Month: April 2015

Sven Hannawald (D), Tanner Foust (USA) and three journalists with racing experience, who are going to climb into the cockpit as guest entrants at Hockenheim, participated in the final test as well. The sixth guest entry, rallycross driver Toomas Heikkinen, was absent due to his participation at the season opener of FIA World Rallycross Championship in Portugal.

The Audi Sport TT Cup race weekend will start on Thursday, April 30, at 13.50 with free practice. In qualifying on Friday, the participants are going to battle for the grid positions in both races, starting at 9.35. The fastest lap will be classified for round one and the second-fast lap for round two. The first race will be started on Saturday at 10.10. On Sunday, at 9.40, the 24 participants are going to contest the second race. Both rounds will be broadcast by live streaming on www.audi-motorsport.com.

“For Audi fans, Hockenheim will particularly be worth a visit this year,” Dieter Gass is convinced. “We’re determined to pick up in racing where we left off on clinching the DTM manufacturers’ title with a one-two-three result in last year’s finale.”

A total of eight Audi RS 5 DTM cars will be on the Hockenheim grid on the first weekend in May. The technology has remained nearly unchanged due to the freeze imposed by the regulations on the current-specification cars.  Still, the three manufacturers intensively worked on minute details last winter. “The lap times set in the tests aren’t really conclusive,” says Gass. “The only thing you can do is compare your own data with last year’s and rely on the work done in winter. We’re confident based on what we’ve seen so far. But we won’t see the real picture until Hockenheim.”

The Audi drivers are excited about the forthcoming season opener as well. “ I really look forward to the Saturday at Hockenheim and the first qualifying session every year,” says the Swede Mattias Ekström, who won the final race in 2014 and is one of the three DTM Champions to battle for title honors for Audi in 2015. “Hockenheim with the DTM, TT Cup and Rallycross on a single weekend is a rare opportunity this year and as a fan I’d be sure not to miss out on it,” Ekström adds.

Due to the extensive program the spectacle will start on Thursday with free practice sessions scheduled for the drivers of the Audi Sport TT Cup and the World Rallycross Championship. The first outing of the eight Audi RS 5 DTM cars will be on Friday morning. The really serious part will begin for the Audi Sport DTM squad on Saturday when events are going to follow each other in quick succession: free practice at 9.00, qualifying at 12.00 and the start of the first race at 14.48. The schedule on Sunday is similarly dense: warm-up at 9.00, qualifying at 10.35, race 2 at 13.43.

Both races live on ‘Das Erste’ live video interviews on Periscope

Tickets for the DTM Festival at Hockenheim can be ordered online at www.audi-motorsport.com. ARD will be airing live broadcasts on ‘Das Erste’ (Saturday starting at 14.30, Sunday starting 13.20 – local time). Live coverage of the races will be provided by numerous TV channels around the globe as well, or it can be watched on the DTM’s YouTube channel. Audi Sport will be offering a new service at the DTM season opener. Following the free practice and qualifying sessions and the two races, there will be live video interviews with Audi drivers on the new Social Media platform Periscope.

Matrix Laser technology is based on the LaserSpot for high‑beam lamps, which Audi first introduced to production in the Audi R8 LMX*. For the first time, bright lasers are making it possible to integrate projector technology in a compact and powerful headlight.

The new technology operates with a rapidly moving micro-mirror, which redirects the laser beam. At low vehicle speeds, the light is distributed to a larger projection area, and the road is illuminated with a very wide range. At high speeds, the aperture angle is smaller, and the intensity and range of the light are increased significantly. This is especially advantageous in highway driving. In addition, the light can be distributed precisely. This means that the brightness of different lighting zones can be varied by controlling the illumination dwell times in the specific zones.

Also new is intelligent and lightning-fast activation and deactivation of the laser diodes in relation to the mirror position. This makes the broadening or narrowing of the luminous beam dynamic and highly variable. As with today’s Matrix LED headlights from Audi, the road is always brightly lit without causing glare to other participants in traffic. The crucial difference is that Matrix Laser technology offers even finer dynamic resolution and therefore a higher degree of utilization, which leads to greater safety in road traffic.

In the new technology, blue laser diodes from OSRAM radiate their light, which has a wavelength of 450 nanometers, onto a quickly moving mirror that is three millimeters in size. This mirror redirects the blue laser light to a converter, which converts it to white light and projects it onto the road. The mirror used for this, which comes from the Bosch company, is a micro-optical system that features electro-mechanical control and is based on silicon technology. It is very sturdy and exhibits very long life. Such components are also used for accelerometers and control units for electronic stability control.

