The 597bhp Prologue Concept Proves That Audi's Future Cars Will Be Sexy As Hell

Take a long, hard long at this striking (and rather large) Audi coupe, as before too long, this could be what many of the German manufacturer’s cars will look like. And if you ask us, that’s no bad thing. This ‘Prologue’ concept is a pretty clear preview of the upcoming A9, the A8’s coupe brother (yep another niche), but according to Audi Head of Design Marc Lichte, it also represents “A foretaste of the future of Audi.” So, give it a few years and we could have A4s, A6s and A8s with that distinctive, wide-mouthed look, with those slender, frowny headlights.

But enough about the future, let’s talk about what we have right now. Under the bonnet of this concept is the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 you get in the S6, S7, S8 and certain Bentley Continentals. Here, it’s good for 597bhp and 516lb ft of torque, with the latter figure rising to 553lb ft when the ‘overboost’ function is engaged. That’s enough for a 0-62mph time of just 3.7 seconds.

You’ll notice while ogling the Prologue’s very long flanks that there are no door handles. That’s because to get in this thing, you touch ‘illuminated sensor surfaces’ to open the doors electromechanically. Clever stuff. The other thing you might notice is those alloy wheels: all 22-inches of them. This is a concept, after all.

Inside you’ll find four seats and a dashboard that’s all about display screens. It even has what Audi calls a ‘butler.’ No, not the kind in a fancy suit that’ll fetch you a cup of tea and today’s newspaper, rather a system which identifies its occupants from their smart phones, and automatically adjusts the seat position and climate settings to their liking.

Fancy seeing this future face of Audi up close? It’s on display at the LA Motor Show from today.