Audi had long threatened to build a supercar to showcase its advance technology. Indeed, in 1991, the company showed two supercars within a couple of months of each other. The Audi Quattro Spyder was the first, shown in September at the Frankfurt show. It was entirely real world, powered by a mid mounted V6 engine, using many components from Audi production cars. A few weeks later, at the Tokyo show, Audi unveiled the Audi Avus Quattro. It was a dramatic design, built around an aluminum spaceframe with polished aluminum panels and a tribute to famous pre war Audi union racers. It was also powered by a conceptual engine made up of three banks of four cylinders. In the end, neither car was made. Audi showed another dramatic aluminum clad supercar concept in 2000. The Rosemeyer, named after one of the Auto Union race drivers was a dramatic, edgy design. But it was forth time lucky with the 2003 Le Mans Quattro concept, which would eventually become the 2007 R8 with only few stylish tweaks. In fact, the styling wasn’t far removed form the 1991 Spyder.
The racy interior was dramatically different to any other Audi, though. This mid engined supercar was built around the same basic aluminum spaceframe chassis as the Lamborghini Galladro (Audi had, by now, become the owner of Lamborghini) and benefited from Quattro four wheel drive. Powered by 4.2 liter engine and promise of bigger engines in the future. The R8 received rave reviews for its poise and place. It may have taken over 16 years, but Audi finally had its own supercar.
AUDI A2
Mercedes was not alone when it decided to build a high tech city car in the early 1990s. The Volkswagen Group commissioned a 3litre car and handed responsibility to Audi. A ‘3 liter car is one capable of traveling 100 km on just 3 liter of fuel, 94 mpg in imperial measurements. It was just inspired by an environmental scare as the 1990s dawned a time when the phrase ‘global warming’ was first widely used. Audi decided to make use of its expertise in aerodynamics and lightweight aluminium construction. The main reason for the car’s odd looks was aerodynamics efficiency. Seen from above it has a pronounced teardrop shape. From the side, it has heavily sloping roof and flat sides. The interior was built to the same high standard as Audi’s larger cars, but the interior layout was not as versatile as the Mercedes A-class. It was very light, coming in at as little as 875 kg. Buyers had a choice of a 1.4 three cylinder engine or a 1.4 and 1.6 liter petrol engine. A special version powered by a 1.2 liter which did achieve 94 mpg.
The A2 supermini was first shown as the AL2 concept at the Frankfurt show in 1997, two years ahead of its launch as a production car. By then, however, VW had decided to transfer its efforts on the ‘3 liter’ project to the smaller VW Lupo supermini. Huge strides in diesel engines meant an expensive, super light chassis was not needed. This left the A2 high and dry. It ended up as a beautiful engineered oddball in a market that had forgotten about the idea of global warming.
AUDI – TT MK1
The term ‘iconic design’ is often misused, but the Audi TT does deserve the accolade. It first appeared as a concept design at the 1995 Frankfurt motor show, having been developed at the VW Group’s California studios. The simple, curved, styling theme was generally thought to have been influenced by pre war German engineering (especially the Auto Union D-Type race cars) and the ‘form follows function’ philosophy of the Banuhaus design school. Perhaps just as impressive was Audi’s achievements in bringing the three door TT to produce, especially as it was mostly based on the MK4 Golf platform. A two door cabrio with the cloth roof was the only other bodystyle produced. Inside, the interior design was just a fresh and simple, marked out by the four large, silver rimmed air vents. The drivetrains were also lifted from the Golf and Audi A3. The entry level engine was a 1.8 liter turbocharged unit in various states of tune from 180 bhp upwards. Top range models were equipped with the notably smooth and powerful 3.2 liter V6 engine. Both engines could be had with a part time four wheel drive system badged Quattro, although it differed from the system used in bigger Audis. Despite eight years of success, the TT almost fell at the first hurdle. Not long after the launch the car was involved in a number of high speed accidents, usually involving a loss of control on bends.
Audi engineers figured that the TT’s smooth rump was to blame, causing rear end lift if the driver lifter off the throttle a high speed or braked, causing the nose to dip. The TT was recalled and fitted with a small boot spoiler (to break the flow of the air over the tail) as well as modifications to the suspension tuning.
