Audi A6 e-tron: Audi's aero chief on the future of car design

Welcome to portion 2 of our exclusive four-part interrogation series, wherever we’re endeavouring to find retired what Audi’s iconic slogan – Vorsprung durch Technik, oregon advancement done exertion – means to the radical astatine the forefront of Audi plan and engineering.

Here we task wrong Audi’s state-of-the-art, top-secret windtunnel successful Ingolstadt, Germany, to beryllium down with caput of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics, Dr. Moni Islam.

Also successful the series: Exterior plan extraordinaire Frank Lamberty; lighting adept Christoph Häußinger; and interior decorator Ramon Bäurle.

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Introduce yourself and what you do...

I’m Dr. Moni Islam and I’m the caput of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics development, which means successful signifier that I person respective antithetic tasks. On the 1 hand, I’m liable for overseeing the improvement process for these 2 method disciplines for each Audi accumulation vehicles from their archetypal conception each the mode up to the commencement of production.

On the different hand, I’m liable for ensuring that successful my section we enactment with the applicable technologies and processes that alteration top-class results.

What’s your idiosyncratic mentation of Vorsprung durch Technik?

For maine personally, Vorsprung durch Technik means pushing the boundaries of technological innovation to bash thing that hasn’t been done before.

As an engineer, I similar to bash things that are caller and difficult, and I find it truly chill to bash things that others can’t bash oregon haven’t done before. Being capable to bash this present is what archetypal brought maine to Audi galore years ago.

Which task person you been astir arrogant of astatine Audi? One that you deliberation channels the Vorsprung durch Technik spirit.

I deliberation it would beryllium a task that wasn’t truthful overmuch successful the nationalist limelight, but had a precise large interaction connected the mode the manufacture works successful our method discipline. A fig of years agone we worked connected processing a groundbreaking caller bundle exertion for aerodynamics simulations, which gave america a important vantage successful accuracy and flexibility.

People thought it couldn’t beryllium done, truthful erstwhile we went nationalist with it, it took the full manufacture by surprise, due to the fact that we showed that it was successful information possible, and we were the archetypal squad to execute this globally.

Aerodynamic innovation has been astatine the precise bosom of Audi’s Vorsprung durch Technik doctrine for much than 50 years. Which models passim Audi’s past brought the biggest steps guardant successful aero plan and efficiency?

There is nary uncertainty that the Audi 100 successful 1982 and the Audi A2 successful 1999 were the 2 biggest innovators successful the satellite of combustion-engine vehicles. Both were driven by the request to importantly amended substance depletion and truthful their plan was fundamentally aero-driven.  

At the time, the precise streamlined greenhouse, the flush glazing, and the aerodynamically optimised assemblage trim of the Audi 100 were rather revolutionary successful automobile design. The A2 besides pushed the boundaries of car plan with its proportions based connected the enactment of Wunibald Kamm, and its optimised underbody and wheels.

Now that we’ve entered the epoch of EVs, I americium precise impressed by what we achieved with our e-tron GT and A6 e-tron. In a precise wide sense, I’m arrogant that we were capable to show with these 2 vehicles that determination is nary cardinal incompatibility betwixt top-notch aerodynamics and progressive, eye-catching design.

In the lawsuit of the e-tron GT, we were capable to marque usage of progressive conveyance components to execute outstanding aerodynamics results, portion the A6 e-tron makes usage of a immense fig of elaborate engineering solutions to scope its optimum.

On that note, what inherent advantages does electrification bring to the worlds of aerodynamic plan and efficiency? And what astir disadvantages? How is Audi overcoming these?

Electrification has fixed a immense boost to america aerodynamicists, due to the fact that ratio is present of specified paramount importance, and successful real-world driving, aerodynamic resistance is the ascendant driving resistance. And due to the fact that driving scope is truthful important to our customers, it becomes financially viable for america to see method measures successful the conveyance that trim its resistance that wouldn’t antecedently person been possible.

In presumption of the conveyance concept, electrical vehicles person a fig of important advantages for us. First, there’s the wholly closed and level underbody, which is truly an aerodynamicist’s dream. Then, due to the fact that the electrical powertrain is truthful efficient, the cooling-air requirements portion driving are acold easier to woody with than successful combustion engines. 

The biggest disadvantage for the vehicle’s aerodynamics derives from the size and value of the battery. These make the necessity for large, wide wheels, which contiguous america with a precise large challenge, portion besides expanding the frontal country of the vehicle.

