Furthering the use of its aluminium Audi Space Frame (ASF) concept, Audi has presented a special A5 Coupe prototype that has shed 110 kg over the standard steel-bodied production car. The lightweight prototype is powered by Audi’s 2,0-litre TFSI engine and the weight savings are achieved using advanced aluminium and carbon fibre construction. Audi says that the aluminium A5 prototype has a kerb weight of 1 310 kg, versus a total of 1 420 kg for its equivalent 2.0T FSI steel-bodied production model.
With the 155 kW 2,0-litre turbocharged engine, the A5 Prototype achieves a power-to-weight ratio of 118 kW per tonne. In comparison, the ’standard’ A5 Coupe 3.2 FSI V6 quattro, with 195 kW, weighs in at 1 535 kg and performs only marginally better, with a power-to-weight ratio of 126 kW per tonne.
“The lightweight design of the test car not only enables a smaller engine to supplement a larger one with no impact on performance and gains in economy and emissions, but also has a knock-on effect on ancillaries such as the brakes and transmission, which can also be reduced in size and weight,” said Audi.
“It also enables the car to change direction noticeably more keenly and nimbly and, thanks to the reduction in unsprung weight, to ride with even more refinement,” the company added.
Even though the aluminium A5 Coupe Prototype isn’t intended to make production, we suspect that the next generation model will most likely benefit from the efficiencies gained in this lightweight concept.
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