Posts Tagged ‘Audi Diesel’

PROGRESSIVE DESIGN FOR THE AUDI R15 TDI


Diesel race sports car with a fresh outfit
Audi design team demonstrates “pleasure in efficiency”
Test in racing conditions at Le Castellet
Ingolstadt, April 5, 2010 – Audi wants to surprise the spectators at this year’s 24-hour race at Le Mans (France) with a progressive design: the Audi Design Team created a fresh outfit for the innovative diesel race sports car that bears all the hallmarks of “pleasure in efficiency”.

Whereas silver was the dominant colour of the Audi R15 TDI last year, the 2010 model boasts a radical new design that features more red. In addition, large areas of the Le Mans race sports car that is internally designated as “R15 plus” will be kept in a purist black carbon-fibre look.

“We’re happy that we were allowed to give the car such a progressive look,” say Markus Auerbach and Tobias Drews from the Audi Design Team. “We wanted to add a dash of surprise when the Audi leaves the pits at Le Mans. We practically opened up the bodywork and are exposing the light-weight construction and its uncompromising technical development – and with a little rock ’n’ roll for good measure.”

The Audi R15 TDI sporting its new design will make its debut at the Le Castellet 8 Hours on April 11. Audi Sport Team Joest will contest the 2010 season opener of the Le Mans Series in preparation for the Le Mans (France) 24 Hours on June 12/13. Another test race is planned at the 1000-kilometre race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).

“The race at Le Castellet comes at a very early point in time for us and is nothing but a test in racing conditions,” stresses Ralf Jüttner, Technical Director of Audi Sport Team Joest. “Even though it’s a difficult logistical undertaking, we wanted to gather experiences with the R15 plus at a race as early as possible. Le Castellet offers the opportunity to do this.”

The 2010 version of the Audi R15 TDI completed a roll-out at the Audi test track in Neustadt at the beginning of March. The prototype was subsequently flown to the USA for initial tests which primarily featured aerodynamics trials. A five-day endurance test followed at Sebring (Florida) at which about 5 500 kilometres were reeled off without any technical problems worth mentioning.

In Europe, the final set-up work with a view toward Le Mans is on the agenda. Further track tests will now be followed by the first run in a race at which the result will be of secondary importance for Audi though. “Le Castellet will strictly be about gathering additional experience with the R15 plus,” emphasizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Racing conditions simply can’t be simulated in normal track tests; that’s why we’re contesting a race at such an early stage.”

It is planned to field the R15 plus with chassis number 202. Audi Sport Team Joest has nominated Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) as drivers. “However, we will only decide whether all three drivers will actually race at short notice,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Since Audi has performed several endurance tests for the Le Mans 24 Hours at Le Castellet in recent years, the team and drivers are intimately familiar with the circuit in southern France.

Audi, by the way, has very good memories of its most recent racing commitment at Le Castellet: in 1995, Frank Biela won the Touring Car World Cup there in the Audi A4 quattro against strong rivals.

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Posted in Diesel Tuning, TDI Owners

Audi opts for new prototype racing series

Audi TDI

Two Audi R15 TDI cars in the new “Le Mans Intercontinental Cup”
Three prototypes in the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours
Clear commitment to the DTM – customer sport with the Audi R8 LMS
Ingolstadt, December 8, 2009 – In 2010, the DTM, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the customer sport program with the Audi R8 LMS will again be the three cornerstones of AUDI AG’s motorsport commitment. By participating in the inaugural “Le Mans Intercontinental Cup” Audi has opted for a new, forward-thinking racing series in which alternative drive concepts will be used.

“In 2009, the Audi brand has been celebrating its 100th anniversary and our motorsport squad presented the brand with a particularly nice birthday gift, the successful title defense in the DTM,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Management Board of AUDI AG. “Audi Sport has been a guarantor of successes in motorsport for as many as 30 years now – successes which are of major importance to the development of the Audi brand.”

In the 2010 season, Audi will again rely on motorsport categories that are very closely related to production vehicles: the DTM with the top-selling Audi A4, customer sport with the immediately successful Audi R8 LMS, and the sports prototypes with the Audi R15 TDI that has primarily been subjected to further aerodynamic development and bears the internal model designation “R15 plus” at Audi Sport.

The prototype commitment is of particular importance to Audi because this category makes it possible to field alternative power-train concepts and technologies. “In 2001, at Le Mans, we used a TFSI engine for the first time that has since become standard in production vehicles,” comments Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “In 2006, we were the first automobile manufacturer in history to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel-powered vehicle. And in the future we will use our LMP1 cars to test pioneering technologies and to underscore our ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ claim also on the race track. Therefore, we welcome greatly the fact that the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has announced the first international racing series for LMP1 vehicles. We are convinced that this motorsport category, which is particularly attractive from the perspective of technology, has prospects for a great future and fits our times well.”

Inaugural Le Mans Intercontinental Cup

In the future, the so-called “Le Mans Intercontinental Cup” will consist of the major races of the Le Mans Series in Europe, the USA and Asia and aims to continue the heyday of the legendary World Championship for Makes. In its debut year in 2010, the 1000-kilometer race at Silverstone (Great Britain), the “Petit Le Mans” race at Road Atlanta (USA) and an event on the Asian continent. Further races are to be added in 2011.

