Audi A4
According to a senior design chief at Audi AG, the next generation A4 will be 330 pounds (150 kilograms) lighter than the current model.
Heinrich Timm (pictured), Audi’s Head of Aluminum and Lightweight Design Center says the company will employ advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to reduce the overall mass of its most popular sedan and cites the many benefits of the cuts, including, but not limited to, increased fuel efficiency and dynamic performance as well as reduced operating costs (related to raw materials).
The rationale sounds good, but can it be done? Timm would know. Since 1982 he has been the pioneering force behind the development of several high tech manufacturing processes that Audi now uses across its range of vehicles, most notably, for the aluminum space frames found in the A8 and R8. Timm and his team have been working to reverse what he calls the “weight spiral” that has occurred in the C-segment over the last several decades. His research has shows that C-segment vehicles (Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, etc) have gained roughly ten percent in weight with each generation..html#ixzz0nlhPG4yJ
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