Formula 1 fans will know that Audi will be taking part in the sport for the first time from the 2026 season. Audi will compete as a factory team together with its strategic partner, Sauber. Both parties are now busy developing the power unit for the F1 racing car at Audi’s Competence Centre Motorsport.
It will be some time before the first prototypes start to race around the test track but there is one place where you will be able to see the Audi F1 car in action – and even drive it – long before it starts its first F1 race. Thanks to EA Sports, the Audi F1 racing car will be available in the F1 22 racing game from Codemasters.
When the Audi RS Q e-tron started the 2022 Dakar Rally, there were many unknowns for the Audi Sport team. Audi Sport is no stranger to tough off-road racing – having been successful in the World Rally Championship in the 1980s with its Quattro – but the rallycar for the Dakar Rally was something entirely new. It ran primarily on electricity, something they had not done before in off-road competition.
Though the team did not win on that first attempt, it claimed 4 stage victories but more importantly, the experience helped the engineers improve the prototype rallycar in many areas. “We learned a lot at rallies and tests in our first year and implemented everything consistently – technically, logistically and organizationally. The close cooperation between Audi Sport, drivers, co-drivers and Team Q Motorsport is paying off and running very smoothly,” said Uwe Breuling, Head of Vehicle Operations.
Euromobil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON), today celebrated its 20th anniversary of association with Audi. The dealership was set up in 2002 to handle the German brand as distributor and provided sales and aftersales services to Malaysian customers.
Its 20th anniversary celebration took place today at the Audi Centre in Glenmarie, Selangor, and had a football theme to coincide with the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Some 200 guests, including Audi owners, were invited for the event to mark the company’s milestone.
Each year, alloy wheels with new designs are introduced on new car models or as updates for existing models. The designs are varied, some purely aesthetic while others have functional features to improve cooling of the brakes or aerodynamic efficiency, especially for electric vehicles.
For original equipment wheels, ie those installed at the factory by the carmakers, the designs are usually done in-house (although there may be times when specialised wheels are provided by suppliers). This is just another part of the work at the design department and often, the designers are on the look out for new ideas and inspiration.
But where to find untapped sources of inspiration when it comes to designing wheels? This is where Audi’s design department is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), a goal the German carmaker has set itself on its way to becoming a data-driven company.
As reported in August, Audi will participate in the Formula 1 World Championship from 2026, the first time that the German carmaker is doing so. Audi will have Sauber as its strategic partner and plans to acquire a stake in the Sauber Group. The partnership will see the traditional Swiss racing team competing as an official factory team, using the power unit developed by Audi.
Development of the power unit, which consists of an electric motor, battery, control systems and a combustion engine, has already begun at the facility of the newly formed Audi Formula Racing GmbH in Germany. More than 120 employees are already working on the project.
While the power unit will be created at Audi’s Motorsport Competence Centre, Sauber will develop and manufacture the racing car at its site in Switzerland. It will also be responsible for planning and executing the race operations.
PHS Automotive Malaysia (PHSAM), the distributor for Audi in Malaysia, isn’t wasting time drawing attention to the brand. It has plans to offer more variety and in line with this aim, it has added the latest A3 Sedan to the range offered by its authorised dealers.
The A3 line actually started in 1996 as a hatchback model and was later joined by a sedan which sits on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. While the hatchback has reached its fourth generation, the sedan is only in its second.
According to a recent report from a stakeholder survey conducted every 2 years by Audi, vehicle safety is ranked as the highest priority by customers. This being the case, PHS Automotive Malaysia (PHSAM) – which represents the German brand in Malaysia – has initiated its #ReadyToDrive campaign with a focus on safety and reliability.
The #ReadyToDrive campaign, which will be on during the months of October, November and December 2022, offers a comprehensive package that can give peace of mind to Audi owners. There’s a complimentary 30-point vehicle condition check for owners who have not visited an authorised Audi Centre in the past 12 months and for convenience, the dealerships will provide complimentary pick-up and delivery service.
PHS Automotive Malaysia (PHSAM)/Audi Malaysia, which took over the Audi distributorship in July this year, has added the Audi RS Q8 to its range of offerings. A fairly recent model in Audi’s SUV range, the Q8 made its global debut in 2018, with the performance-enhanced RS version coming the following year.
The Q8’s coupe SUV design was Audi’s response to the appearance of the new generation of coupe crossovers from BMW (X6) and Mercedes-Benz (GLE-Class) which had been enjoying good sales. It thus introduced new design language for the brand, created by Marc Lichte. The design also has some elements from the original Audi Quattro rallycar of the 1980s.
KTM, the Austrian company (with India’s Bajaj Auto as a shareholder), is well known for its motorcycles but it also has a line of 4-wheelers that have been in production since 2008. Known as the X-BOW, the sportscar was developed in collaboration with Dallara, Kiska Design and Audi.
