of Audi design.  A car that extends horizons, whose
potential allows experiences beyond the realms of apparent possibility.  A
precision tool for the way through even uncertain terrain.