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Sedans Luxury Performance Sedans
9978 messages, Last post on Nov 02, 2009 at 1:30 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I just read in the German car blog that the new A5 will be able to fit and will come with the 3.6 FSI engine. So it stands to reason sense the A5 will share a platform with the next gen A4, that the next gen A4 will have a 3.6. Now, what will the horsepower and torque be at that point? I also read that they are working on an inline 5 cylinder turbo for future TTS, and TT RS models. That could be a really cool motor. |
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Replying to: drtravel (Jan 03, 2007 3:40 pm) M |
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Replying to: merc1 (Jan 03, 2007 9:12 pm) Well, the A6 and A8 have only been on par with\better than their competition for a single generation. Its going to take more time than that to convince American LPS buyers that Audi is on level footing with the 5s and Es that they continue to buy in droves. Somebody is definitely fired over the RL's performance. 58% of the target is not what I'd call a good result.
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jan 03, 2007 9:52 pm) I predict Honda will ok the V8 and RWD platform needed to make Acura a real luxury marque. If they don't then I have no idea what else they can do with an Accord platform stretched across and entire brand up to and including the "flagship". If the next NSX can have a V10 then shave off 2 cylinders and poof(!) a V8 is born. I thought I'd read somewhere that the RL was going to have a cheaper base model this year sometime? M
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Replying to: merc1 (Jan 03, 2007 10:00 pm) I'm not really sure where they can go in terms of pricing. The TL Type-S can now stretch up to $37K or so, and the RL's actual sale price is $40K. The RL is already down on features compared to its rivals. If they cut out the NAV, voice command, and the fancy stereo, you're left with a car that has the features of an early '90s A6. If Acura wants to sell this car, they need to stop being so "Acura" about it. This is the full-on luxury category, if you cheap out, people will know, and they won't buy. 8\4-way seats are unacceptable. A plastic twist knob when everyone else has a start button is unacceptable. What were they thinking on that one? Twist knobs are to replace the key when you introduce keyless ignition midway through a car's life cycle, you don't design it that way! Acura also needs to fire everyone who does their interiors, and steal some guys away from Audi and Lexus at any cost. With the redesign of the G35, the TL now has the worst in class interior other than the CTS, but Cadillac is about to fix that. (And it could be argued that the TL was worse than the old G35) Same goes for the RL.
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jan 03, 2007 10:24 pm) Their seats still have different adjustments for the driver and passenger? That no height adjustment for the passenger seat is still there? To be fair though, the "worst" interior in the class is little bit much don't you think. I like the IS350's interior the most out of the Japanese entries. I'm kinda split on the TL/G35. In the RL's class though I like all the German interiors better along with the M and GS. There just isn't anything special or different enough about the RL interior compared to the TL. M
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Replying to: merc1 (Jan 03, 2007 11:21 pm) To be fair though, the "worst" interior in the class is little bit much don't you think. I like the IS350's interior the most out of the Japanese entries. I'm kinda split on the TL/G35. Honda\Acura are not big on adjustable seats. The passenger seat in the RDX is not even powered! In a luxury SUV! In a car like the RL though, its just an embarrassment. The '91 SC400 had 10\10-way seats. The TL has always looked Fisher-Price on the inside when compared to the ES, but at least the old cars had some type of design theme, basically Accord + fake wood = TL. The new one though, ugh. It's actually worse than the Accord now because of all the bits of "zazz" they threw at it, and that big screen looks absolutely horrible when it doesn't have the NAV system. I actually like the new G's interior better than the IS. The Lexus has the edge on materials quality, but I find that big empty expanse of gray dash to be very dull. The G has a "mini-M" look that works well. 
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jan 04, 2007 3:12 am) M |
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Replying to: dhamilton (Jan 03, 2007 7:03 pm) "AUBURN HILLS, MI – Audi of America, Inc. set sales records during December 2006 and for the calendar year 2006, eclipsing the previous annual sales high set three years ago. Audi sold 11,897 vehicles in December, bringing the brand’s annual total sales to 90,116. Audi’s December 2006 record sales were 34.6% ahead of year-ago sales. The calendar year sales represented an 8.5% increase over 2005." Followed by: "Audi A6 Is Number One in Germany - Sport and dynamics paired with high-quality functionality: that is the secret to success of the AUDI A6. This combination makes the Audi Germany’s best-selling vehicle for the first ten months of 2006 in its segment. Both with the new registrations in the over-all passenger car market in Germany the AUDI A6 has a nose in front of the competition as well as in fleet business in the executive-class category. 52,299 AUDI A6s were registered in the first ten months of 2006 in Germany." Audi USA (and Audi generally) probably wishes for BMW and Mercedes (USA) numbers, but overall, I would assume Audi (here and there) execs are celebrating. Don't cry for me Argentina, er, or something like that. Torque Vectoring: I am ONLY a couple of paragraphs more (apparently) into reading about TVT than some other folks, so that makes my observation worth about $.02. But, the first MULE using the TVT is an Audi (the technology will be able to be purchased and installed in other mfgr's products, this is NOT solely an Audi thing, i.e.) The company's web site and all the press kit info I can find does not lead one to the conclusion that this is NOT a full time AWD system. My interpretation is that it seems somewhat like the reverse of ESP in that ESP works mainly by braking one or more wheels and/or cutting power in an attempt to control yaw or rate of yaw. The TVT seems to be to be able to take quattro (et al) at least one or two steps better (again, kind of like what ESP did -- it took ABS a step or three better.) This means "active, anticipatory, instantaneous torque distribution" -- power is distributed to the wheels based on the driver's intentions as telegraphed and detected via hardware and software, etc. If I said any more at this point it would go from some speculation to a "lot" of speculation. The company's web site, written by an engineer apparently, does not, to me, suggest anything less than full AWD would be the consequence of Audi's adoption of TVT. Engines: The 3.6L is already putting out 280HP, my guess is that will be the smallest rating of this engine we will ever see in a (US bound, at least) Audi so equipped. I dunno about anything for sure for sure actually being turbo'd, I would just like to have the chance to buy a 3.2T FSI someday. Who knows? Yep, 4" is the engine set back I have read about, too. A better balanced Audi? That would seem to me to be very able to threaten the Munich guys, just a tad. 
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Replying to: merc1 (Jan 04, 2007 3:33 am) |
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