“Despite amazing advances in automotive technology over the last few decades, passenger experience and in-car entertainment has remained largely the same,” said Nils Wollny, CEO and co-founder at holoride. “With the introduction of holoride, we are not only elevating that stale experience; we are redefining how you spend your time on the go. I couldn’t be more excited for riders to finally enjoy the thrills of the Motorverse for themselves.” The integration of holoride into Audi select series vehicles is a continuation of holoride’s shared history with the German premium auto manufacturer. Since 2019, both Audi and holoride have showcased their ongoing partnership on different occasions, including CES 2019, IAA Mobility 2021, and SXSW 2022, where holoride’s vehicle integration with Audi was officially announced. "By integrating holoride in our models, we're redefining in-car entertainment," said Giorgio Delucchi, Head of Digital Experience/Business at Audi. "Through combining real-time vehicle data and virtual content, we're creating an entirely new customer experience. A crucial cornerstone of the vehicle's digitalization is developing the interior into a third living space. In this very personal space, living and working coalesce. holoride is another proof point in our roadmap." At launch, holoride users will be able to dive into Cloudbreakers: Leaving Haven from Schell Games, the studio that brought Among Us to VR. It was produced in partnership with Superconductor, the creative agency founded by Hollywood talents Justin Lin (Fast & Furious franchise) and Anthony and Joe Russo (Marvel Cinematic Universe). The Russo Brothers also served as creative advisors to holoride. Brent Friedman and Jeremy Breslau, the two veteran writers of blockbuster film, TV, and game franchises wrote the Cloudbreakers’ unique universe and story.
In Gaimersheim, just a few minutes drive from the Ingolstadt plant, experts under P-Lab director Henning Löser test the suitability of trailblazing new solutions for series production. That means finding and testing innovations that reliably help optimize efficiency, ergonomics, flexibility, and quality in Audi plants.
When sharp minds work together, a comfortable couch isn’t always necessary. Certainly not in Audi’s Production Lab. Anyone who enters the hall in Gaimersheim feels like they are in a combination of a shop floor and an IT lab. In one corner are the 5G antennas. Diagonally across from them, an industrial robot is sitting on its base. Behind that are the server cabinets. IT experts sit at desks looking at their computers. “We take an idea that worked once under lab conditions and get it off the ground so it can go into stable 24/7 operation,” Löser explains. “We don’t need a big sofa or a football table for that.” For Löser, a real production environment is much more important. In the past, new technologies were inadequately assessed because Audi couldn’t try them out first. To change that, the company with the four rings created the Production Lab in 2012. Since then, Henning Löser's team has tested intelligent assistance systems that employees support with new variants in the mesh between the person and the machine. These systems conserve resources and continuously develop and improve procedural safety and workplace ergonomics. One example is modular assembly, Audi’s assembly and logistics concept that is the only one of its kind in the world. Every day, experts research and test new high-tech solutions like Ingolstadt shop floor IT or 5G for mass production suitability in increasingly networked, digitalized production. “In the process, we are constantly in touch with our colleagues in production so we can be sure we can implement our ideas,” says Löser, who has overseen the P-Lab since 2016. “We show them exactly what we're working on.
There is no she or he, no male quattro costumers and female quattro customers. There are more than 11.5 million of them. But there is one quattro feeling: the fine tuning between technology and emotion. And that has stretched across four decades. A simple congratulations to the pioneers would therefore be insufficient. If that's not worth a declaration of love...
Don’t worry, we won’t gush. The real love letters are always the data sheets. It’s just too bad that strength of character isn’t considered a physical quantity. Nonetheless, it remains a highly critical yardstick for everyone who buys, drives, and loves the quattro. Every one of those people has their own numerous quattro moments. That major momentum is made of only one thing – an unforgettable experience.
It happened right in the first curve. Anyone who wants to know anything about this car will also learn something about themselves. Who is actually moving whom here? The quattro does something to a person, as if the mechanism could be synchronized with a human without using Bluetooth at all. Sovereign is he when roads become difficult. Shifting power right where it is needed. Pushing the boundaries of physical law. The quattro is like life: always dynamic In technology’s poetry album, there is an apt account from the exceptional rally driver Hannu Mikkola, one of the great creative minds behind the wheel. From the depths of his heart, the Finn writes, “driving a quattro is the most effective way that technology has yet found to travel on slippery surfaces.” It is about a very particular internal balance that fits great with the general challenges of life. Getting active when adversity is looming. Going one’s own way. Remaining sovereign in the process. Radiating safety when things get tight. But also being able to just enjoy it when everything works. Notice something? We're talking about people but describing the virtues of the quattro. Being successful together in the rally of everyday life.
The R8 high-performance sports car also features a controlled multi-plate clutch, but in this case it is positioned on the front axle. 5 kilograms (11.0 lb) was the approximate weight of first self-locking Torsen center differential used in the original Audi quattro in 1986. The basic distribution was 50:50 between the front and rear axles. Today, the self-locking Torsen center differential in the models with longitudinally mounted engines weighs only around 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs) and has a basic distribution of 40 percent to the front axle and 60 percent ot he rear axle. 6 minutes and 29 seconds was the lead that Walter Röhrl held over the runner-up at the Rallye Sanremo in 1985 with the Sport quattroS1. In the last race of the season, the British RAC Rally, Röhrl used a dual-clutch transmission that was actuated pneumatically. A precursor of today’s S tronic, it was a real first at the time. Today’s electronic possibilities are what make the efficiency and functionality of our modern dual-clutch transmission and the active integration in the overall tuning of the car possible. 10 minutes and 47.85 seconds was the time with which Röhrl triumphed with the Audi Sport quattroS1 at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb (USA) in 1987.
