The Concept Car We Just Drove Is the Most Important Audi in 20 Years

There’s a solid chance the Audi Concept C is the most important new product out of Ingolstadt in more than two decades. Not so long ago, this “other car brand” from Bavaria was a bit of an automotive oddity. Known for successfully incorporating AWD into daily drivers, unintended acceleration, winning rallies, and conquering Pikes Peak, back in the day you’d never consider Audi in the same sphere as Mercedes-Benz or fellow Bavarian BMW.

Then came the 2003 Le Mans Quattro concept, which previewed not only the awesome R8, but a design language so strong it would completely rewrite car design. Do you like that massive grille on your Toyota Corolla? Thank Audi. Quite soon Audi plans to change the car world again, starting with the Concept C.

The world first saw the Concept C in September at its Milan reveal. Spearheaded by new design chief Massimo Frascella soon after he arrived in June of 2024, the fully drivable car took just five months to complete. That may sound like impossible timeframe, but relatively new Audi CEO Gernot Döllner was the project manager for the Porsche 918 Spyder Concept, an admittedly nonrunning show car that arrived in March of 2010 at the Geneva Motor Show, having been completed in just three months. Döllner not only knew how to fast-track a special project within the Volkswagen Group’s bureaucracy, but as he explained to us over dinner, he knew how powerful a team-building exercise constructing the Concept C entirely in house would be.

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We next saw the Concept C at the Munich Mobility Show, though few had any idea that this “Concept” was in fact a real car. Which is why we were quite surprised when we received the invitation to drive it.

Audi is tight-lipped on any sort of technical details, or really any details at all. The eventual production version will be built on the Group’s modular SSP architecture (Scalable Systems Platform) and will be closely related to the upcoming Porsche Boxster EV. We don’t know what the production version will be called and we’re not sure what the price point will be, but Audi has confirmed a 2027 global launch and U.S. sales by 2028.

After a bit of arm twisting and eye rolling, most Audi reps we spoke with said the chiseled yet voluptuous two-seat, hardtop convertible roadster will sit between the TT and the R8 in terms of price and positioning, so our best estimate is that it will cost somewhere between $80,000 to $100,000.

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Inside and Out

The Concept C is the first Audi to demonstrate Frascella’s Radical Simplicity design language in both the exterior and interior. In naming it Concept C, Frascella and his team are mining Audi’s impressive but not widely known racing heritage. This is an important point for the brand to emphasize as it will be spending untold millions of Euros once the Sauber F1 team morphs into Audi F1 for the 2026 season.

Of the four Silver Arrows Auto Union built in the 1930s, Typ A to D, the 1936 Typ C is arguably the best looking and definitely the coolest. That single-seater packed a mighty 6.0-liter supercharged V-16 behind the driver. It’s tempting to call it mid-engine, although counting the carbs and the supercharger, the powerplant took up the rear two-thirds of the car. Audi brought it along on the Concept C drive, and we’re guilty of staring and drooling for at least an hour. The Typ C is a masterclass in form following function. Direct links to the Concept C are few (the Concept’s three rear louvers are similar to the dozens found on the race car), but the connection is there.

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Audi also brought along a couple of first-generation, Freeman Thomas–designed TTs plus two V-8-powered first-year R8s. Again, while not on-the-nose inspirations for the Concept C, a purity of form, stance, and proportion that defines each of those icons is also present in the Concept C.

Looking at the car from the front three-quarters view with the roof collapsed under the rear deck reveals an A-pillar and rear that resembles the 991.2 Porsche Speedster, itself a simplified 911 shape. Overall, the Concept is quite handsome. We still don’t totally get the upright rectangular grille (at least it hides all the fugly driver assistance hardware), but the rest of the metal and carbon fiber make up for it. We’re also dying to see it in any color other than titanium. Black or green would look killer.

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The interior, or “shy interior” as Audi is calling it, is a massive leap forward for the brand. Obvious exposed plastic is effectively banned here, and such plastic will be banned in Audis above a certain price point once this design language matriculates to production. The doors are cloth-lined, shaggy carpets cover most of the area below the doors, everything that looks like metal is aluminum, and the screen smartly folds away when you don’t need it.

Audi realized it not only became too dependent on screens, but by having essentially every control buried in a tablet, the brand lost its signature “click.” Roughly two decades ago, Audi revolutionized car interiors by making sure every button and switch made the exact same noise and felt similar when pressed, turned, or clicked. Then it walked away from its own innovation. The shy interior design brings this back.

The Radical Simplicity design language will begin appearing in Audi products starting around 2027. Looking at the less than premium appearance and materials, as well as the acreage of screen real estate, inside the otherwise perfectly fine A6 E-Tron Sportback that shuttled us from Munich to Brixon, Italy, and back, this new design era can’t start soon enough.

