What a year it has been so far for Audi, on the year it celebrates 100 years of existence its comprehensive range of cars simply can’t stop winning awards all over the world.
In Germany, Audi won nine awards in the Sport Auto Readers Choice Contest organised by the automotive magazine Sport Auto. The Audi RS6 once again, led the way and it was voted the best vehicle in its class, while the Audi S3, A3 2.0 TDI, TT Roadster 2.0 TFSI, TT RS Roadster and Audi R8 were voted second in their respective categories and to wrap things up the A4 3.0 TDI Quattro, the A4 3.2 FSI Quattro and the Audi S4 grabbed three outstanding third places.
Meanwhile in the UK, Audi’s range won for the fourth consecutive year the British Insurance Vehicle Security Awards held last week at the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre in Thatcham, Berkshire. For those of not familiar with Thatcham, they are one of Europe’s leading authorities in the field of vehicle security; its experts have been assessing the theft protection standards of vehicles for over ten years.
Audi not only won the Manufacturer do the Year Award but also achieved three categories wins, the A4 range was votes most secure in compact executive class, while the S8 was awarded in the performance car class and the newly launched Audi A5 Cabriolet won the open-top class.
All these awards are the rewards for a company that is always trying to improve the safety and driving experience of its customers.
The new permanent four-wheel drive Audi S4 is now available in the UK. Audi elevates the road dynamics of the new Audi S4 quattro to a new level.
Audi has brought together a sequence of engineering and design advances for the first time in the new S4 using unique technology to effect a transformation in the car’s approach to high speed handling.
Audi also adds its unique and advanced drive select system enabling the driver to select comfort-oriented or more dynamic settings influencing throttle, steering and suspension response to suit widely varying individual preferences.
When the car is being parked, the steering is extremely direct, whereas when driving in a straight line at high motorway speeds a more indirect steering ratio and reduced power assistance help to optimise the car’s directional stability.
The head of Technical Development at AUDI AG, says:
‘By integrating this four-wheel-drive technology into the Audi drive select system, which itself delivers refinement and dynamism in a totally new way, we have created a unique road dynamics system that for the first time can be perfectly matched to the driver’s individual wishes.’
It has a brand new 3.0-litre engine, the V6 power unit producing 333PS is thanks to a supercharger generating a seamless flow of power from 440Nm of torque. This unit replaces the V8 engine of the previous S4 and so delivers a 26% cut in fuel consumption and CO2 without any impact on performance.
The advanced fuelling system uses the proven FSI direct injection already established across the Audi petrol engine range combined with Audi valve lift technology to create one of the most efficient high performance engines of its kind.
One of Audi’s main goals has always been to reduce fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions while maintaining high performance.
For the next generation of the S4 and S5 models, Audi has already established a few benchmarks to be achieved, with the focus on reducing fuel consumption while maintaining the performance at the highest levels possible.
Audi S4
Audi is developing a new turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that will be an intermediate stage between the new 3.0-litre supercharged V6 TFSI and the former 4.2-litre V8 engines, with 20% more fuel efficiency and similar performance to the V8 engine.
Audi S5
Another area Audi considers of high importance is weight reduction, and Audi’s goal is to reduce the weight of its next generation of cars by 30%.
The blog have given a very positive review of the Audi S4.
They say: ‘This is the most addicting S4 Audi has ever made.’
‘This S4 does something that previous generations just haven’t. It’s in the way everything is tied together-no single part of the driving experience dominates any other. It’s a quality that’s increasingly rare in modern cars and difficult to describe. Everything seems to work together toward the common goal of producing a smile on the driver’s face.’
‘The engine is something we can picture God himself using, yes, but even the steering is good. It takes a scant 2.2 turns of the wheel to go from lock to lock, and there’s quite a bit of feedback, too.’
The new Executive SE Audi A4 and Executive S Audi A4 line models will enhance the sports appeal of the Audi A4 and Audi A4 Avant with cost effective specifications upgrades.
The SE equipment list features 17-inch 7-arm alloy wheels, climate control, Audi concert CD audio system and automatic wiper and headlight control, the new Executive SE specifications brings an upgrade to 17-inch 10-arm spoke alloy wheel, Audi Symphony audio system with six CD auto-changer, cruise control and mobile phone preparation.
All the Executive SE Audi A4 line specifications adds an extra value of £635 over the standard Audi A4 SE model, which saves the buyer a total of £480 compared with the cost of adding each item individually.
The Audi A4 S line is a more sporting Audi A4 and includes 18-inch alloy wheels, unique body design, xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights and the S line sports suspension lowered by 20mm and it is available to all A4 Saloon and Audi A4 Avant models.
The new Audi A4 Executive S line model are new for 2009 and come with top end specifications such as Alcantra and leather combination sports seats, Audi Symphony audio system, cruise control and mobile phone preparation.
The Audi A4 Executive S line adds an extra £635 to the value of S line models, saving buyers £650 if items were added individually.
Audi will introduce the new Audi S4 and Audi S4 Avant at the Paris Auto Show that starts next month, with the cars available in the first half of 2009 in the UK.
The new Audi S4 will be powered by a 3-litre engine V6 with direct fuel injection and supercharger , delivering a total of 333hp and accelerates from 0-62mph in 5.1s and fuel consumption is 9.7litres/km. Audi chose to supercharge the new power plant to ensure better response than using turbochargers.
The new V6 is both cleaner and more efficient than the old V8, returning 29.1mpg on the European combined cycle (compared to the previous Audi S4’s 21.2mpg Euro-average.) No CO2 figures have been released yet, but they are certain to be significantly better than the old car’s 321g/km.
Audi’s new dual-clutch seven-speed transmission combines dynamic and efficiency. With the new seven-speed S Tronic transmission the driver will have the options of driving in full automatic mode or changing gears directly with the shift lever or a third option of selecting gears with paddles in the steering wheel.
Other options include the high tech dynamic steering, the sport differential and adaptive control for the shock absorbers. Both the Audi S4 and The S4 Avant are equipped with Quattro permanent all-wheel driving system and safety is guaranteed by the ESP stabilization program. The new design gives the Audi S4 and Audi S4 Avant a strong athletic look, thanks to the new aluminium look side mirrors, side panels, 18" light-alloy wheels with the S4 logo, restrained spoiler at the back, xenon plus headlights and the quadruple exhaust system.
Inside the driver will find sports seats with the S models logo, a deluxe automatic air-conditioning and state of the art technology package, including MMI operating system, top quality sound systems, two navigation systems, Ipod interface and Bluetooth.
