Filed under: Convertibles, Coupes, Sedans/Saloons, Etc., Euro, Supercars, Audi
Audi wins European Inventor of the Year Award
Audi has been tearing up the automotive landscape with a torrent of new products, and now it's cleaning up on the awards circuit, too. The European Patent Office awarded Audi as its third inventor of the year for its innovative new products that are helping Europe excel in the global market. The product worthy of such an award is Audi's aluminum space frame, which underpins the Audi A8, TT, R8, and Lamborghini Gallardo. The lightweight platform provides substantial weight savings vs. a traditional steel frame, which results in better fuel economy and a reduction in CO2. The space frame also provides improved structural rigidity and improved crash protection. Hit the jump to view Audi's press release.
[Source: Audi]
PRESS RELEASE:
Audi wins European Inventor of the Year 2008
* High distinction for Audi Space Frame technology
* European Patent Office honors Audi lightweight aluminum design
* Audi concept successfully reduces fuel consumption
The European Patent Office has named AUDI AG European Inventor of the Year. The honor is bestowed on companies whose ideas have made significant contributions to Europe's economic growth and competitiveness. Audi was recognized for the invention of Audi Space Frame technology (ASF).
Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission, honored the winners. "The European Inventors of the Year 2008 have developed true innovations." The award, which has now been presented for the third time, is intended to promote Europe's image as the "Continent of Innovations."
"The award is a testament to our lead in lightweight aluminum design technology, an area that is so important for the automobile industry," says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. Competing in the "Industry" category, the ASF technology of the brand with the four rings was named the winner over competitors' patents.
Heinrich Timm, Head of the Aluminum and Lightweight Design Center at Audi, and Norbert Enning, co-inventor of the ASF concept, accepted the Inventor of the Year award in Ljubljana. "With Audi Space Frame technology, Audi opened up a new dimension in lightweight automotive design," says Timm. The Audi Space Frame results in a car body that is not only stronger and safer than a steel body, but also significantly lighter. "This is a central aspect for reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions," says Enning.
Audi Space Frame – lightweight aluminum design with decisive advantages
The Audi Space Frame was first presented to the world public at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in 1993 as the body of an Audi A8. The ASF is a high-strength aluminum frame structure into which the panels are integrated so that they also perform a load-bearing function. The Audi Space Frame comprises a complex structure of extruded profiles and cast nodes. Together these result in a car body with very high stiffness and a vehicle offering above-average crash protection. The ASF design enables significant weight savings, improved handling and lower fuel consumption. The Audi A8, the Audi TT Coupé, the TT Roadster, the Audi R8 and the Lamborghini Gallardo are all equipped with Audi Space Frame technology.
Norbert Enning – co-inventor of the Audi Space Frame
Norbert Enning, 51, is one of Audi's most inventive employees. Enning and his team developed ASF technology under the leadership of Heinrich Timm in the early 80s. "The body of the Audi A8 utilizing the ASF principle is one of the lightest in the luxury class," says Enning. Since joining Audi in 1982, the graduate mechanical engineer has made inventions in the areas of pedestrian protection and interior appointments in addition to his numerous inventions relating to the ASF design. Enning is currently engaged in the predevelopment of vehicle concepts.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris 8:10AM (5/15/2008)
Reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, yeah like that was even a consideration in building a super car.
For some reason the reward rings hollow to me because its current application is so nearly the absolute opposite of what they laud it for.
I guess super cars are more PC that big trucks
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Ligor 12:37PM (5/15/2008)
I agree,
I didn't know Lambo's got good gas milage
and to add, use of aluminum to reduce the weight of a vehicle is a new invention? huh!
Josiah 8:22AM (5/15/2008)
"The Audi Space Frame was first presented to the world public at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in 1993"
And they're getting the award now?
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Quattrofan 9:24AM (5/15/2008)
I am guessing back then, the technology was too cost prohibitive and now that the cost has gone down and the technology has trickled down from one to four models - its probably worth noticing.
Lantern42 11:48AM (5/15/2008)
That's what I was thinking, but the A8 has an Aluminum space frame too. I wonder what took them so long to notice.
yacoub 8:28AM (5/15/2008)
Now there's one company that will never win a best-bang-for-the-buck award so long as they keep their ridiculously exaggerated pricing scheme.
I've never seen an Audi I couldn't be over-charged for.
This of course got MUCH worse in 2004 when the B6 S4 came out and was a softer, less performance-oriented car than the B5 S4, and yet cost even more than its predecessor - and it was numbed in performance precisely because Audi wanted to create a slot for the RS4 in the US market.