For many years now, Audi has been the leader in automotive lighting technology. Some of the brand’s key innovations:

• 2003: Audi A8* with adaptive light
• 2004: Audi A8 W12* with LED daytime running lights
• 2008: Audi R8* with all‑LED headlights
• 2010: Audi A8 in which the headlights are networked with the navigation data
• 2012: Audi R8 with dynamic turn signal lights
• 2013: Audi A8 with Matrix LED headlights
• 2014: Audi R8 LMX with LaserSpot for the high‑beam lamps

In the framework of the three-year “iLaS” project, Audi is working closely with its partners Bosch, Osram and the Lichttechnischen Institut (LTI; “Lighting Technology Institute”) of the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). The project is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

Fuel consumption of the models named above:

Audi R8 LMX:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 12.9** (18.2 US mpg);
Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 299** (481.2 g/mi)

Audi A8:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 11.3 – 5.9** (20.8 – 39.9 US mpg);
Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 264 – 144** (424.9 – 231.7 g/mi)

Audi A8 W12:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 11.3** (20.8 US mpg);
Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 264** (424.9 g/mi)

Audi R8:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 14.9 – 12.4** (15.8 – 19.0 US mpg);
Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 349 – 289** (561.7 – 465.1 g/mi)

**The fuel consumption and the CO2 emissions of a vehicle vary due to the choice of wheels and tires. They not only depend on the efficient utilization of the fuel by the vehicle, but are also influenced by driving behavior and other non-technical factors.

Most engineering students and graduates in Germany want to work at Audi, as proven by the renewed double win in the two studies. “In connection with the mobility of the future, bold ideas and new concepts are required,” stated Board of Management Member for Human Resources Thomas Sigi. “Topics such as connectivity or piloted driving fascinate young development engineers and show what makes Vorsprung durch Technik so special at Audi.”

The rankings also indicate that high‑performing young people expect an ideal employer to provide not only innovative tasks, but also an attractive salary, individual development possibilities, security and a good work‑life balance. Students of business management confirmed Audi’s attractiveness with high rankings for these factors as well.

The company is also increasingly popular with sought‑after IT experts: In the Universum ranking, the brand with the Four Rings was seen as the best automobile manufacturer, taking fourth place after Google, Microsoft and Apple. In the trendence‑study, Audi moved up the ranking compared with last year, climbing from fifth to fourth place. “Any company that wants to attract IT experts has to promote its innovation potential,” explained Thomas Sigi. “At Audi, we do that with flat hierarchies, flexible working practices and a dynamic working environment. With us, specialists have the best possible conditions to shape the mobility of the future and to apply their creativity.”

Young people are increasingly attracted also by the company’s values. They appreciate Audi’s open corporate culture and strong social involvement, for example with schools, social institutions and regional cultural activities at the company’s various sites. The premium brand offers interested students numerous possibilities to come into contact with the company: More than 1,600 students passed through an internship in 2014 for example. Graduates also have additional entry opportunities through the Development Program for Academics (EfA) or by doing a doctoral thesis in collaboration with Audi. Talented young people can combine studies and practical experience at the company through the program “Studies and Experience in Practice” (StEP) at the Ingolstadt site and the cooperation with the Baden‑Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Neckarsulm.

In the context of its expansion, Audi intends to increase its product range to 60 models by the year 2020. The brand with the Four Rings will therefore invest more than 24 billion euros in new products and technologies by 2019, and is continually expanding its global production network. As it moves along this growth path, Audi will strengthen its workforce with additional experts. By the end of 2015, more than 6,000 new employees are to be recruited worldwide. About 4,000 of the new jobs will be offered at the German sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. In line with its advancing internationalization, Audi has firmly established in its strategy the goal of being the “world’s most attractive employer.” With success: Already in 2014, the Audi Group was awarded multiple prizes as the top employer in Germany, Italy, Hungary and Belgium.

The cooperation with Hartl Resort in Bad Griesbach that has existed since the beginning of this year is new in the portfolio of Audi’s extensive golf commitment. As the facility’s new premium partner, the company has given its name to the ‘Audi Golf Course’ and is featured with its logo on all advertising materials. In return, the brand makes five Audi models available to the resort.

The partnership with the German Golf Association (DGV) has existed since 2008. As its exclusive automobile partner, Audi provides several cars to the officials of the association that has some 640,000 members and is featured with the four rings on all membership cards.

For more than a decade, Audi has been presenting the Süddeutsche Zeitung Business Golf Cupthat begins at the Münchener Golf Club on June 9 this year. The Cup encompasses twelve tournaments and offers an ideal opportunity to establish or intensify business contacts while playing golf. Complete information is available online at www.businessgolfcup.de.

In addition, a spectacular highlight awaits golfers off the golf courses. Twelve holes along the legendary downhill ski course in Kitzbühel will have to be tackled again this year in the ‘Streif Attack’ that Audi will again be accompanying as the main sponsor in 2015.