The X-BOW was developed with motorsports in mind (it is FIA-homologated) and has seen good demand that the company raised the annual production plan from 500 units to 1,000 units. Since entering the market 14 years ago, the model has been improved with upgrades to the TFSI engine provided by Audi.
In March 2022, the Audi RS Q e-tron won its first desert rally in Abu Dhabi, an important achievement for an electrically-powered vehicle. Audi was the first carmaker that committed to develop a viable alternative drive concept for the gruelling event, making it a pioneer in motorsport.
The original RS Q e-tron development had been rushed as it had to be done during the difficult period of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 and limited testing opportunities. However, with the experience and learnings from that tough first event, Audi Sport’s engineers have developed a new and significantly improved prototype which will be entered in the 2022 Morocco Rally and the 2023 Dakar Rally.
“We’ve managed a good debut at the Dakar with the Audi RS Q e-tron and even our first stage victories in a motorsport discipline that is new to us,” said Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. “The entire team is working excellently together and pulling in the same direction. As is usual at such an early stage, the drivers, co-drivers and technicians quickly agreed on the next development targets. We have summarized the result in a new evolution package – the RS Q e-tron E2.”
Main components of the first RS Q e-tron
Second phase of development program Reminiscent of the legendary Audi Sport quattro in its final development stage for Group B rallying in the 1980s, the body is completely new and features significantly enhanced aerodynamics. It also has a lower weight and centre of gravity.
“The Audi RS Q e-tron E2 does not adopt a single body part from its predecessor,” said Axel Loffler, Chief Designer of the RS Q e-tron. In order to comply with the prescribed interior dimensions, the cockpit, which was previously narrowly recessed towards the roof, is now significantly wider. The front and rear hoods have also been redesigned.
“We are now doing away with the underflow of the rear hood to the left and right of the B-pillars. In conjunction with modified lay-ups – optimized fabric layers of the composite materials – this solution reduces weight,” said Loffler.
The T1U prototypes will have to weigh 2,100 instead of 2,000 kgs in the future. Given that the first generation of the RS Q e-tron was overweight, it was still necessary to save several dozen kilograms. This is accompanied by the lowering of the vehicle’s centre of gravity.
New aerodynamic concept The aerodynamic concept in the area of the body below the hoods is completely new. This section is somewhat like the shape of a boat’s hull: its widest point is at the height of the cockpit, while the body tapers significantly towards the front and rear.
The designers dispensed with the part of the fenders that was behind the front wheels and formed the transition to the door. Internally, this structure was called the ‘elephant foot’ and as a result, it saved more weight and optimized the airflow.
“The aerodynamic aspect should not be underestimated in desert rallying either,” said Axel Loffler, Chief Designer of the RS Q e-tron. “Admittedly, the new cockpit dimensions mean that the body has a larger and therefore less favourable cross-section. Nevertheless, it was possible to reduce the overall aerodynamic drag by around 15%. But this does not change the top speed, which remains limited to 170 km/h in the regulations.”
Nevertheless, the improved airflow offers one major advantage. “It further reduces the energy requirements of the electrically powered car,” explained Loffler. “We implemented the aerodynamic calculations entirely using computational fluid dynamics. These computer simulations replace the time-consuming work in the wind tunnel and still deliver highly precise results.”
Simplified operation in the cockpit The drivers can look forward to their new workplaces. The displays are still in the driver’s field of view and located in the centre console in the usual style, and the central switch panel with its 24 fields has also been retained. However, the engineers have restructured the displays and controls.
They can also work much more easily when there is a puncture, which is not uncommon in off-road events. Simple, flat and easily removable body components replace the previous bulky covers for the spare wheels in the flanks. The new 10-spoke rims are much easier to handle, making the change of wheels safe and quick.
New operating strategies further improve the efficiency of the electric drivetrain. The drivetrain of the RS Q e-tron E2 comprises an energy converter consisting of an internal combustion engine and a generator, as well as a high-voltage battery pack. Two electric motors are used to power the front and rear axles.
Better energy management Energy management plays a crucial role here. The electronic control system of the complex electric drivetrain proved its worth in the first rally events and issues only occurred in extreme cases. At the Dakar Rally, for example, it was noted that there were short-term surpluses of power in situations where the wheels made less contact with the ground while jumping or on uneven terrain.
The so-called auxiliary consumers also benefit from optimized control. The servo pump, the air-conditioning cooling pump and the fans have a measurable impact on the energy balance. In the course of the debut season this year, the Audi and Q Motorsport rally team gained valuable experience that enables better assessment.
The air-conditioning system, for example, works so aggressively that it could cause the coolant to freeze when constantly running at its maximum output. In the future, the system will run in an intermittent mode. This saves energy, yet the interior temperatures only fluctuate slightly, even over longer periods.
“We have combined all the important lessons in a very short time. The result of our ideas is the E2 evolution,” says Uwe Breuling, Head of Vehicle Operations Audi Sport. “Our development team’s determined and cost-efficient work has prepared us perfectly for our second Dakar Rally.”
