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Audi will completely rethink the way it engineers its cars over the next few years, according to Michael ***, the car maker’s director of technical development.

*** says Audi’s priorities are “hybrid and electric powertrains and lightweight construction for the next-generation version of Audi’s MLP”, its modular longitudinal platform.

Significant weight reduction is very important for the future, he says, because it will be the “basis for the electrification of the car”.

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Reduce weight and save fuel, and Audi are trumpeting this as news!

Colin Chapman is probably watching over us all laughing his socks off right now!

 

Audi and Michael *** :o)seem to have blanked out the A2, though checking out the residuals of this car many others have not.

So shedding weight is going to cost more then aswell!?,people do want eco freindly cars but they would also like to see reasonable prices and not spec and trim levels created to maybe making you take some other extra to get what you really want on your car,options for to long have been layed out this way,its about time each extra was priced and you new/payed for said extra,its called transparency.   

 

Peter Cavellini:

So shedding weight is going to cost more then aswell!?,

Yes shedding weight does cost money because it usually involves costly lightweight composite materials. The other problem is how do you make it light and strong enough to take a hit from a current steel or aluminum vehicles? Eventually scale of manufacture will bring pricing down, but new directions are never inexpensive. I think the small startup Aptera has the right idea; it is lightweight and very strong not only by material choice, but how it is applied in the overall design.

Actually (with new materials) it does not cost more, you do have some slight upfront cost increase on the first car (and that seriously is not much) and then after that it will cost less.

How is this done? there are some new materials just starting to arrive on the seen, they are fantastic, they are super lightweight and cost less than AL and outperform not just in terms of strength/weight but also manufacturing and the shapes as well as details that can be acheived; these materials will be in automtive products as of later this year!; now their is a scoop! (and no I am not having a laugh, its bang on true)

It will be quite mainstream in the next five to ten years, maybe twelve; but it will take a long time to go across the cars simply due to design/product cycles.

It may seem obvious, but Audi is being forward thinking. I love it but BMW has forsaken aluminium bits in the new 5GT where the current 5 has them - shocking - and it weighs nearly 2 tons???????

Trust me, Audi are being progressive compared to BMW - who are slowly becoming the teutonic Volvo.

230SL:

Audi and Michael *** :o)seem to have blanked out the A2, though checking out the residuals of this car many others have not.

 

The A2 was a cracking car, so light and nimble the most sporting of Audis for some time and still one of the best to drive now.

 

Will they ditch the Quattro?

About time but why has it taken them over 25 years to go back to something they knew well with the Audi 100 in 1980 before they became obsessed with quattro drive trains and engines with more than 4 or 5 cylinders?

  

They should ditch front wheel drive cars too!

Topkat:

They should ditch front wheel drive cars too!

They would then be freewheelers!

Audi would not go rear, as much as some of us may wish them too (I personally think the A5 should be, it just looks like it should have it's tail out smoking and being downright lairy!) ooh hang on this is about weight sorry.

Now is the time to pioneer, because the buying public are currently at a pace that can understand what is going on. The pace of change of the green revolution has been gathering momentum in as such that we all understand now that we should do our little bit etc and the reasons why, whether you agree or not with the messages, we are all aware of them.

This can play into our hands as enthusiasts.

Thus the marketing deptartment (which is a big player with Audi) can key in to this and the engineers finally can show their skill in developing key pieces of kit and you get a coherant product where there is more harmony with the marketing men, accounting and the most important part, the engineers. Cake and eat it?

Jaguar, where for art thou?