In the lawsuit of the former, we present spot sizeable effort successful the aerodynamic optimisation of rims and tyres and mostly connection our customers a assortment of aero rims successful our caller cars. We bash this unneurotic with our exterior designers, truthful these rims are truly precise aesthetically attractive, not conscionable efficient!

Why is aerodynamic ratio truthful important for drivers, particularly successful the electrical era?

For galore if not astir people, aerodynamics is thing precise abstract, possibly due to the fact that it deals with analyzable physics and mathematics, but apt besides due to the fact that 1 can’t spot its effect often successful mundane life.

As I mentioned earlier, arsenic a operator of an all-electric Audi e-tron you tin consciousness the effects of aerodynamic optimisation by virtuousness of options similar the aero rims oregon the aerial suspension and the effect that they person connected improving the vehicle’s driving scope and vigor consumption.  More mostly though, the ample driving scope that a conveyance similar the A6 e-tron enables, astatine implicit 750km, is simply a nonstop effect of the vehicle’s top-class aerodynamics.

But our innovation arsenic aerodynamicists besides has different consequences: One of the goals of our enactment is to travel up with method solutions that springiness our exterior designers arsenic overmuch state arsenic imaginable to realise progressive aesthetics of the vehicle. So we enactment connected optimising areas of the conveyance that aren’t instantly visible, similar the cooling-air intake oregon the underbody, oregon we make method solutions unneurotic which enactment for some of us, similar charismatic aero rims.

And past but not least, we besides walk a batch of clip connected optimising the aeroacoustics, which our customers straight acquisition arsenic precise debased upwind sound erstwhile they question successful an Audi.

What advances successful upwind passageway and computer-aided plan exertion is Audi making to guarantee its cars are astatine the cutting-edge of aerodynamic design?

I’m precise thankful for the information that we person fantabulous tools astatine our disposal to enactment with present astatine Audi.

Our upwind passageway was the archetypal automotive upwind passageway to harvester afloat crushed simulation for aerodynamics with top-class aeroacoustics functionality, immoderate of which was adjacent patented by us. It has present been successful cognition for 25 years, and due to the fact that we not lone enactment here, but tally and support the installation ourselves, we person built up a treasure trove of expertise that is truly irreplaceable.

A precise important caller booster for productivity and accuracy successful our enactment successful the upwind passageway has been the advent of rapid-prototyping technology, besides known arsenic 3D printing. It’s been successful usage successful Formula 1 improvement for rather immoderate time, but present it’s a modular for america arsenic well…

And, it has truly raised the barroom for our different cardinal tool, machine simulation, due to the fact that our wind-tunnel tests person made a large leap successful accuracy and efficiency. To springiness you a consciousness for what magnitude of computing resources we enactment with, we person 60,000 processor cores astatine our disposal, and past twelvemonth we ran simulations totalling astir 300 cardinal CPU-hours.

For the A6 e-tron unsocial we did much than 3000 simulations to optimise the signifier and supplement our wind-tunnel tests. Modern aerodynamics improvement is successful my presumption inconceivable without utilizing machine simulations and wind-tunnel investigating manus successful hand.

The Audi A6 e-tron is the astir aerodynamic car Audi has ever created. How has this been achieved?

Probably the astir disposable aerodynamic item is the optional virtual helping mirror, which is successful its 2nd procreation connected the A6 e-tron. Already successful the WLTP certification rhythm it results successful astir 7km much driving range, but implicit longer distances astatine changeless speeds it offers an adjacent greater advantage.

The progressive inlet shutters connection dynamic power of the cooling-air travel tailored to the needs of the vehicle’s thermal absorption strategy and thereby make an optimum for the travel of aerial done the vehicle.

The optional aerial suspension besides improves the vehicle’s aerodynamics, by lowering its thrust tallness during motorway driving. Everything other successful the vehicle’s aerodynamics has to bash with the many, galore details of the aerodynamic plan – ranging from the plan of the rear diffuser successful the underbody to the details of the tyre design. It’s lone done the cumulative effect of each these details, and the optimisation of their enactment with each other, that we were capable to scope the spectacularly debased resistance coefficient of 0.21.

Where bash you deliberation Vorsprung durch Technik volition instrumentality Audi successful the future?

For america aerodynamicists, I deliberation Vorsprung durch Technik volition pb america towards cutting-edge investigation and improvement methods, similar artificial quality and adjacent much machine simulations.

For our vehicles, it volition instrumentality them adjacent person to the carnal bounds of what is imaginable successful drag-coefficient simplification – and determination is decidedly a limit! – each the portion making definite that an Audi ever remains an Audi.

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