Archive for Audi

This is a spyshot of the next generation 2009 Audi A4 on test. The new Audi A4 is supposed to be based on Audi’s new MLP platform, which stands for Modular Platform for longtitudinally mounted engines. The first car to use the MLP platform was the new Audi A5 Coupe, and it’s brother the S5 Coupe.

Audis new MLP chassis supposedly has the engine mounted longtitudinally behind the axle, allowing for better weight balance, but looking at these spyshots, there is still that really long front overhang instead of a minimal front overhang expected out of a more mid-biased front engine mounting. What gives, Audi?

Audi revealed this concept car at the Shanghai Motor Show - the Audi Cross Coupe Quattro Concept which might be the base of which the Audi Q5 will be built. The Audi Q5 is basically a smaller SUV positioned a segment lower than the gigantuan Q7, and will most likely share most parts with the upcoming Volkswagen Tiguan. Like the Tiguan, it will go on head to head with te likes of the Acura RDX, Land Rover Freelander 2, 3rd gen Toyota RAV4, and the future Infiniti EX35.

Under this concept’s hood is a Bluetec 2.0 liter TDI putting out 204 horsepower and 400Nm of torque. This engine meets Euro 6 emission standards, yes the number is 6, not the current 5 - Audi’s one step ahead! This fruga 5.9 liters per 100km engine is mated to Audi’s S-Tronic transmission, which is basically Volkswagen’s twin clutch DSG gearbox with a different name.

Click here to read the rest of Audi Cross Coupe Quattro Concept: future Audi Q5?

Auto Motor und Sport carries this artist’s impression photoshop image of a possible Audi A3 cabriolet. Engine options will be similiar to the current A3, but will also introduce TSI models like the current 1.4 TSI and a new 140hp 1.2 TSI.

Even though Audi has a hard top auto folding convertible roof it can take from the Volkswagen Eos, it is likely to go with the traditional soft top option with the A3 Cabriolet. The Audi A3 Cabriolet is rumoured to make a debut in September at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Audi has three more completely new cars to add to it’s model range, in an effect to double it’s model line-up by 2015. Currently Audi has 22 cars in it’s line-up, and another 18 are in conceptual stages. I think by model, multiple engine variants of a single model are counted as multiple models.

The three more cars are two SUV models, a mid-sized Audi Q5 and another smaller Audi SUV which might be called the Q3, as well as a 4-door coupe ala CLS-style that might be called the Audi A7. The Q3 could be basically an Audi A3 with soft-roader looks and mild offroading capabilities.

Source

Related Posts:
2009 Audi A7 Coupe - New CLS contender
2008 Audi Q5 to be built in Ingolstadt
Audi Q3 and Q5 artist impressions
Audi goes SUV-crazy with possible Audi Q3

Here is a promotional video of the Gumpert Apollo, the Audi powered road-going track car - brainchild of Audi’s ex-motorsports manager Roland Gumpert. The Gumpert Apollo comes in 3 flavours, 4.2 normally aspirated V8, 4.2 liter supercharged V8 and a top of the line 4.2 liter twin turbocharged V8 with a very nice 650 horsepowers power rating. Read more details about the Gumpert Apollo here.

Video after jump.

Click here to read the rest of Gumpert Apollo Promo Video

Audi officials have hinted of a convertible version of the sleek Audi A5 coupe that might hit the market next year. While Audi clearly has access to coupe-convertible technology, as Volkswagen has implemented it in it’s Volkswagen Eos coupe convertible, Audi says it is most likely that the Audi A5 convertible will be a soft top instead of having an automatic hard top.

A more hardcore performance version of the Audi S5 is also in the works, to be called the Audi RS5. The S5 to begin with is a performance A5, so that’s two levels of tune-up!

Volkswagen, one of the few car companies that manages to maximize the amount of vehicles it can produce from a single platform will now further enhance it’s ability with Audi’s modular MLP platform. The first car based on Audi’s MLP platform is the Audi A5 together with it’s high-powered S5 cousin.

As it already is, Volkswagen manages to squeeze plenty of cars out from a single platform - the base Volkswagen Golf platform has spawned the Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Eos, Skoda Octavia, Seat Leon, Audi A3, and the upcoming Volkswagen Tiguan. The combination of the new ability to share modules vertically in a product range - subcompact up to luxury limo, as well as horizontally across different marques - Skoda up to Audi, will allow Volkswagen to produce a high number of cars from one platform, thus taking less manpower and engineering time. Genius, really.

