Thursday, September 18, 2008

Audi V8L quattro


Audi V8

The Audi V8 was a large luxury sedan built by Audi AG of Germany from 1988 to 1994 as the company's range-topping model, and was the first Audi to use its namesake engine configuration. It was replaced by the A8 in 1994, though the A8 would not be sold in North America until the 1997 model year.

History

Although the vehicle was based on VW/Audi's existing C3 platform (namely the 100/200 sedan), the V8 model featured standard quattro all-wheel drive and a 32 valve, DOHC V8 engine with either a five-speed manual or four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission, giving it the power and road-holding ability to match the V8 powered offerings from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The V8 closely resembled the 100 and 200 models, although a unique grill design, extended wheelbase, pronounced wheel arches and larger wheels helped distinguish it. Much attention was lavished on the vehicle's new engine, although the V8 was also significant in that it was the first production Audi to combine the quattro system with an automatic transmission.

The 3.6 L (3562 cc) powerplant was essentially two four-cylinder engines which had been mated at the crankshaft to form a V8. In this case it was the Volkswagen Golf GTI's 1.8 L, twin cam, 16-valve inline 4-cylinder that provided the starting point. Power output was very strong for the day, with 250 PS (184 kW/247 hp) and 340 N·m (251 ft·lbf) of torque available over a fairly wide powerband.

Audi introduced a long wheelbase version in 1990 and in 1991 made a 4.2 L (4172 cc) powerplant with 280 PS (206 kW/276 hp) and 400 N·m (295 ft·lbf) available. Like the base model, it had standard quattro and an optional automatic transmission, but a six-speed manual gearbox replaced the 5-speed of the 3.6 model.

The car's base price in 1994, its final year of production, was US$58,700.

Motorsport

Audi developed a Group A competition version of the V8 for entry into the DTM (German Touring car Championship) and began racing with it in 1990 with Schmidt Motorsport running the operation and Hans-Joachim Stuck, Walter Rohrl and Frank Jelinski driving. Stuck won the title, and the following year Audi added a second team to the mix, Audi Zentrum Reutlingen. SMS continued with Stuck and Jelinski, while AZR raced with Frank Biela and Hubert Haupt. Biela gave Audi another crown in 1991, but was unable to defend the title in 1992. After that season, the DTM organizers deemed the V8's crankshaft illegal and Audi retired from the championship.

Audi quattro ( 1988 )


Audi Quattro

The Audi Quattro was a famous and historically significant Audi road and Rally car. It was special in that it was the first AWD Grand Tourer since 1966's Jensen FF. Officially, the model name is simply "Quattro", always with a capital "Q" (although the graphics on the car, confusingly, refer to the AWD system and use a lowercase "q"). The word "quattro" with the lowercase "q" is used to refer to either the Audi AWD system, or any AWD version of an Audi automobile. To avoid confusion, it is also commonly referred to as the Ur-Quattro (the "Ur-" prefix is a German augmentative used, in this case, to mean "original" and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's S4 and S6 sport sedans, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6").

European Distribution

Audi released the original Quattro in 1980, making it both the first car to feature Audi's quattro All Wheel Drive system (hence its name) and the first to mate quattro with a turbocharged engine. The powerplant was a 2.1 L, single overhead cam, 10 valve straight-5 originally making 160 hp (149 kW) and eventually receiving upgrades to 200 hp and then to a twin-cam setup producing 220 hp (164 kW). It is considered one of the most significant rally cars of all time, and was one of the first to take advantage of the then-recently changed rules which allowed the use of all-wheel-drive in competition racing. Many critics doubted the viability of all-wheel-drive racers, thinking them to be too heavy and complex, yet the Quattro was an instant success, winning its first rally on its first outing. It won competition after competition for the next two years.

Total road car production is around 11,000 vehicles over the period 1980-1991. The body style received very little modification during its production run, the only significant changes were made for the 1985 model year, which included a new sloping front grill, headlights, trim and badging changes. All Quattros were hand built in Germany by a dedicated crew.

