First look: Audi gets Detroit heads scratching with Roadjet

IS this Audi’s next-generation A3 or simply a platform upon which the German giant has previewed a range of new technology at this year’s Detroit show? Described as a B-segment (small car) sized four-door fastback saloon, Audi says its Roadjet concept combines "the latest evolutionary stage of Audi's formal idiom with an entirely new space concept".

So expect styling elements like the Roadjet’s wedge-shaped nose with prominent lower air inlets and more angular headlights – plus the high and prominent shoulder line, flared wheelarches and trapezoidal tailgate – to feature on future Audi models.

But we suspect the Roadjet’s main reason for being is to showcase the first application of Audi’s seven-speed Direct Shift Gearbox with a longitudinally-mounted engine and quattro permanent all-wheel drive.

In this case the powerplant is a 220kW/330Nm 3.2-litre FSI six-cylinder featuring a fixed intake manifold and Audi’s new valve lift and control system, which the German maker says sets new benchmarks in both outright performance, pulling power and linearity.

Other new Roadjet technologies include variable shock absorbers and a new variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering system, both of which are linked to the transmission to deliver push-button vehicle dynamic mode selection.