So then you had the A4 averaging around $30k, the S4 averaging around $48k, and the RS4 averaging around $65k, and all for the same darn car. The old B5 S4 actually offered performance between that of the B6 S4 and RS4 while costing between the B6 A4 and S4 prices. So 2004 is around when Audi really lost it with their ridiculous pricing scheme. And it has only gotten worse (Now an A3 costs more than an A4 used to cost and up until the new 2009 model, the A4/S4/RS4 is still a very small car inside, especially in the rear seating area.)
Silly. Especially for the only German luxury marque that's still fighting the perception that it's just a tarted-up VW and, because of that, it's the marque which many people still have trouble taking seriously as a luxury brand. For most people, luxury connotes more than just leather seats and expensive options - it also connotes increased reliability/dependability and service & support. Audi dealers and Audi reliability are still two areas for improvement in most people's books.
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Chris 8:31AM (5/15/2008)
Well in Atlanta one of the bigger VW/Audi dealerships spun off the Audi portion simply because of the perception issue.
nagmashot 8:49AM (5/15/2008)
funny that the B6 S4 owns the B5 S4 in ervery possible perfromance field foward backwards and sideways.. the B5 S4 was a slow soft A4 with little bit extra punch...
0-125mph the B6 S4 is 5seconds quicker as the B5 S4
at the Hockenheim shorttrack the B6 S4 is 3 seconds faster as the B5 S4. At the northloop the B6 S4 WAGON is 13 seconds faster as the B5 S4 reaching nearly the same time as the B5 RS4 Wagon with 380hp...
Audi has never the US market in mind as they lunched the S4, RS4... the RS4 hit the US market short befor it run out of production.
FSM 9:23AM (5/15/2008)
Couldn't agree more. I love the style of Audi but have always believed them to be overpriced in comparison to the other German luxos.
Jed Trenton 9:42AM (5/15/2008)
"Ridiculously exaggerated pricing scheme" You must be joking "yacoub"
Audi's models are priced lower than the competition (that is BMW and Mercedes in comparable models). You are comparing 2000 prices with 2008??? Ever heard of inflation? Costs of materials are higher - period. Go to a super market and buy a gallon on milk or go to your nearest gas station and pay 4.25/gal.
Back to cars, EVERY CAR has increased in price since 2000 and Audi is no different. They have much better reliability than VW (Consumer reports 2007 puts VW at 27, Mercedes at 36/36 and Audi was #12 tying with Infiniti). and it's obvious that people do take the brand seriously as Audi sold more cars in the US last year than any year before. In fact they have sold more every year for the last consecutive 12 years. They are also about to break 1 million cars sold per year. They are considered a benchmark in automotive design - particularly their interiors and the press loves the R8, RS4, and Audi can't make the S5 fast enough to sell them. You can think the RS4 is nothing more than an overprices jetta, and that is your right. It may become a lonely way of thinking though.
Lithous 8:39AM (5/15/2008)
"The European Patent Office awarded Audi as its third inventor of the year for its innovative new products that are helping Europe excel in the global market."
Does the UN know about this? We're one big world, and we aren't competing against each other. We all love each other and we shouldn't be celebrating anything which rewards the vincinity in which we live. You know, all the, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." posts here on AB when Americans get proud of something from their fellow countrymen.
Americans have understood there is no competition between nations or nations and continents (in the case of Europe as we see here) for years and have taken in Toyota as our own and brag how they are better than the car companies in which declare their base in the same vicinity in which we live in.
This us vs. them that the Europeans are creating here by presenting this award to fellow Europeans (instead of to just anyone from anywhere) is just terrible.
[/sarcasm]
Dear America,
It is a competition out there. I did not create the us vs. them mentality. The rest of the world does have that mentality much more than us as a whole. That is why the Europeans created the Euro and reward their own like they did here. It is all about kicking U.S. (and other) ass and it is working because we are too busy thinking we are "scoundrels" to give a crap about our own country.
XOXO
p.s. now what the F up.
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Lithous 8:41AM (5/15/2008)
Or, wake the F up if that appears more appropriate.
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1011 9:35AM (5/15/2008)
These pills you're taking did you no good.
Alex 11:55AM (5/15/2008)
Wasn't Jaguar first to come out with the all aluminum space frame for a production car (XJ)?
To be honest i don't see this as such a marvel of engineering. Aluminum has been used for quite some time to underpin machines. It may be relatively new to production cars but airplanes, race cars, and plenty of other applications where weight savings is important have utilized aluminum over steel.
Now if they used a carbon fiber frame; that would be something to talk about.
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Bah 12:25PM (5/15/2008)
Saves weight? Really? Audi must be packing it on elsewhere because those cars are all fairly heavy for their size. They certainly aren't any lighter than the competition.
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Mondo 2:53PM (5/15/2008)
Agreed. The S5 feels very heavy on the track IMO. Maybe it needs this space frame as well.