North American Distribution

Sales of the Quattro in North America began with the 1983 model year and continued through 1986. Total sales in the USA was 664 units.

The Audi Sport Quattro

The Audi Sport Quattro was a Quattro program car developed for Group B rallying homologation, and sold as a production car in limited numbers - it featured a different body shell and a significantly shorter wheelbase.

Other information

The Quattro is also famous for being a career highlight of one of the pre-eminent women in rally racing, Michèle Mouton.

In 2004, Sports Car International named this car number four on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.

Audi V8


Audi V8

The Audi V8 was a large luxury sedan built by Audi AG of Germany from 1988 to 1994 as the company's range-topping model, and was the first Audi to use its namesake engine configuration. It was replaced by the A8 in 1994, though the A8 would not be sold in North America until the 1997 model year.

History

Although the vehicle was based on VW/Audi's existing C3 platform (namely the 100/200 sedan), the V8 model featured standard quattro all-wheel drive and a 32 valve, DOHC V8 engine with either a five-speed manual or four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission, giving it the power and road-holding ability to match the V8 powered offerings from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The V8 closely resembled the 100 and 200 models, although a unique grill design, extended wheelbase, pronounced wheel arches and larger wheels helped distinguish it. Much attention was lavished on the vehicle's new engine, although the V8 was also significant in that it was the first production Audi to combine the quattro system with an automatic transmission.

The 3.6 L (3562 cc) powerplant was essentially two four-cylinder engines which had been mated at the crankshaft to form a V8. In this case it was the Volkswagen Golf GTI's 1.8 L, twin cam, 16-valve inline 4-cylinder that provided the starting point. Power output was very strong for the day, with 250 PS (184 kW/247 hp) and 340 N·m (251 ft·lbf) of torque available over a fairly wide powerband.

Audi introduced a long wheelbase version in 1990 and in 1991 made a 4.2 L (4172 cc) powerplant with 280 PS (206 kW/276 hp) and 400 N·m (295 ft·lbf) available. Like the base model, it had standard quattro and an optional automatic transmission, but a six-speed manual gearbox replaced the 5-speed of the 3.6 model.

The car's base price in 1994, its final year of production, was US$58,700.

Motorsport

Audi developed a Group A competition version of the V8 for entry into the DTM (German Touring car Championship) and began racing with it in 1990 with Schmidt Motorsport running the operation and Hans-Joachim Stuck, Walter Rohrl and Frank Jelinski driving. Stuck won the title, and the following year Audi added a second team to the mix, Audi Zentrum Reutlingen. SMS continued with Stuck and Jelinski, while AZR raced with Frank Biela and Hubert Haupt. Biela gave Audi another crown in 1991, but was unable to defend the title in 1992. After that season, the DTM organizers deemed the V8's crankshaft illegal and Audi retired from the championship.

Audi Sport quattro S1


The Audi Sport Quattro S1 was introduced at the end of 1984 as an update to the Audi Sport Quattro. The car featured a inline 5-cylinder engine that displaced 2,110 cc (128.8 cu in) and produced an officialy quoted figure of 350 kW (480 PS/470 bhp). However, the turbocharger utilised a recirculating air system, with the aim of keeping the turbo spinning at high speed, and the actual figure was in excess of 500 bhp (373 kW/507 PS) at 8000 rpm. In addition to the improved power output, an aggressive aerodynamic kit was added that featured very distinctive wings and spoilers to the front and rear of the car to increase downforce. The weight was lightened to just 1,090 kg (2,403 lb), and now accelerate from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.1 seconds.

Some of the cars were supplied with a "power-shift gearbox", which is said to be a forerunner of today's Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG) technology.

The S1 proved to be an immediate success in the rally circuit, helping Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer win the 1985 San Remo Rally. A modified version of the S1, was also driven by Michèle Mouton. The S1 evolution would become the final Group B car produced by Audi, with the works team withdrawing from the Championship following the 1986 rally in Portugal.

