Technical data

Audi ultra54
Audi ultra:
The future of efficient technology.
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 allows a
reduction in engine size: lighter vehicles no longer need a
large engine to be agile. In 2013 and the two preceding
years, it was a significantly more compact and lightweight
V6 TDI engine that powered multiple Audi R18 podium
finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
. Their victorious
predecessor in 2010, the R15 TDI, had featured a larger
V10 TDI engine.
The fuel consumption and CO₂ emission figures as well as the efficiency classes can be found from page 122 onwards.
Audi ultra brings together all the efficient Audi
technologies that aim to further reduce CO₂
emissions and fuel consumption. Progress towards
this goal comes from improvements in many areas,
but above all from advances in lightweight
construction and conventional drive technology.
All the TDI and TFSI engines in the Audi A3 and
Audi A3 Sportback produce more power per
displacement, making them more efficient than
the corresponding engines used in earlier model
series. The fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions
are reduced accordingly. However, this is not
the only measure that improves efficiency.
Recuperation, for example, converts some of the
kinetic energy the vehicle loses during braking and
coasting into usable electrical energy by increasing
the generator voltage, and stores it in the car’s
battery. During subsequent acceleration or periods
of driving at a constant speed, this energy is used
to relieve the generator. Depending on the driving
cycle, it is possible to save up to 3 % of fuel and
reduce CO₂ emissions. Audi already uses this
technology in many models.
When it is at a standstill and the driver takes the
foot off the clutch, for example at traffic lights
on in a traffic jam, the A3 consumes hardly any
fuel: the start-stop system switches the engine
off and starts up again only when the clutch is
depressed.
A further pioneering innovation is the cylinder on
demand technology (CoD) which is available for
the 1.4 TFSI engine with 103 kW in the Audi A3.
When the full power of the engine is not
required, Audi cylinder on demand automatically
deactivates two of the four cylinders – without
the switchover even being noticed or impairing
the driving dynamics. The vehicle thus continues
to drive in the partial-load range and enables fuel
consumption and CO₂ emissions to be reduced
even further.
These Audi ultra measures result in a continuous
development process towards less and less
weight and, above all, towards more and more
efficiency and sustainability.
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