AUDI A6
By the mid 1990s, Ferdinand Piech had bounced his way from being the chief at Audi to his position as the boss of the truly giant VW Group. His technical genius saw him hatching a plan to build numerous VWs, Audis, Seats and Skodas the four brands in the company portfolio, using the maximum number of shared components. However, despite sharing these parts, the four brands still had to retain distinct identities, something that many doubted they would be able to accomplish. It wasn’t long before, once again, Ferdinand Piech proved his doubters in the VW Company, the industry as a whole, and in certain sections of the motoring press conclusively wrong. The 1997 A6 saw the flowering not only of Piech’s platform strategy, but an amazing rebirth of the genius of German industrial design, echoing and paying homage to all of its grand accomplishments earlier in the century. Under the skin, the A6 shared much with the new VW Passat, and although the suspension systems and floorpan were near identical, the engineering was subtle enough to allow slightly different wheelbases and tracks, sufficient flexibility to give the cars different driving characteristics. For the average buyer, though, it’s the styling both inside and out that gives a car its identity. The A6 was so distinctive that it was a real shock for a lot of people. Audi’s stylists, led by Peter Schreyer, had rediscovered the pre-war German industrial design school.
For many people, the Bauhaus school defined the true nature of industrial design in the 2oth century. The A6’s futuristic rump, with narrow lamp clusters mounted on each corner of the tail and heavily curved roof pillars, was both modern and reminiscent of the art deco and ocean liner style.
AUDI A8
Fourteen years after the Quattro, Audi’s technological onslaught resumed with the all aluminum A8 limousine. Because aluminum is less stiff than steel pressing a conventionally engineered body out of aluminum would have proved difficult, if not impossible. With the type of lateral thinking that has come to typify Audi’s approach, the company developed a whole new way of constructing a car. Under the sleek, aluminum paneled skin lies a skeleton of large section aluminum beams, which are both welded and bonded together. Not only does this result in a weight saving of over 300kg compared with a conventional steel bodied car, but it has allowed Audi engineers to use the inherent properties of aluminum to provide class leading safety. The separate chassis/ body construction also made a significant to isolating the vehicle’s passengers from exterior noise. The A8 was also the first Audi to feature the company’s new four link suspension. This design was said to be a big step forward over previous conventional front strut suspension systems, which had been fitted to nearly every front wheel drive car for the previous three decades. The range topping 4.2 Quattro used the Porsche designed Tiptronic automatic transmission, which also offered the driver sequential manual gear selection, unfortunately, the A8 appeared to show every sign of being ahead of its time.
Sales were initially slow, and no other maker has followed Audi’s lead into Aluminium Space Frame (ASF) construction. ASF technology, though, was also used for the A2, Audi’s super economical town car – something which further entrenched the company’s massive technological lead in the field of automobile engineering.
AUDI RS2
Nothing has ever demonstrated the inherent strength of Audi’s remarkable engineering better than the Porsche developed RS2 estate. It is one of those cars that grandly epitomize everything that is the best in its maker. Audi had already carried through the logic Quattro driven, turbocharged S-series and developed the S2 estate. This was an exceptionally swift and sure footed compact estate car. It would have been a rare and unnecessary fussy breed of driver who would have dared to call for greater power than the standard 220 bhp that was already on offer when they got behind the wheel. However, Audi and Porsche combined forces to build the RS2, one of the fastest production cars of all time. The unburstable reputation of the five cylinder engine was lifted to new level when the output was hiked from 220 to 315 bhp without any increase in capacity proving necessary. Modifications to the running gear were limited to fitting Porsche 968 Club Sport brakes, as well as specially tuned dampers. Porsche also supplied the 17 inch wheels and door mirrors. Styling modifications included the aggressive front bumper fitted with Porsche lighting units and a new rear light cluster. With room for four passengers and their luggage, and performance to beat all but the most rarefied of supercars, the RS2 demolished all the conventional stereotypes of road car abilities.
It wasn’t perfect though, it suffered horribly from tremendous turbo lag at low revs, and when the boost finally decided to kick in, the acceleration was nothing short of brutal. Then again, some drivers like a touch of brutality in their cars. One thing is above debate the Quattro drivetrain was undoubtedly the key to keeping the RS2 firmly planted on the road.
AUDI QUATTRO
There aren’t many true landmark vehicles in the history of the car, but the Audi Quattro has a strong claim to be one of them. It introduced four wheel drive to road cars, and provided a way of harnessing very high levels of power to make high performance driving in all weathers and on all types of road more than enough excellent fists to make it a real contender for landmark vehicle status. The outcome of such innovation was a car that was both easier to drive and quicker point to point than a traditional supercar. It was also a huge success on the rally circuit. Not surprisingly, other manufactures could be seen making a very hasty and undignified rush to copy the format. The Quattro was based on the two door coupe version of the 80 saloon, and borrowed its transmission form the VW lltis military vehicle. Initially it was powered by a turbocharged 2.1 liter five cylinder engine, and divided the 200 bhp on tap equally between the front and rear wheels. Inside, the driver was provided information by the then futuristic digital instruments, adding a touch of science fiction innovation to the classically high standards of engineering and build quality that the ground breaking Quattro represented.
