Technical data

38 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 A7 Sportback and
S7 Sportback.
That starts with the body itself. The aluminium
hybrid body combines low weight with high
rigidity. And this despite the fact that the body
is made by means of a steel/aluminium-mix
construction method. This results in a high level
of safety and an agile driving experience at the
same time – as well as lower fuel consumption.
Innovative drive technologies such as direct fuel
injection and turbocharging have made Audi
engines more and more powerful. The modern
TDI and TFSI engines in the Audi A7 Sportback
and S7 Sportback produce more power from less
displacement, making them significantly lighter
than the corresponding engines used in earlier
model series.
Each lightweight component has an effect on
other components, allowing their dimensions to
be reduced as well. The result is a continuous
development process towards less and less
weight and more and more efficiency. In figures:
a vehicle that weighs 100 kg less can save up to
0.3 litres of fuel per 100 km.
Audi ultra on the podium: the Audi R18 ultra
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 al-
lows a reduction in engine size: lighter vehi-
cles no longer need a large engine to be agile.
Thus in 2011, for instance, the Audi R18 TDI
drove to podium finishes at Le Mans with a V6
engine, whereas their victorious predecessor
in 2010, the R15 TDI, had featured a V10
engine.
Aluminium sheet
Cast aluminium
Aluminium profile
Hot-formed steel
Cold-formed steel