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We knew Audi would have more surprises up its sleeve than the Sport quattro concept and the Ingolstadt firm has not left us waiting, as the Nanuk quattro concept was revealed the night before its Frankfurt Motor Show debut. Said to combine the best elements of a high-performance sports car with "Audi's quattro expertise on the road, on the race track and also off-road" the Nanuk will take to the stage alongside the Sport quattro concept and A3 Cabriolet.

Exterior

If you think the Nanuk concept looks a little similar to the Italdesign Giugiaro Parcour concept that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show then you are not alone. The Volkswagen Group-owned design house was also involved in the look of the Nanuk, but the similarities go deeper than that. Both cars are described as being supercar crossovers that are said to be equally at home off-roading in the sand as they are on the race track.

The Nanuk's styling closely resembles that of the Parcour but with an Audi twist: a narrow single frame grille flanked by a pair of signature LED daytime running lights with R8-like grilles below. The R8 also lends the Nanuk its side-blades, which sit behind the sculpted doors to feed air to the mid-mounted engine.

The concept rides on 22-inch alloy wheels while adaptive air suspension allows the driver to adjust the ground clearance manually. You can either ride as normal, drop the height by 30 millimetres for the track or raise it by 40 millimetres for off road work.

Interior

The interior of the two-seat concept has been stripped of everything bar the essentials. The instrument binnacle (whose dials and needles have been replaced by a digital display that can show a number of parameters) is supported within the carbon dashboard by a pair of aluminium stirrups. All of the major controls, including those for the electronically controlled air suspension, the satellite navigation and multimedia functions and the indicators, are concentrated on the centre tunnel console and the steering wheel. Monitors located in the A-pillars serve as digital exterior mirrors while the rear-view mirror has been replaced by a camera and screen system much like that of Audi's Le Mans racer.

The seats, with folding backs, deep side bolsters and integrated head restraints, are power-adjustable and are swathed in grey leather that contrasts with the exposed Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) used elsewhere.

Mechanicals

Unlike the Italdesign concept, which used a Lamborghini sourced engine, the Nanuk has to make do with a unit from the Audi stables - the 544hp V10 TDI... Mounted up front the engine is mated to a seven-speed S tronic gearbox, which has the unenviable job of controlling the 1,000Nm of torque that the engine produces. With that available from just 1,500rpm it comes as no surprise that the 1,900kg, quattro-enabled 'super crossover' (a phrase hereby trademarked) can hit 62mph in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 305km/h.

Anything else?

While the Sport quattro concept may make production in some form we do not expect the Nanuk concept to. That said, we are still waiting sign-off on Lamborghini's high-performance SUV so some of Italdesign's work may reappear there.

Paul Healy - 9 Sep 2013