Audi have announced its new A4 Allroad which will set a new course for the German firm in terms of their Quattro technology, with orders starting late April and deliveries to be made in June. The Quattro system is newly developed and will be permanently available with the use of ultra technology will hit the UK, mated to a 2.0 TFSI engine which produces 249 bhp.
How Does The Technology Work?
The new Quattro system uses sensors and continuous analysis to scan the road ahead and will predict if all wheel drive will be needed. Factors that help make this decision are steering angle, road condition and driver behaviour, which it can analyse every 10 milliseconds. If the system feels that there is little risk of wheel slip then it will be happy to operate as a front wheel drive car. The decision to switch to all wheel drive comes from a three stage strategy; proactive, predictive and reactive.
The advantage of the system is lower fuel consumption, as less energy will be used if the A4 is only driving the front wheels and this will result in lower emissions. The system is able to make calculations 0.5 seconds in advance as to whether it needs to change to all wheel drive. However, the driver can use the Audi drive select adaptive driving system to adjust how they the car to behave and can choose for power to be sent to the rear axle sooner, using the dynamic setting.
Prices and specifications are yet to be announced but are expected to be announced when orders start late April.