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March 4, 2000
70th
International Geneva Auto Show
Article and Photos by
Jason
Teller
Ever been at a concert
or sporting event and tried to exit quickly afterwards? Throngs of
people are pushing in every direction and you can barely see where you
are headed. This may seem like a strange way to start an article about
an auto show, but there is a reason why I bring it up. Simply put, the
autoshow in Geneva was a madhouse. I've been to many auto shows in my
time, but nothing prepared me for the sheer numbers of people that I was
about to encounter. The reason for the high attendance is pretty
straightforward -- Geneva is the first auto show of the year in Europe
and as such it gets more than its fair share of new car introductions.
Also, with its central location and natural beauty, Geneva is a great
destination in general. The moral to my story is that if you have
press credentials you should use them; I unfortunately (due to
scheduling conflicts) did not use mine. As such I was just an average
show-goer in a crowd of thousands.
Don't be disappointed
though. I still saw Audi's newest offerings.
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allroad quattro
The allroad quattro was,
in my opinion, the most interesting new vehicle at the show. Shown as a
concept in Detroit a few years back, the allroad is in production today
at Audi's Neckarsulm plant. I was in Detroit when the concept debuted
and I seem to remember that Audi's engine choice at the time was going
to be either the 2.8 liter V6 or a V8 variant. With the overwhelming
success of the 2.7T powerplant, Audi will now offer this car configured
with the bi-turbo or as a 2.5 liter TDI model. Both of the production
engines are logical choices, however. The 2.7T engine produces
incredible torque for a turbo engine and has more than enough output to
move the good-sized allroad swiftly. The 2.5 TDI, on the other hand,
will be a reasonable choice for towing applications and fuel economy
considerations. It is not clear if the TDI will be offered in the U.S.
The avant body style
appeals to me in general, so it's not surprise that I would be a big fan
of the allroad's body styling. Based on the A6 platform, yet beefed up,
the car has the unique ability to look both ready for offroad use and
luxurious at the same time. I believe that this is probably what
manufacturers like BMW and Lexus were going for with their SUV
offerings. The allroad is much more interesting, however, because it
discards the "been-there, done-that" SUV body and instead
adopts an aggressive car "look".
Both the 2.7T and 2.5
TDI models were on display in Geneva. The 2.7T was the more eloquently
appointed of the two with two-tone leather and polished aluminum accent
pieces on the exterior. On both models the exterior of the allroad mixes
both painted metal exterior sections with contrasting plastic sections
(particularly in the front and back). Flared fenders enclose 17-inch,
5-spoke wheels which appear to incorporate sytling cues from the Avus
"S" car wheels. The show car wheels were shod in a 225/55 R 17
tire from Pirelli called the Cinturato P6 allroad. The rear of
car is made unique, at least in relation to the rest of the Audi lineup,
by a dual exhaust. The tailpipes are separated by another polished
aluminum accent piece.
The interior gauges and
buttons are Audi-familiar in style. Immediate differences that I noticed
were the low-range button on the side of the shifter and the raise/lower
buttons on the dash. The low-range button (manual transmission only)
allows the driver to adjust the transmission to move across particularly
tough terrain or navigate up a steep uphill grade. The raise/lower
buttons are the manual controls for Audi's industry-unique 4 level air
suspension system. Under non-extreme conditions the car controls this
sytem automatically; the car is raised at low speeds (in order to offer
maximum clearance over terrain) and lowered at high speeds (to promote
aerodynamics). The driver can adjust ride height manually when driving
over frequently changing terrain.
Click
Here for photos of the allroad quattro
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