This is why Audi and quattro are mentioned in the same breath. The system that delivers power to all four wheels is a mainstay of the brand – from the original quattro released back in 1980 to the current electric all-wheel-drive system with electric torque vectoring in the premium manufacturer’s e-tronseries.
How did the quattro become so legendary? When the Audi quattro made its debut at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show, it marked the premiere of a transmission that was completely new in the passenger car sector – an all-wheel-drive system that was light, compact, efficient, and exhibited minimal distortion. This made the quattro concept particularly suitable for fast, sporty cars right from the start. And as a result, the laundry list of achievements from more than 40 years of quattro is correspondingly impressive. To date, Audi has manufactured around 11.8 million cars with all-wheel drive. The quattro drive system is an integral part of the brand with the four rings’ DNA and has been enjoying acclaim both in motorsports and among customers since the 1980s. Numerous renowned commercials and campaigns such as the Audi 100 CS quattro climbing a ski jump with professional rally driver Harald Demuth at the wheel have also contributed to its legendary status. With the electric quattro in the e-tron models, Audi is setting the next benchmark in the age of e-mobility. Where and how is the quattro used today? With the exception of the A1 series, the quattro is available as a purely mechanical all-wheel-drive system in every model series. The new Audi RS 3
As a result, the race car was able to utilize this temporary quattro drive system during acceleration. 3 electric motors supply propulsive power in the new Audi e-tronS and Audi e-tronS Sportback – a world first in volume production. The two electric motors on the rear axle enable electric torque vectoring, the need-based distribution of propulsive power to individual wheels on the left and right. 3.1 seconds is how long it takes the Sport quattroS1 with the medium manual transmission ratio to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph). The rally car that Audi used for the first time in 1985 produced 350 kW (476 PS) with its five-cylinder turbo engine and weighed only 1,090 kilograms (2403.0 lb). 4 different all-wheel drive clutches and 4 different center differentials are in use across the entire Audi model range. The self-locking center differential was designed for the models with longitudinally mounted front engines and eight-speed tiptronic. In some engine versions, it works with the sport differential on the rear axle, which distributes the drive torques between the wheels depending on the driving situation. In the models with longitudinally mounted engines, the seven-speed S tronic partners with the quattro with ultra technology, which uses two clutches. In the compact Audi models with transverse engines, a hydraulically controlled multi-plate clutch takes charge, which sits on the rear axle for better weight distribution.
We saw a wide variety of strategies, tough duels and brilliant overtaking maneuvers. All three manufacturers are close together. Obviously, the race didn’t go the way we’d have liked it to. We want to change that at Brands Hatch in two weeks from now.” Dieter Gass (Head of DTM): “That was a disappointing season opener for Audi. None of our cars made it without any incidents. Particularly frustrating – and a shame – was the fact that we didn’t call Timo (Scheider) into the pits right on the first lap of the safety car, which deprived him of a possible podium finish. That he was able to recover from 18th all the way to sixth place by achieving strong lap times shows that more would have been possible today.” Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM), 6th place “I had a good start. Due to the tire situation Augusto (Farfus) and I were in agreement: We were going to use the opportunity to drive away from the field. When the DRS was active he overtook me. Afterward, I wanted to use the DRS but then the safety car period came and we didn’t make the right decision in terms of timing the pit stop. Decisions like these are made within fractions of a second. We could have probably clinched a podium or victory today. When you look at how good our speed was toward the end that’s pretty painful.” Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM), 8th place “Qualifying was our problem this weekend because we were simply too far at the rear. In the race, we didn’t get too many things wrong, except for the second pit stop at which we lost two seconds because something was jammed. Then I got stuck behind a brand colleague while I was in a battle with Bruno Spengler. Without these two minor incidents fifth place might have been possible but thiswayI finished in eighth place. On the one hand, that’s a bit disappointing but when you finish in the points after starting from position 14 in a race with so many question marks, that’s good damage containment.”
Audi partners regionally, nationally and internationally with elite sport Brand has commitments in football, winter sports, eSports, golf and with trend sports
From football to the alpine and nordic winter sports world and the young and innovative field of eSports to the world’s most popular tournament series for amateur golfers: Audi has been a close partner and supporter of regional, national and international sport.
Audi in football: partner of international top-flight clubs “Vorsprung durch Technik” accompanies players, coaches and managers of European top-flight football clubs each and every day. For instance in Germany: Audi and German record champion FC Bayern München have been partners on the pitch since 2002. At the beginning of 2020, the two premium brands extended their collaboration until 2029 even before the term of the previous agreement had ended. The next decade is planned to be focused on strategic cooperation in the fields of innovative marketing and electrification. The vehicle partnership, under which all the stars and officials of FC Bayern drive Audi models, is turning into one of strategic cooperation to jointly advance the areas of electrification and the use of innovative marketing activities and dialog platforms. At the Allianz Arena, Audi’s visibility and the Audi experience will be enhanced for visitors, while at FC Bayern’s new flagship store in the heart of Munich, a diverse Audi offering will be available. Other projects of the future collaboration include charging columns, plus test drives around the Allianz Arena, at the FC Bayern campus and at the training facilities at Säbener Strasse. The circle of national Audi partners also includes the professional clubs in Ingolstadt, Mönchengladbach, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Hoffenheim and Augsburg. Internationally, Audi has commitments with top-flight teams: Since 2003, the brand has been the vehicle partner of record Champions League winner Real Madrid.