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What Did We Drive?

Among the tech details we know, the Concept C has an 800-volt electrical architecture and is powered by a single motor on the rear axle. One Audi employee let slip that the motor makes more than 500 horsepower.

We don’t know the size of the battery nor how much the car weighs, although Döllner and others assured us it’s quite light for an EV. Of note, the battery is not underneath the car. To achieve a sports car shape, the battery is situated fully behind the passengers, exactly how the fuel tank is behind the driver of the 1936 Typ C. We’re pretty sure the Concept C is just over 13 feet long (we overheard “4,050 millimeters” regarding length) but have no idea what the wheelbase is.

The car looks to be a bit larger than the first-gen R8, and we’ll bet it’s quite similar in size to the recently out of production second-generation R8. Hypothesizing further, we suspect the motor is the rear motor from the RS E-Tron GT, and in fact the car itself is a shortened RS E-Tron GT with a smaller, repositioned battery. Why doesn’t this Audi concept feature dual-motor AWD? “I shouldn’t say this as the CEO of the Quattro company,” Döllner told us at dinner, “but I prefer rear-wheel-drive cars.” And while no one said, “Yes, the production version of the Concept C will come with two motors and AWD,” when we asked about the prospect, we received “Ja, probably” in reply.

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So, How Was It?

Going into the drive we were convinced we’d be driving a creaky, hot glue and fiberglass preproduction show car, especially when during the briefing the Audi team kept telling us we weren't there to “test the dynamic limits of the car.” Our expectations further dimmed when we had to sign a release acknowledging we understood the car didn’t have airbags or properly aligned headlights. At that point we figured we’d be putzing it around at 20 mph.

However, in typical overprotective EU fashion, non-Audi employees were not allowed to drive the Concept C on public roads. We were to be driven to a closed road higher up the mountain. Sitting shotgun, our eyes widened to approximately the size of the car’s 21-inch inch wheels as the driver nailed the throttle. The Concept C took off like a spooked housecat. If nothing else, we’re positive the car makes more than 500 horsepower.

Yes, we know, the fork was found in the kitchen, EVs are quick in a straight line. Our surprise was due more to the fact that despite not being series production, the Concept C is a fully drivable, back-road-exploitable car.

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Then we got behind the refreshingly round and simple leather-wrapped steering wheel. To underline the point, the Concept C is proper quick. We’d driven one of the OG V-8 R8s an hour beforehand, and this new EV is much quicker. Here’s the crazy part: The Concept C also rides and handles better.

For whatever reason, we’d assumed the Concept C to be more akin to a TT replacement in approach. Great looking but ultimately not a performer, even if some variants like the TT-RS got Heisse. The Concept C is much closer in nature to the R8 than not, however. It drove like a lightened, shortened RS E-Tron GT, a car I think is the best-driving Audi of all time.

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The Concept C’s steering is remarkably direct, neutral, and balanced, without any of the understeer that has plagued nose-heavy Audis for generations. Even with all the power just hitting the rear wheels, the fat Michelin PS5 tires (305/30-21 rear and 265/35-21 up front, the same as an RS E-Tron GT’s) prevented any sort of oversteer, although that could also be down to software programming. Were we actually pushing the car hard enough to induce oversteer? Once or twice, yes. Maybe three times.

But what about the sound? How can this thing be an R8 replacement if there’s no screeching V-10 behind the driver’s head? It won’t be a direct replacement (for instance, there are no plans for motorsports involvement with the car), and Audi made the point several times it will not be priced like one. That said, there are relatively pleasant though somewhat aggressive EV noises coming through the car’s speakers. However, the speakers aren’t very loud. It’s quite a novel open-top driving experience, traveling at sports car velocities in relative silence. And just imagine what it will feel and sound like with a second motor and around twice as much power.

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Analysis

Based on what we experienced driving and simply staring at the Concept C, the future of Audi could be very bright indeed. Obviously, by getting into F1, Audi needs both a sporting two-door and a halo vehicle. While us car junkie types would love to see it immediately, remember that Audi first won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2000, and the production version (the R8) of the 2003 Le Mans quattro concept car didn’t enter production until 2007.

As we noted above, a production version is coming in the next couple of years. If Audi can somehow manage to keep it within 80 percent of what we experienced—especially regarding the interior—Ingolstadt will have an absolute hit on its hands, both as a design knockout and a driver’s car. The Concept C bodes well for the upcoming Porsche Boxster EV, too. If that upcoming roadster handles exactly like the Concept C, all is well. If it handles better, we’d be over the moon.

But this car is as much about Audi’s future as it is single model lines. If the Concept C’s approach to design and UX can be successfully translated across a lineup of SUVs, sedans, and other vehicles, it ought to keep Audi competitive with BMW and Mercedes-Benz for at least another two decades.