Twenty years after the cancellation of Group B, the Sport Quattro S1 was still widely regarded as the most powerful rally car ever fielded in international competition, with the final factory machines of 1986 rated at an incredible 441 kW (600 PS/591 bhp).

In addition to Group B competition, the S1 won the 1985 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with Michèle Mouton in the driving seat, setting a world record time in the process. This victory was repeated in 1987, this time at the hands of Walter Röhrl, and again in 1988 (Michèle Mouton) and 1989 (Bobby Unser), completing a hat-trick.

Audi Coupe GT


Audi Coupe GT

The Audi Coupe GT was a 2-door sports car produced and sold by Audi from 1981 to 1987. The car was an attempt by Audi to offer a more affordable version of its turbocharged, all-wheel drive Quattro. The Coupe GT featured a similar body shape to the Quattro, but without the knife-edged fender flares of the more expensive car. Mechanically, the biggest changes from the Quattro to the GT were the use of a naturally aspirated 5-cylinder engine and a front-wheel drive drivetrain.

The Audi Coupe range was fitted with the quattro All Wheel Drive system from late 1984 to produce the Audi Coupe quattro, a model which was rarer than the Turbocharged Quattro model.

Audi Sport quattro


The Audi Sport Quattro was a Quattro programme car developed for homologation for Group B rallying in 1984, and sold as a production car in limited numbers. It featured an all aluminium alloy 2,133 cc (130.2 cu in) (2.1 L) 20v DOHC engine slightly smaller than that of the Audi Quattro (in order to qualify for the 3-litre engine class after the scale factor applied to turbo engines). In road-going form the engine was capable of producing 225 kW (306 PS/302 bhp), with the competition cars initially producing around 331 kW (450 PS/444 bhp). The vehicle also featured a body shell composed of carbon-kevlar and boasting wider arches, wider wheels (nine inches as compared to the Ur-Quattro's optional eight inch (203 mm) wide wheel rim), the steeper windscreen rake of the Audi 80 (requested by the Audi Sport rally team drivers for improved visibility) and, most noticeably, a 320 mm (12.6 in) shorter wheelbase. This was carried out in order to improve handling potential in the face of newer, smaller competition, such as the Lancia 037 and the Peugeot 205 T16, which had been purpose-built from the start for Group B rules.

A total of 224 cars of this "short version" Sport Quattro were built, and were offered for sale at a heady price of 203,850 German Marks.

Audi Quattro


Audi Quattro

The Audi Quattro was a famous and historically significant Audi road and Rally car. It was special in that it was the first AWD Grand Tourer since 1966's Jensen FF. Officially, the model name is simply "Quattro", always with a capital "Q" (although the graphics on the car, confusingly, refer to the AWD system and use a lowercase "q"). The word "quattro" with the lowercase "q" is used to refer to either the Audi AWD system, or any AWD version of an Audi automobile. To avoid confusion, it is also commonly referred to as the Ur-Quattro (the "Ur-" prefix is a German augmentative used, in this case, to mean "original" and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's S4 and S6 sport sedans, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6").

European Distribution

Audi released the original Quattro in 1980, making it both the first car to feature Audi's quattro All Wheel Drive system (hence its name) and the first to mate quattro with a turbocharged engine. The powerplant was a 2.1 L, single overhead cam, 10 valve straight-5 originally making 160 hp (149 kW) and eventually receiving upgrades to 200 hp and then to a twin-cam setup producing 220 hp (164 kW). It is considered one of the most significant rally cars of all time, and was one of the first to take advantage of the then-recently changed rules which allowed the use of all-wheel-drive in competition racing. Many critics doubted the viability of all-wheel-drive racers, thinking them to be too heavy and complex, yet the Quattro was an instant success, winning its first rally on its first outing. It won competition after competition for the next two years.

