Audi's Aluminium Revolution Starting With The Upcoming A8

I like Audi, so don't get the idea that I'm bashing them, but I recall they've been talking about "lighter" cars for several years now. Using lighter materials, ragtops instead of folding hard-tops, all to save weight. But the hard numbers show that Audis are heavier than their competition, due in no small part of the AWD.

So aren't we just being marketed to? Such as "Audi is lighter than we would be if we didn't try at all" or "Audi is lighter than we used to be"? This would not stop me from buying an Audi, for sure, but I think they will get the public's attention when they really pull off something noteworthy in terms of weight reduction.

— Steve (View Profile)

Posted on 9/10/2009 10:55:24 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

This news is about 15 years late - Audi has been using aluminum extensively in both the chassis, as well as the body of the A8 since the D2 version of 1994.

— FuRoPiNiOn001 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/10/2009 10:59:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Considering Audi has never used aluminum for the A4, A6, or other high-volume models this is brand new information.

— GermanNut (View Profile)

Posted on 9/10/2009 11:18:23 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -6   

Watch all those owners insurance rate increase quadruple and AUDIs sale tank.

— Badgewhore (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 1:14:51 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

So far, Audi's hybrid aluminum construction has rather been marketing flatulence and epic failure, rather than revolution.

Audi TT uses such design, with front parts from aluminum, a fact widely covered as revolutionary by various Audi propaganda spewers and similar scammers. How does the reality check look like?

Audi TT 2.0 TFSI - 1384 kg
BMW Z4 2.5 - 1367 kg

Audi TT 3.2 - 1466 kg
Porsche Cayman - 1428 kg

So Audi managed to make their cars more costly to manufacture and repair and yet, they yielded no progress at all as competitors simply do better, despite larger displacement engines which also add weight.

Sources:
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/vergleichstest/audi-tt-bmw-z4-mercedes-slk-drei-roadster-im-vergleich-752322.html
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/vergleichstest/audi-tt-gegen-porsche-cayman-deutsche-spurthilfe-751511.html

— downtoearth (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 2:15:33 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

The most important benefit of aluminum is that it does not rust, even in the case of a home-made paint touch-up on a scratch. Maybe one should start thinking about buying Alcoa shares now.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 7:41:00 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

yeah, i love Audi but this is getting a little tired now. i've been hearing about aluminum for quite some time now and frankly, i'm sick of hearing about audi losing weight. i'll still buy an Audi with the weight they have now.

— 1dott8 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 9:33:10 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

My understanding is that if there is frame damage it can be rather costly to repair as the machinery used for the A8s are few and far between and can take longer to repair, so I've read.

— StarSearch (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 9:38:12 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Ok people. It seems most of you are simply talking out of your a$$es with no real knowledge of anything. There are several reasons why the Phd's at Audi like the use of this material and want to expand it's use. First of all, Aluminium is 2.5 times the strengh of steel pound for pound. If you need to make something long and strong, whether it be an aircraft wing, Tractor traler, or a limosine such as the A8L, it is the ideal material and about 30% lighter weight at the same time. Aluminium is also much stiffer than steel and crushes at a slower rate making crumple zones even better thus the cars safer. Fewer injuries in a vehicle's history actually work to LOWER insurance premiums than the other way around. Medical bills can run way higher than the cost of several A8's so safer is cheaper. Aluminium is also a relatively common material found on earth and highly recycleable, another very good reason to use it. The expensive part of constructing a vehicle out of aluminium is the engineering and manufacturing processes that Audi already spent the money on years ago and now already own. You want to construct your car like Audi does? you pay them royalties to use the technology aka:Ferrari. They have worked very hard to lower the costs of manufacturing a vehicle like this and that is why we are seeing an expansion of its use into the lower priced segments of the A6 and A4 models and others. The only better material to build a vehicle out of is Carbon Fiber and select hybrids of that material. Very expensive and hard to work with but can be justified in the high end cars like Lamborghini and Porsche. Like Plasma screens and LCD computer monitors, the more of them you build, the cheaper they get so we are simply seeing the return on a very long term investment made by Audi decades ago. This gives them a huge leg up on the competition as it requires completely different manufacturing tools and processes to build a car this way. It would be a huge investment for the competition to adopt over night. By the time anyone does decide to do it, Audi will have moved on to the next great idea.

— Neverfollow (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 11:53:17 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

Its all great till u crash one. Then u wait months for the repair,and only a few bodyshops can do the repairs. Go ahead do it they will lose every customer who has even a fender bender.

— truthpursuit (View Profile)

Posted on 9/11/2009 5:07:09 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3