Specifications

Aluminium sheet
Aluminium profile
Hot-formed steel
Cold-formed steel
About weight reduction
The demands placed on modern vehicles
are contradictory. On the one hand, they
must offer enhanced performance and
comfort, on the other they need to be more
economical and efficient. Audi ultra resolves
this conflict by examining each and every
component. We demand the highest
functionality combined with the lowest
possible weight. The result is an intelligent
mix of materials that even allows a
reduction in engine size: lighter vehicles no
longer need a large engine to be agile. In
2011, for example, the R18 TDI won in Le
Mans with a V6 engine, whereas its
victorious predecessor, the R15 TDI, had
featured a V10 engine.
23 Audi ultra
Audi ultra:
Every gram less extends the lead.
Audi ultra, the pioneering lightweight technology
from Audi, is more than just the sum of its individual
components. It combines innovative materials,
intelligent design principles and production processes
that use resources sparingly into an overall concept.
Many Audi ultra lightweight measures have already
been implemented in the Audi Q5.
That starts with the body itself. The steel shell design
of the Audi Q5 combines low weight with high rigidity.
The tailormade floor pan is made of different material
thicknesses and qualities. The design uses only as
much material as necessary in the respectively right
places.
The principle has convinced others, too: when it was
launched in 2008, the Q5 body was honoured with
the world’s top prize for bodywork, the EuroCarBody
Award*.
Extended use of hot- and cold-formed steels of high
rigidity classes allows thin metal panels to be used
for the body. The aluminium components on the
front and rear axle and the lightweight cast aluminium
wheels not only reduce the overall weight but also
the unsprung masses, which in turn leads to an
increase in driving comfort. A lightweight brake
reduces weight even further.
Drive technologies such as direct fuel injection
and turbocharging have made Audi engines more
powerful. The modern TDI engines in the Audi Q5
produce more power with a smaller engine size,
making them significantly lighter than the
corresponding engines used in earlier
model series.
Audi ultra on the podium: the Audi R18 TDI
*International Body Benchmark Conference EuroCarBody 2008, press release cf. www.automotive-circle.com/pdf/ecb08/ecb_press_e.doc.