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Audi Downsizes
Audi plans expansion of hybrids, electrics
Audi plans a rapid expansion of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles over the next few years as a key component in Volkswagen Group’s strategy to dominate the alternative-powertrain market by decade’s end.
Michael Dick, Audi’s board member for technical development, told Automotive News that the next-generation A6 sedan will have the potential to be a full hybrid by the end of 2012. The A6 would join the recently introduced hybrid A8 sedan at the Geneva auto show and the soon-to-be-launched Q5 hybrid crossover.
Hybrid capability may stretch to each part of Audi’s lineup by the end of the decade.
By 2020, Audi wants to increase the efficiency of its internal combustion engines by 30 percent and wants 5 percent of the brand’s lineup to be electric, Dick said.
The challenge with electric vehicles “is to make all of these things possible for series production,” he said.
“In the future, our customers will be able to choose from an increasingly broad range of driveline technologies,” Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in Geneva.
“We shall offer electric power in the best possible forms for a wide range of mobility needs. The hybrid driveline will be followed by all-electric vehicles.
“The e-tron name will have an important part to play. Just as ‘quattro’ has become a synonym for all-wheel drive, so ‘e-tron’ is to be the Audi brand name for electric mobility.”
Audi recently set up a division to develop and produce a range of high-priced e-tron electric cars starting in 2012. The brand’s electric-car approach is different from that of rival BMW, which is developing smaller vehicles designed for urban commuting.
Parent VW Group wants to be No. 1 in hybrid and electric cars before the end of the decade, increasing its electric-vehicle market share to 3 percent of its fleet by 2018.
Globally, VW Group plans to launch a full-electric version of its Up minicar, the E-UP, the E-Golf and the E-Jetta in 2013. To get ready for those debuts, VW will debut a test fleet of 500 electric Golfs globally next year.
For now, only the Jetta electric will go to the United States, VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn said.
He said: “We will take the hybrid out of its niche status with our high-volume models.”
Audi R8 to spawn sportier model, dual-clutch gearbox cometh
We already know that Audi plans to fit the standard R8′s 420-hp, 4.2-liter V8 into its all-new Spyder variant early next year, and now comes word that at least one more version of the R8 is in the pipeline and that the R tronic sequential automatic might not be long for this world.
According to company insiders, the herky-jerky gearbox will likely be dispatched in favor of Audi’s new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. There’s no word on the amount of torque the DCT can handle, but considering how much better the R8 V10 performed with the standard sequential tranny, we’d suspect that the dual-clutch setup will make its way onto the V8 models only. And if you’re worried about the gated six-speed manual being nixed from the options list, don’t be – it will continue to be available on all models.
C&D also reports that a sportier version of the R8, inspired by the LMS model, could be in the cards, packing more power (think: Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera) and a not-so-insignificant weight reduction thanks to the liberal use of carbon fiber. Expect that to only be available on the V10 model and yes, a fully-electric version based on the original e-tron concept is supposedly on the way and due to arrive in a few year’s time.
Audi R8
The Audi R8 is a sports car with a longitudinally mounted mid-engine, and uses Audi’s ‘trademark’ quattro permanent four-wheel drive system.[4] It was introduced by the German automaker Audi AG in 2006. The car was exclusively designed, developed, and manufactured by Audi AG’s high performance private subsidiary company, quattro GmbH, and is derived from the Lamborghini Gallardo.[5] The fundamental construction of the R8 is based on the “Audi Space Frame”, and uses an aluminium monocoque which is built around a space frame. The car is built by quattro GmbH in a newly renovated factory at Audi’s ‘aluminium site’ at Neckarsulm in Germany.
In 2005, Audi announced that the name of the successful Audi R8 race car would be used for a new road car in 2007, the Audi R8, based on the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, appearing at the 2003 International Geneva Motor Show, and 2003 Frankfurt International Motor Show. The R8 road car was officially launched at the Paris Auto Show on 30 September 2006. There was some confusion with the name, which the car shares with the 24 Hours of Le Mans winning R8 Le Mans Prototype (LMP), and also the 1989 Mk2 Rover 200, codenamed R8.
The Audi R8 is used as a safety car in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and British Superbike Championship racing series.
