Re: Audi

[Zak McGregor <zak@domain.elided>]

On Mon, 14 Oct 2002 01:34:37 +0000
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided (alfa-digest) wrote:

> Besides, engineering at Audi never ceases to impress me.  This is the
> company that introduced the quattro system, the five-valve head, the
> all-aluminum A8 and, most recently, the CVT drivetrain in the new A4. 
> Audi's success in the LeMans series is legendary (as was its
> domination of rally racing with the introduction of the quattro), and
> its new RS-seires sports sedans are nothing short of spectacular (even
> if they're WAY out of my price range).

Yes, Audi has done some impressive stuff, but you overstate their
acheivements somewhat. Five valve heads are definitely not an Audi thing
- Mitsubishi had a 5v head in the late eighties in a production car.
Many others do too, as others have noted Ferrari, Yamaha etc. As for
their domination of rallying, yes they were very successful for a time,
but didn't have nearly the domination of say Lancia for instance, both
before and after their Quattro had conquered the championship. The
Stratos and Rallye 037 before the Quattro and the Delta S4 and Delta
afterwards gave Lancia many more championships than Audi managed. Not to
say that the Quattro wasn't an excellent rally machine, but just that it
didn't dominate nearly as much as Audi's PR team would have us believe.
Now Le Mans, that race today is IMHO a farce. No more than one or two
major manufacturers take part in the top class, and even then the bigger
players are all in Formula One, ignoring LM completely. CVT was
introduced on the Dafs from Holland in the fifties/sixties, other cars
have had CVT trannies from the eighties. All-wheel drive - Jensen CV-8
FF & FF anyone? Also, despite western manufacturers not taking to AWD
very enthusiastically, a large number of Japanese domestic cars are
offered with AWD as an option - from the Nissan Micra to the larger
Toyota saloons. Lastly, the Aluminium A8 - aluminium supposedly for
weight-saving reasons - still is as heavy or heavier than its rivals... 


The Audi Procon-10 system though is something that sounds like a good
idea - pre-tension seatbelts in the case of an accident, and drop the
steering column and wheel down so the driver may possibly escape hitting
it.

The latest S4 series though seems very promising indeed - and the engine
looks the part on paper too.

Ciao

Zak

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