# Audi TechDay: LightWeight Design - Links to Press Texts, Photos Plus Posts Since I'm Attending (TT Lightweight, A5 2.5T FSI)



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

I'm in Germany ahead of the Geneva Auto Show to attend the Audi TechDay for Lightweight Design. Below I'm going to post links to all of the PR copy (we're running here on the site ahead of the event) and also some personal impressions as I have a moment. Expect full writeups on the event including driving impressions of an A5 fitted with the 2.5T FSI (quattro Concept drivetrain mule) and a TT lightweight.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Light cars in large volumes – an Audi core competence*

Lightweight construction has long been a top priority at Audi; it is one of the pillars of the brand. As the pioneer of the self-supporting aluminum body, Audi is the worldwide leader in the field of lightweight construction. Future innovations will ensure that the brand can continue to reverse the weight spiral. Each new Audi model will be lighter than the one it replaces.

Audi’s lightweight construction approach is a philosophy embraced by every development engineer. It begins with the body and emanates outward to include every area of technology in the complete vehicle, from the engine to the wiring harness. And it is not just the aluminum bodies featuring the Audi Space Frame (ASF) design that are unusually light. A number of volume models with steel bodies also set the standard in their respective class.

When it introduced the first A8 in 1994, Audi had not only developed the ASF design and put it into series production, it had also developed all of the steps required for its production. This integrated approach was what made this breakthrough possible. Audi gradually expanded its competences, adding numerous high-tech fabrication processes, in particular.

* Full Story *


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Lightweight construction with continuity: Audi milestones*

Lightweight construction has long been a driving force at Audi. Development work on the ASF body began back in the early 1980s. Audi has been building cars with aluminum bodies since 1994 – with a high degree of continuity, in contrast to its competitors.

* Full Story *


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Light Weight Use in Production*
Inspired by nature – the ASF bodies
Audi has a tremendous source of inspiration for lightweight construction: nature. Nature wastes nothing, using only as much material as needed in exactly the right place to achieve the best result. Audi follows bionic principles in many areas of ASF technology, both on individual parts and on the overall design of the body.

Aluminum is an excellent material for vehicle bodies. With its low density of 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter (0.098 lb per cu in), it is roughly two-thirds lighter than conventional grades of steel, and since it is a relatively soft metal, it is easy to machine. Alloys, the most important components of which are magnesium and silicon, provide the high strength necessary for vehicle bodies.

Aluminum is commonly found in chemical compounds in the Earth’s crust. The raw material, aluminum oxide, is extracted from the ore bauxite, which can be mined in many equatorial regions such as Australia. The aluminum oxide is electrolyzed to produce pure aluminum metal. This process is predominantly performed in countries where clean and affordable hydropower is available, such as Norway, Canada and Iceland.

The lightweight aluminum bodies from Audi also have a very positive ecological effect – they greatly reduce emissions of CO2. Although the production of primary aluminum requires more energy than the production of steel, the weight advantage of the ASF body quickly equalizes the balance during operation of the vehicle – after roughly 50,000 kilometers in the case of the Audi A8.

At the end of the vehicle’s life, the aluminum can be collected, treated, melted down and reused. The scrap produced in the Audi press shop and by the suppliers of sheet metal, metal sections and cast metal components is collected, each material separately, and fed back into the material cycle. The body of the A8 now comprises 38 percent recycled aluminum. The treatment of sorted aluminum production scrap requires up to 95% less energy that the production of primary aluminum. This further improves the energy balance of an aluminum body in comparison to both steel and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. Besides the higher energy consumption during production, CFRP materials also have the disadvantage fact that they are more difficult to recycle.

* Full Story *


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*TechDay Light Weight Design 2011: Use in the Future*
Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic is not only around 60 percent lighter than steel, it is a designer material that allows the mechanical designers to freely define many component properties. CFRP components perform best when they are designed to absorb forces coming from a single direction. The individual layers of fiber fabric placed over top of one another in the synthetic resin matrix can be aligned identically to achieve maximum strength.

For test purposes, Audi built one R8 whose complete roof arch, including the pillars, is made of a largely unidirectional CFRP material. So far the construction has survived every rollover test with absolutely no deformation.

* Full Story *


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*TechDay Light Weight Design 2011: Lamborghini Redefines the Future of the Super Sports Car*

Lamborghini is heading into the future with a systematic lightweight design concept – the intensive application of carbon-fiber materials forms the key foundation for the extreme dynamics and less emissions that will define its future super sports cars. The new V12 model that will debut at the 2011 Geneva motorshow is based on a full monocoque construction made from innovative carbon-fiber technology and superior to anything else on the market – developed and produced entirely by Automobili Lamborghini.

* Full Story *


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