Total road car production is around 11,000 vehicles over the period 1980-1991. The body style received very little modification during its production run, the only significant changes were made for the 1985 model year, which included a new sloping front grill, headlights, trim and badging changes. All Quattros were hand built in Germany by a dedicated crew.

North American Distribution

Sales of the Quattro in North America began with the 1983 model year and continued through 1986. Total sales in the USA was 664 units.

The Audi Sport Quattro

The Audi Sport Quattro was a Quattro program car developed for Group B rallying homologation, and sold as a production car in limited numbers - it featured a different body shell and a significantly shorter wheelbase.

Other information

The Quattro is also famous for being a career highlight of one of the pre-eminent women in rally racing, Michèle Mouton.

In 2004, Sports Car International named this car number four on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.

Audi 100 C2, 1976–1984


Audi 100 C2, 1976–1984

The C2 Audi 100 was launched in 1976, with crisper styling and an unusual five-cylinder engine (the first gasoline 5 in the world - Mercedes-Benz had shown the way in 1974 with their three litre Diesel 5cyl in the Mercedes-Benz C111). It was initially a 100 bhp (74 kW) engine offering "5 cylinder power and 4 cylinder economy", and later upgraded to 136 bhp (100 kW).

The Coupé was discontinued, but a five-door hatchback model, the 100 Avant, was launched as part of this generation. Two- and four-door models continued.

The 100 was sold as the Audi 5000 in the United States, in order to rebrand the car and avoid association with the C1. It was a sales success, allowing Audi to spread development costs over a much wider base than Europe-only competitors.

In 1980, the Audi 200, a plusher variant that included a turbocharged model of 170 bhp, available in 200 5E or 200 5T spec for the UK. The 5T or turbocharged model in addition of the 5E model featured heated seats, opening front quarter windows, cruise control, ski bag, green heat insulated glass, electric sunroof and elec heated mirrors. Available standard in 3 speed auto. The only options listed in the brochure were 5 speed manual transmission at no extra cost, air con and leather seating. This car was marketed in the US as the 5000 Turbo. The Audi 100/200 was succeeded by the C3 platform model in 1983, and the 200 followed one year later.

Audi 100


Audi 100 C1, 1968–1976

The Audi 100 was shown to the press on November 26, 1968. Originally denoting a power output of 100 PS, the Audi 100 was the range's largest car after the Audi brand was revived by Volkswagen in the 1960s. The C1 platform spawned several variants: the Audi 100 two- and four-door sedans, and the Audi 100 Coupé S, a stylish fastback coupé.

The C1 was sold in the US, where it distinguished itself with remarkably poor build quality.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Ascari A10


Ascari World Debut of the 625bhp A10

British Supercar manufacturer, Ascari has produced the answer to the Ferrari Enzo FXX, but for keeps!

Whereas the Enzo FXX is not road legal, it was produced to be driven during track days only and costs just over £1 million (1.5m EUROS), the A10 is road legal so can be driven home and parked on your drive, to the envy of your neighbours for just £350,000 (522.000 EUROS).

Designed, engineered and hand built in Banbury, England the A10 has 625bhp and weighs in at around 1200kg, thanks to its lightweight carbon fibre bodywork. Reaching 60mph in just 2.8 seconds and 100mph in less than 6 seconds, the manufacturer claims the A10 is the fastest road going production car around a race track.

Only 10 are available and will be built to order.

The A10 is more than just a revamped KZ1, which has found success in its first year of competing in the GT3 in 2006. It has new body panels, a reworked engine and suspension, with extensive brake modifications to cope with the extra power. Lucky owners will also benefit, if they wish, from some luxuries such as remote central locking, electric windows and door mirrors, climate control and a Thatcham Category 1 alarm system.

The UK's newest Supercar will make its first ever appearance at the 2006 MPH show in Birmingham, England on 28 October.