The Quattro concept was refined over the best part of decade, culminating in the 20V version. This had a new 2.3 liter turbocharged 20V engine, and the derivation had a ‘Torsen’ differential, the term is an acronym for torque Sensing, which could automatically send more power to the wheels to provide the most grip. It is still hailed as one of all time motoring greats, and its replacement, the S2 coupe could never deliver the Quattro raw edge thrills.
AUDI 100 CD
Ferdinand Piech, Audi’s chief engineer (and a member of a Porsche owning family), was firmly of the view in the late 1970’s that the way forward for the Audi was an emphasis on new technology. It was this vision that helped create such cars for the firm as the 100 CD, and fuelled the Audi’s strength in the eighties and nineties. Shortly after the pioneering Quattro model, Audi launched the slippery 100 saloon, and introduced the term ‘Cd’ to the car buying public. The Cd (drag coefficient) is a measurement of just how aerodynamic a car is. The figure of 0.30 was thought to have been an impracticable aim for a mainstream car. However, the 100 wore the achievement on its sleeve a small ‘Cd 0.30’ sticker appeared in the car’s rear quarter light and could be spotted by the eagle eyed. Audi’s engineers spent thousands of hours in the wind tunnel to lesson the drag, and the upshot was a car that long, wide and barrel sided. However, the 100 also benefited from some fine detail engineering, including flush fitting windows, and this helped bolster its appeal. The slick body and high gearing meant the 100 was fine motorway cruiser and was capable of excellent fuel economy. Like all Audi’s, although the vehicle was front wheel drive, the engine was placed lengthways in the nose.
Audi got exceptionally good value out of the basic 100 design. It spawned Quattro versions, and was the basics for the 100 Avant estate and the more upmarket 200. It eventually donated its centre section to the 1988 Audi V8, the company’s top line 4×4 executive cars.
AUDI 100S COUPE
As a refined and luxurious coupe, the Audi 100s launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 1969, had few peers in the 2 liter class in the early 1970s. With a top speed of 112 mph (179 km/h) and doing 0-60 mph (96 km/h) in 10 seconds, the Mercedes designed , in line, 113 bhp, four cylinder engine canted over to give a lower bonnet line, packed a punch that was much heavier than its size would suggest. What’s more, the front drive handling was solidly predictable, and the brakes vented inboard disc at the front – superb. A svelte fast back with space for four (this was no cramped two plus two) and a big boot, critics at the time loved the car’s build quality and pace, praised its 30 mpg (9.5 liters/100 km) economy and compared the styling with that of the Aston Martin DBS. In fact, the body was identical to the sober Audi 100 saloon up to the widescreen, which was larger and more steeply ranked. The wheelbase was shortened by 5in. (12.5cm), but the 100S featured the same suspension and running gear, with wishbones at the front and a beam axle on trailing arms and torsion bars at the rear. The four speed manual gearbox, with closer ratios than the 100 saloon came as standard, with the option of three speed VW automatic transmission for those that wanted it.
There were few changes made to the model during its six year production run. September 1973 brought a narrower front grille and bigger rear lights, head restraints and some computer diagnostic connections. More significantly, the rear suspension was modified to the Audi 80 type with coil springs, eliminating the torsion bars. Late Mk2 cars, post September 1975 had Federal bumper for the North American market and new negative offset front suspension geometry, plus different wheels.
POWER AND SPEED IS AWESOME ‘’AUDI RS6’’
The lower slung, conventional looking RS6 is a more obvious track contender, but its outrageous 10 cylinder engine has a lumpen effect on the front end. Even Usain Bolt would lose a few tenths if he had to run with Phill Jupitus sitting on his shoulders. So the Audi, unsurprisingly, understeers on the track, through it says something about the most powerful Audi production engine ever (571bhp) that Fahad Majidi got the RS6 round in 1min 6.3sec-faster than Evo X, STi and all the hatches. The X6 (1min 10.4 sec) was slower, but still brushed off the pesky Astra and Focus—food for thought for the future encounters with hot hatch wielding yobbos (no, not you, Hammad…) at the lights. The road meanwhile reveals the Audi to be an intercontinental weapon, a sort of MIG fighter fitted with leather chains and a telly an ($800 extra). Like the MIG, it flies in a straight line with impossible urgency, it verse organized by Quattro and six-speed tiptronic ‘box, which is suited to gentle power inputs rather than the Cossack stamping technique favored by yours truly. Its appetite for the job is unstinting but, sorry to say, it’s an experience less emotional than stamp collecting. A chuckle free zone.
They told me X6 is a revelation on the road, but here’s an odd thing—it isn’t. After its perfect ten on the track, the undulations camber atrocities and unfathomable lines of Snowdonia revealed an awkward truth—the car is too quick to be this tall, too eager for its own, or my own, good. The absence of active steering, which admittedly we have largely rubbished until now, is a missed trick here, leaving you at the mercy of a helm that’s way too light and offers a tenth of the feedback you need to enter corners at these rates.
