2008 Audi A3 2.0t S-line Open Sky System Dsg 08 on 2040-cars

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2015 Audi S3 Sedan

For the last few years, Audi has been publicly toying with building a successor to its Ur-Quattro, a model still glowing in a gritty patina of motorsports glory decades after it left the scene. If anything, the rally car's halo has burned brighter as Audi has matured into a world luxury superpower. Since 2010, the German automaker has shown two different concept cars that attempted to re-bottle the legend's lightning, and it's still trying to figure out whether to market a production model. Despite that conundrum (and not to take anything away from the seminal Ur-Quattro), it's easy to argue that there are two other cars much more important to Audi's rise from its '80s ashes: the original TT and the B5-generation A4 and its high-performance variants.
The TT thrust Audi into the vanguard of automotive styling while firmly establishing the Volkswagen Group as masters of platform development (the same basic architecture and powertrain guts were employed in a dizzying array of models, from the Golf, Jetta and New Beetle to a number of Škoda products). This unprecedented, flexible building-block approach to new model development has since become the standard of the industry.
In the case of its B5 cars, the A4, S4 and RS4 put Audi back on the radar of rival German automakers, and more importantly, they grew the Four Rings' sales by leaps and bounds while reminding the world that all-wheel drive needn't only benefit hardcore performance cars and utility vehicles. Fast-forward to today, and the A4 has established itself as the bedrock of Audi's lineup, but it's also grown over its four generations to become substantially larger, heavier and costlier than the model that debuted back in 1996 America. That's created a vacuum at the bottom of the range that the company has inadequately addressed - until now.

Production 4.0: Audi plans for the smart factory

Automotive production is becoming more integrated and at the same time has to be more intelligent and more efficient. Flexible production of customized vehicles is one of the big challenges for the future, especially for a premium carmaker like Audi. How will the "Vorsprung durch Technik" brand meet its aim of offering premium quality with added custom flexibility? The company sees the "smart factory" as the key. Whether it's body-color moldings or light-alloy wheels in a special size, almost every car is ordered with some kind of customization, and the demands are increasing. This requires of course already a lot of flexibility. While the variety of models and quality demands are increasing, automotive manufacturers such as Audi are eager to make production sustainable. In an Audi interview, innovation management members Alois Brandt and Henning Loser talk about "production 4.0" and the upcoming "smart factory." How will Audi manage the production site with its very high standards of quality, efficiency, and environmental acceptability? Will the so-called "smart factory," which should be the intelligent factory of the future, only employ robots? Alois Brandt: "With a deep look into the production, I am convinced that our employees and not machines are the relevant working forces behind the Audi brand. Machines can be bought anywhere." Increasing digitalization is paving the way for the smart factory – the intelligent, digitally connected production facility. New high-tech solutions in manufacturing should further increase the high level of quality, while at the same time the assembly work should be easier and result in better ergonomics. Can you give us a clearer imagination of the "smart factory"? Alois Brandt: "There are a lot of ideas. But the big question at the moment is: Which one is really needed and leads into the right direction?" Can you tell us a little bit more about "production 4.0"? Alois Brandt: "The assembly line as we know it in the present will no longer play the same role. If it makes sense, it will be terminated and replaced by – let's call it – a virtual assembly line. The production will be more modular than before and the car will be directed to a production point – a so-called 'island of competence' – where it is needed." Henning Loser: "If the vehicle is to be assembled to the customer's wishes, it is obvious that efficient programming of robots and coordinating with the human workers is needed.

2017 Audi S5 First Drive

Let's start with the obvious elephant in the room: The new 2017 Audi S5 looks mostly like the model it replaces. Is that a bad thing? We headed to Portugal to test out the S5 on that country's serpentine back roads, and to see if there's something more substantive behind its evolved exterior. Only compared to the decidedly more evocative Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe does the svelte S5 come across as a little frumpy. It takes parking the new S5 next to the old one to spot the details. A tweaked profile. A more pronounced belt line. A power-dome hood. Narrower A-pillars. The new S5 is different, but the same, in that grand Audi tradition. Underhood, the differences are again evolutionary. The original S5 featured a 4.2-liter, naturally aspirated V8. A few years back, that was replaced by a supercharged 3.0-liter V6, which in turn has been supplanted in the 2017 S5 by a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. The turbo, a twin-scroll unit nestled between the cylinder banks, helps the direct-injection engine make a healthy 354 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. That power, 21 hp and 44 lb-ft more than its predecessor, is channelled through Quattro all-wheel drive. The newly developed V6 mates exclusively to a conventional eight-speed automatic, which seems like a step backward. Last year's S5 offered either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. We pressed Audi and got the answer we expected: Demand for the stick was nonexistent outside the United States (go America!) and the dual-clutch couldn't handle the 44 pound-foot increase in torque. Curiously, the A5 on which the S5 is based trades last year's eight-speed autobox for a seven-speed dual-clutch. It sounds like someone at Audi put the wrong transmission in each car, but in reality the S5's torquey engine is well-suited to the refined eight-speed. Kick the throttle, get into boost, and all four drive wheels scrabble for traction, especially on the wet pavement we encountered outside of Porto, Portugal. Punch the S5 to pass on a tight two-lane road and the sport exhaust roars with the kind of guttural growl we want to hear in a sporty coupe. It positively scoots. Though its Volkswagen MLB 2 platform is new, the S5 rides and handles like a more refined version of its predecessor. Considerably less road rumble penetrates the cabin, and the S5 strikes a pleasant balance between grand-touring plush and sports-car firm.