Artega GT


The idea for developing the Artega GT can be considered the "dream order" for a highly motivated team: to develop an extraordinary sports car with entirely unique special accents quasi as calling card of the internationally successful electronics supplier paragon AG. The Artega concept was to establish a totally new brand, and the team's commission was short and to the point: driven by enthusiasm for sporty cars, demonstrate total competence for automotive development. A mission whose realisation called for what turned out to be four major development focus areas:

Design: extraordinary form language

The renowned designer Henrik Fisker succeeded in creating proportions of 3950 x 1880 x 1180 mm (L,W,H) for the first time in this constellation and consequence, namely: broad, flat, and compact. A powerful and elegant front characterised by flowing lines, a low unique windowed greenhouse of a body in highly individual arched form and a classy curve as transition to the beefy rear end all lend the body its striking personal appearance. The uncramped interior surprises despite the vehicle's extremely compact design. Two adults not only have plenty of room, but there's also space for much more than just the most necessary luggage. Even a child's seat can be integrated if desired.

Design features: agility, driving dynamics and safety

The major development parameters for the vehicle body were lightweight design and rigidity. A generously dimensioned aluminium spaceframe in connection with a body made of carbonfibre reinforced compound materials thus ensures a top power-to-weight ratio. For reasons of efficient space utilisation, ideal weight distribution and the best possible traction, the high-grade drive components of the Volkswagen Group are installed as rear engine traverse to the direction of travel. The 3.6-litre V6 is the ideal drive for a vehicle of this class. Along with the highly praised and well-tried direct-shift gearbox, the engine is mounted in a compact module made of highstrength steel tubes. The backs of the comfortable sports seats fold back to make loading easier. Especially effective crash modules as well as a steel side-collision protection as essential features of the passive safety system protect the passengers with front and side airbags in the case of accident. To ensure a maximum of active safety, the Artega GT design integrates state-of-the-art driver assistance systems, such as ASP (Artega Stability Program) such as the electronic stability program ASP (Artega), ABS and the traction control TC. Just as in other super sports cars, four different drive programs can be selected at the Headunit: Normal (ASP with early intervention, TC on), Sport (ASP with later intervention, TC on), Race (ASP off, TC on) and Off (ASP off, TC off).

Fitness for travel: a "sensible" amount of room despite sports car dimensions

In designing the body and interior of the car, great care was taken to consider the needs and comfort of the occupants. The generous amount of space compared to the extremely compact overall dimensions, numerous convenient interior places to put things and two separate luggage compartments (one behind the seats and the other under the front hood) are exceptional for a car this size. Such storage conditions were made possible by the engine's transverse installation in the rear. Although the Artega GT provides phenomenal handling performance and drive capabilities, the chassis fine-tuning ensures that comfort in no way comes too short. Even long trips will be savoured in happy memory by the driver and passenger - and even if the top cruising range provided by the optional 80-litre tank is fully used.

Operation: paragon makes driving easier, more pleasant, and safer

The competence of the electronic specialists at paragon AG has provided comprehensive innovative systems for operation and driver information. One of the primary concerns of the Artega idea is to prove their benefit in the Artega GT.With innovative sensor buttons and the unique dual-pointer dashboard for road speed and engine speed, paragon offers a novel ambience as a significant, distinctive attribute of the Artega GT.These features are emphasized by a plaque with the inscription "Cockpit systems from paragon" in the interior of the vehicle.

Technical specifications

  • Frame: Aluminium spaceframe
  • Rear module: tubular space frame made of high-strength steel
  • Body: carbon-fibre reinforced compound material
  • Dimensions (L x W x H): 3,950 mm x 1,880 mm x 1,180 mm
  • Kerb weight: approx. 1100 kg
  • Luggage compartment capacity: 300 litres (225 behind the seats, 75 in the front)
  • Engine: V6 direct-injection
  • Displacement: 3597 ccm
  • Transmission: six-speed direct-shift gearbox
  • Acceleration 0 - 100 km/h: less than 5 s
  • Maximum speed: more than 270 km/h

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