Audi will contest the new Le Mans Intercontinental Cup in the 2010 season with two R15 TDI cars fielded by Audi Sport Team Joest. Three cars are planned for the 24-hour race at Le Mans on June 12/13. Audi Sport Team Joest plans also to contest the 1000-kilometer race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), which Audi would like to use as a dress rehearsal for Le Mans, with three cars.

Clear commitment to the DTM

By that time, the Audi DTM squad will have already contested the first two races. The most popular international touring car racing series will continue to be one of the cornerstones of AUDI AG’s motorsport commitment. After the technology for the 2010 season has been frozen by the regulations and the 2009 championship winning car will therefore start from the grid almost unchanged. Meanwhile work on the A4 successor vehicle has already begun at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm for the new Technical Regulations that will come into effect in 2011 with the aim of achieving further cost reductions.

For the 2010 season, Audi has opted for continuity in the DTM: Up to nine vehicles will be fielded by the proven Audi Sport teams of ABT Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg. The major change: The cockpit of Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen, who will fully focus on sports car racing in the future, will be taken over by the young Briton Oliver Jarvis (25).

“We are thus giving our youngest ‘factory’ driver the chance to prove his prowess in a current DTM car,” comments Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “The performances Oliver has shown in his first DTM years at the wheel of a year-old A4 speak in his favor.”

All other personnel decisions – for the sports prototypes as well as in the DTM – will be made in the next few weeks. “We want to position ourselves as best we can for the DTM and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the Le Mans Cup in terms of our drivers’ line-up and are therefore deliberately taking our time,” stresses Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Extended customer program with the Audi R8 LMS

The new GT3 sports car from AUDI AG, which scored 23 victories and three champion’s titles in its first racing season, will be delivered to customer teams starting at the end of March 2010 at a price of 298,000 euros (plus VAT). To ensure its ability to deliver optimal service, Audi Sport will limit sales to a maximum of 20 vehicles for the European market in 2010.

Audi will again support its customer teams at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on May 15/16. Two Audi R8 LMS cars will get special support from Audi.

“With the DTM, the sports prototypes and the R8 LMS, we are well positioned in motorsport,” says Michael Dick who, as management board member for Technical Development, is also responsible for AUDI AG’s motorsport commitment. “In these three categories the cost-benefit calculation in particular, which is of great importance in times like these, is appropriate.”

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Posted in TDI Owners

A BREATH OF FRESHER AIR FROM AUDI IN FRANKFURT

Audi Clean Diesel Q7

Audi Q7 breathes easier – The Audi Q7 SUV is already available in the UK with a TDI engine featuring the world’s cleanest diesel technology reducing emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide by up to 90 per cent. At the 2009 Frankfurt Show Audi will exhibit an A4 Saloon benefiting from the same advanced technology.

Audi stand at 2009 IAA showcases world’s cleanest diesel engine technology which is already in service in UK Q7 models

Audi is pioneering the introduction of the world’s cleanest diesel technology to the UK in Q7 SUV models that help to rid the air of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions, regarded by many as being dramatically more harmful to humans than Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Capable of removing up to 90 per cent of NOx particles from exhaust gases, this ultra-low emission technology will be a highlight at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show (September 17 to 27), where it will be showcased in the compact executive A4 Saloon.

The Q7 3.0 TDI Clean Diesel (from £40,060 OTR) is the first passenger car to be available in the UK with this advanced system, which has been designed to maximise engine efficiency and to optimise the after-treatment of exhaust gas. With its help, the 3.0-litre TDI engine powering the Q7, and showcased in the A4 in Frankfurt, already complies with proposed EU6 emissions limits that are not due to come into force in Europe until 2014.

‘NOx trap’
The core components of this ultra-low-emission system are a new common-rail injection system (which generates up to 2,000 bars of pressure), innovative pressure sensors in the combustion chamber and an especially high-performance exhaust recirculating system. Collectively these measures ensure a highly efficient and low-emission combustion process. In addition, an innovative DeNOX catalytic converter, or ‘NOx trap’, integrated within the exhaust system reduces residual nitrogen oxides, while just upstream of it a pump injects an aqueous solution called AdBlue into the hot exhaust flow, where it decomposes into ammonia. The ammonia then has the effect of splitting the nitrogen oxides into the inert gas nitrogen and into water.

The use of clean diesel technology reduces the output of nitrogen oxide or NOx by up to 90 per cent. The suppression of NOx is widely regarded by experts as being as crucial to our wellbeing as the reduction of CO2 because on contact with sunlight it can form photochemical smog, a form of air pollution which can cause damage to lung tissue and a reduction in lung function.

The Audi brand exceeded the milestone 100,000 sales mark in the UK in 2007 and 2008. Globally, the brand exceeded 1 million deliveries for the first time in its history in 2008. With its programmes for both road and race cars the brand continues to maintain its upward trajectory. On the road it has extended its reach into important new segments with new models such as the A3 Cabriolet, the Q5, the TT RS and the R8 5.2 FSI quattro, and in the near future will break further new ground with the A1 compact hatchback, the Q3 compact SUV and the A5 Sportback five-door coupe. On the race circuit Audi Sport has contested the Le Mans 24-hour marathon eleven times since 1999, achieving a podium finish on all of these occasions and outright victory a total of 8 times.

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Posted in Diesel News, Diesel Owners Club