Audi TT… victim of its platform
It is not as if there were not a compact roadster model carrying the four rings of Audi. But true sports car fans tend to turn up their noses and the open TT, with its front-wheel-drive far from typical for a roadster model. In the top TTS and TT RS versions the car maker installs all-wheel-drive in order to compete with the Boxster, the SLK and the Z4. But the TT is the only member of this sporting quartet to put the power to the road via the front wheels… an unforgivable sin for advocates of traditional roadster virtues. Even the next TT generation which will appear in dealerships in 2013 will be based on the platform permitting transversally mounted motor and either front-wheel or all-wheel traction.
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- The sharply styled two-seater Audi E-Tron Spyder has a narrow speedster windscreen in visor look.
Series prospects? No way!
Audi’s portfolio certainly has room for an open-air fun car with all-wheel drive, but a system prioritizing the powering of the back wheels… pure rear-wheel drive being an impossible dream. This is the gap which could be filled by a series produced E-Tron Spyder, if only they would make the decision to go on to manufacture it. The first prototype was already there to be admired at the Paris motor show in the autumn of 2010. Anyone seeing the E-Tron Spyder far beyond the environment of car shows and exhibition halls with cameras flashing to capture the car’s allure… for example in the morning light on mountain roads north of Malibu… can only long for the car to be made and put on sale. But the development engineer Uwe Haller shakes his head with vehemence. “In this form the E-Tron will not become a reality. For us it is about design testing and gathering experience with regard to the drivetrain concept.”
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- The driving dynamics are, however, first class and in contrast to some other Audi models the E-Tron Spyder has the optimal 50:50 distribution of weight fore and aft.
Big performance, little consumption
The drive concept of this beautiful looking automobile is at this time quite unique. At the back of the Audi E-Tron Spyder there is the latest power diesel with three-litres engine capacity and an output of 313 horsepower and 650 Nm of torque. But when the car moves off there is nothing more to be heard than the sound of the tyres rolling on the tarmac. The reason is easily found… the sharp two-seater with its narrow windscreen in visor look has not only the V6 Powerdiesel in the rear but also two electric motors. While each of these delivers 32 kW and 352 Nm of torque to the front axle the diesel engine provides the push at the back. “With the E-Tron Spyder one can leave a big city like Los Angeles running on electric power alone, and then here in the mountains with all these wonderful curves enjoy true motoring pleasure”, explains Uwe Haller, “The battery charge is sufficient for a range of 50 kilometres.” The stated averaged fuel consumption of just 2.2 litres of diesel per hundred kilometres driven is even more impressive than the 4.4 seconds it takes to reach a hundred and a putative top speed of 250 kilometres an hour.
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- At the back of the Audi E-Tron Spyder there is the latest V6 turbo diesel with three-litres engine capacity and an output of 313 horsepower and 650 Nm of torque, a power plant now increasingly seen in various other Audi models.
Three motors in accord
And soon it became clear that Uwe Haller’s prediction was correct. The Audi E-Tron Spyder… 4.06 long but just 1.11 metres high… covered the early miles powered only by the stored electricity and then when the first hilly curves came into view the three-litre common-rail diesel at the back snarls and commences the attack... with forcefulness it channels its power to the back wheels. Meanwhile the two electric motors at the front harmonize perfectly to result in an all-wheel-drive which is quite unique. This is easy riding! The moment there is serious pressure on the accelerator the sound level rises as the engine pushes to its limits. “The whistling sound comes from a bypass in the motor”, explains Uwe Haller who knows his prototypes in and out, almost apologetic as the car swoops with all-wheel-drive confidence through the twisting Mulholland Highway. The curves are mastered with ease, although the prototype tips the scales at 1,650 kilos… 200 more than Audi would want to have if such a car were ever to be manufactured in series. The driving dynamics are, however, first class and in contrast to some other Audi models the E-Tron Spyder has the optimal 50:50 distribution of weight fore and aft.
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- Once again the truth must be faced… this is yet another brilliant Audi concept vehicle which is not going to make it to series production.
Three sad cases
But once again the truth must be faced… here is yet another brilliant Audi concept vehicle which is not going to make it to series production. Others which have had a similar fate? The short version of the Audi RS5… the five-cylinder turbo 408 horsepower Quattro Concept also shown in in 2010… is a car which has been completely developed. It is the logical successor to the legendary Sport Quattro but not even for a limited series has a green light been given as yet. The all-conquering Audi R8 V12 TDI with the mighty V12 diesel of the Q7 was also stopped before it started. It is really high time that the marque found the courage to move one of its innovative and outstandingly appealing creations from design and engineering concept to four-wheeled reality. The most recent positive example was the A7 luxury coupé to follow the A6. But it seems that there is some chance that the basic concept underlying the E-Tron Spyder will in future have a role to play. Together with the duo TT and TT Roadster a real sports roadster… a little brother for the R8… could certainly be thinkable. But of course there will have to be negotiations with the Renault-Nissan concern… after all, the designation ‘R4’ is already taken.