Production
To produce the R8 at quattro GmbH, seventy workers fit 5,000 unique parts by hand. The factory at Neckarsulm, redeveloped at a cost of €28 million, produces between eight and fifteen cars a day. Ninety-five lasers inspect the entire car in five seconds to ensure that over 220 measurements are within 0.1 millimetres of the programmed plans.[6]To produce the R8 at quattro GmbH, seventy workers fit 5,000 unique parts by hand. The factory at Neckarsulm, redeveloped at a cost of €28 million, produces between eight and fifteen cars a day. Ninety-five lasers inspect the entire car in five seconds to ensure that over 220 measurements are within 0.1 millimetres of the programmed plans.[6]
Available markets
The 2-seat coupé is currently available in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. The R8 Spider, an open-top roadster model, followed in 2009. In Latin America, the R8 became available at the end of 2008 at dealers in Mexico City, Bogota, Medellin, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lima and Santiago. Customers bought every unit available for 2008 within a week[7] after the R8 premiered at the Bogota International Auto Show and Auto Expo of Medellin.
In Asia, the R8 is available in India, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines and Hong Kong, and has been available in China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Indonesia since 2008.
Powertrain
The Audi R8 was initially equipped with a 4.2 litre V8 internal combustion engine. Specific detail: it is an all-aluminium alloy 32-valve (four valves per cylinder) petrol engine, utilising Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI), and has a displacement of 4,163 cc (254.0 cu in). It develops a motive power output of 309 kilowatts (420 PS; 414 bhp), and generates 430 newton metres (317 ft·lbf) of torque, on 98 RON ‘Super Unleaded’ petrol. It is basically the same engine used in the B7 Audi RS4, but is modified to use dry sump lubrication system. This V8 is a highly reworked, high-revving variant from the existing 4.2 litre V8, but includes cylinder-direct fuel injection (Fuel Stratified Injection), and four valves per cylinder, instead of five (as used on the non-FSI variants). It also uses two chain-driven dual overhead camshafts (DOHC) per cylinder bank, and utilises variable valve timing for both inlet and exhaust camshafts.
A new additional variant with a 5.2 litre Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) V10 engine was added on the 9th of December 2008, which produces 386 kW (525 PS; 518 bhp) and 530 N·m (391 ft·lbf).[3]
The transmission options are either a Lamborghini sourced manual gearbox with metal gate for the shift lever, or an Audi-developed “R tronic” gearbox – which is a single-clutch semi-automatic electrohydraulic manual transmission, without a traditional clutch pedal. These options are the same as those available on the Lamborghini Gallardo. A double clutch Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG), now badged by Audi as “S tronic”, is not available (as of December 2009).
Audi AG unveiled the Audi R8 V10 on 9 December 2008. It uses a 5.2 litre FSI internal combustion engine, based on the unit in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, but is detuned to produce a motive power output of 386 kilowatts (525 PS; 518 bhp), and generate 530 newton metres (391 ft·lbf) of torque.[3] Compared to the V8 variant, the R8 V10′s performance numbers are enhanced. Audi estimates the new 0-100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) time as only 3.9 seconds, 60-124 mph in 8.1 seconds, and a top speed of 196 mph (315.4 km/h). Other changes to the V10 version of the R8 include some aesthetic differences such as all-LED headlights, interior enhancements, and a more aggressive body styling,[8] larger rear brakes and unique roadwheels.
It was initially thought that this version of the R8 was going to have the same engine as the C6 Audi RS6, a 5.0 litre V10 TFSI ‘biturbo’ engine, which produces 580 PS (427 kW; 572 bhp). However, some components of the twin-turbo system overheated, and one prototype was destroyed by fire at the Nürburgring.[9] This model is showing at the 2009 North American International Auto Show. This version of the R8 appears in the trailers and in the box art of the Xbox 360 racing game, Forza Motorsport 3.[10]
2010 Audi TT-RS
Audi officially unveiled its 2010 TT RS range at the Geneva Motor Show. It will be the highest-performing TT ever, expect the German two-door — which will be available as a coupe and roadster — to return 24 mpg, it will hit the European market this summer.
The TT RS will use a five-cylinder 2.5-litre turbo engine for its quattro drivetrain. The five-cylinder mill will crank out 340 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque, which should translate into a 4.6 second run to 60 mph. Top speed is limited to 174 mph.