The first Volkswagen to use MLP will be the 7th generation Volkswagen Golf which will arrive around 2012, two generations away. The current Volkswagen Golf is the Mark5, with the Mark6 due in 2008.

I wonder how Audi/Volkswagen’s MLP compares to Lotus Engineering’s Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA). Which is more flexible, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? It would be very interesting to know.

As promised in the previous post, here are photos of a higher performance S-line version of the Audi A5 Coupe - the Audi S5 Coupe. It gets a more aggressive bumper as well as a more pronounced grille with more pronounced vertical chrome grilles as well as the S-line badge to the left of the Audi quad ring logo. The alloy wheel design is also different. Am I the only one who thinks the Audi A5 looks better than the S5? The overly aggressive look somehow doesn’t go with the sleek coupe profile. To match it’s aggressive looks, the Audi S5 Coupe will likely come with Audi’s wonderful 4.2 liter naturally aspirated high revving V8.

You judge for yourself: more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Audi S5 Coupe Press Photos Leaked

Press photos of the new sexy Audi A5 Coupe have been leaked way ahead of its official unveiling to the public at the 2007 Geneva International Motor Show. We’ve seen a photo of the top of the coupe previously in an Audi teaser microsite - these press phtoos have revealed that it is a 2-door coupe as expected. A classic coupe body. The Audi A5 is the coupe equivalent to the Audi A4, putting it against the likes of the E92 BMW 3 Coupe and any possible future 2-door Mercedes Benz C-Class equivalent, if any.

There is alot of Audi TT design elements in it, it’s very modern Audi. We’ve seen too many of the modern Audi design language lately with the flurry of newly launched cars - the TT and the R8, so some might find this abit less radical than they’d expect, since we’re used to outrageous designs from all car manufacturers these days thanks to the trend set by Mr. Chris Bangle. It’s alot less angular than the Audi Nuvolari Concept though, and there’s an Aston Martin-like curve to the shoulderline of the car. There’s also that really lovely Audi interior, which is available for viewing after the jump.

Notice that the Audi A5 departs from the usual long front overhang look of modern Audis, instead having a short overhang and a longer are between the tyres and the B pillar instead - this is because of Audi’s new flexible MLP platform. Click here for more details on MLP (Modular Platform for longtitudinally mounted engines).

The badge on the rear says TDI, so perhaps the flagship model for this new Audi A5 Coupe shall be a turbodiesel, shows that Audi takes it’s turbodiesel very seriously. The Audi A5 is expected to debut with a 3.0 liter TDI V6 turbodiesel. Photos of the Audi S5 have also been leaked, a performance top of the line version of the Audi A5 - but most likely an even more powerful performance-oriented Audi RS5 is in the works.

Check out more photos of the Audi A5 Coupe after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of Audi A5 Coupe Press Photos Leaked

Roland Gumpert was one of the key employees of Audi. He was the motorsports division manager in the 1970s and the 1980s, a good two decades where he led Audi to win 4 Rally World Championship titles. This car, the Gumpert Apollo is a his brainchild, what one might consider the Lotus Elise of the Audi world.

Construction options for the Gumpert Apollo is fairly flexible, you can either opt for a GRP reinforced fiberglass resin, or a full carbon fibre bodywork. The 4.2 liter V8 is lifted from the Audi RS4 and is twin-turbocharged, boosting power from the normally aspirated 450hp to a nice 650hp at 6,800rpm and 809 newton meters of torque at 5,000rpm, a pretty high value as the engine is a high revving one, redlining at over 8,000rpm. This is for the top line model.

A mid-line model will feature a supercharged version with 460hp, while the base line is the standard normally aspirated 4.2 liter V8. Even so, the base line still has good performance stats, with 0-100km/h at 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 290km/h. All variants use a 6-speed sequential gearbox with twin clutches.

The Gumpert Apollo is 167.3 inches in length, 76.0 inches wide and 43.2 inches tall with a 106.8 inch wheelbase. Body drag coefficient is about 0.39 cD, really not very impressive by today’s standards.

Click here to read the rest of Gumpert Apollo powered by Audi