Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
Proof the Audi S3 Cabriolet is a winter car?
This was a busy week: I drove the Audi S3 Cabriolet in Sweden, Lada's long-running Samara has been binned, and I attended a light weight tech–focused conference in Germany. But first, the hot S3 drive. Well, it was hot in the figurative sense—Audi chose to stage the drive in wintry Sweden to highlight the S3′s capabilities as a year-round vehicle. We'll have to take Audi's word for it, since luckily temperatures were far above the usual average for this time of year.
As for the S3 itself, it is seriously fast, thanks to its 300-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter four. Audi says the Cabrio takes just over five seconds to reach 60 mph, and top speed is governed at 155 mph. Unlike the outgoing A3 Cabriolet, which resembled a Golf Cabriolet in size and style, the new S3 Cabriolet has a longer trunk, which creates a more classic, if a bit conservative, appearance. The normally proportioned rear deck also brings the S3 visually in line with the larger S5 Cabriolet. Perhaps that is why the S3 is not launching in the U.S., although the regular A3 Cabrio is.
Too bad—the all-wheel-drive S3 Cabriolet feels rigid, and it is exceptionally agile with precise handling for a convertible. At 3571 pounds, the curb weight is acceptable, and certainly lower than most of its competitors. The styling leaves me somewhat cold, but this Audi might just be the perfect compact convertible.
The Lada Samara in its latest form.
Sayonara, Samara!
Unfortunate news (for Lada fans) coming out of Russia: The Lada Samara, which was launched almost exactly 30 years ago, finally bit the bullet. Its death arrives not long after the Lada 2107, an even older design that can be traced to the 1960s-era Fiat 124, was discontinued. The Samara still appears on Lada's website, probably because dealers in Russia have plenty of cars available—in case you are interested. When the Samara came to market in the 1980s, Lada's marketing department played up Porsche's input in the engineering process to the absolute max. More potential cachet could be found in one of the car's manufacturers, Finnish coachbuilder Valmet, even though cars produced there lacked noticeable improvements in quality.
Currently, Lada's vehicle portfolio is being thoroughly revamped and modernized with input from Renault-Nissan, with one notable exception: The Niva. A ruggd 4×4 first launched in the mid-1970s, the Niva is the oldest car still in production in Lada's Togliattigrad facility. It is a total blast to drive and I hope it remains in production for many more years. (Stay tuned, I'll write more about it soon.)
The i3, with a carbon-fiber "life cell."
Light Weight: A Dense Subject Matter
The annual light-weight conference in Würzburg, organized by the trade magazine Automobil Industrie, is a fixture of my calendar. There is plenty of opportunity to discuss emerging technologies with engineers and experts, and usually there are interesting cars to see as well. Last year, Brose chief Michael Stoschek brought the new Stratos; this year, the University of Dresden showed an ultra-lightweight race car and Magna Steyr brought along the Mila Blue concept car fresh from the Geneva auto show.
An interesting mix of materials in the i3.
BMW's Franz Storkenmaier discussed the i3 and how it would influence further series-production models: "[BMW] will develop the carbon fiber story," he said. "There will be more and more topics, such as carbon-fiber wheels." BMW and others are working to find more efficient uses for carbon fiber scrap material, which happened to be one of the major talking points at the congress.
Me, in the new C-class.
Mercedes-Benz engineering executive Harald Colmsee weighed in (no pun intended), too, pointing to the massive use of aluminum in the bodies of the S-class and C-class. Those cars' aluminum mixes are 51 and 49 percent, respectively. "The C-class kept getting more heavy, but this one is lighter than its predecessor by 13 percent," Colmsee added. And he promised Benz is aiming to repeat this weight-reduction approach for all upcoming C-class derivatives, including the next GLK. Was carbon fiber on the table for the C-class? Not with its expected high volumes; we're told a quick, high-volume ramp-up would have been a massive stumbling block for Benz.
One of the lightest cars in its segment: The Cadillac CTS.
Opel's Eleftherios Mattheakis hinted at massive potential gains in light weight technology, with a strong focus on the body: "This is the biggest chunk, and we see a lot of potential to take out weight here." Cadillac certainly has picked up on the idea: the CTS is one of the lightest cars in its segments, thanks to its body's mix of high-strength steel, aluminum, and magnesium. The Corvette and the limited-production Opel Astra OPC Extreme, with its roof, bonnet, and wheels made from carbon fiber, also reinforce GM's carbon-fiber strategy. The automaker desperately wants to make carbon fiber parts that are nearly as quick to produce and assemble as steel units. This cause, of course, is not without challenges: "We will have processes with a lot more glueing and riveting than today." And GM's plants will need to adjust to that.
- All-New 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-class Driven!
- First Drive: 2014 BMW i3
- Instrumented Test: 2014 Cadillac CTS 2.0T
ZF engineer Martin Wachtel acknowledges that the tide of ever-fattening cars is finally turning around: "The current vehicle generation is the first one that has not gotten heavier than before." ZF's contribution includes lighter suspension systems—on a Suzuki Splash prototype, ZF was able to produce a front-wheel strut module that was 40 percent lighter than the regular module, and shaved 25 percent of the rear dampers' mass. Wachtel also said: "Light-weight technology offers a major contribution in establishing electric mobility." Here is another ZF idea: Saving the reverse gear in the transmission, and instead utilizing hybrids' electric motors for backward propulsion.
The buzz in Würzburg also included the ever-complex relationship between carmakers and suppliers. One of the suppliers noted that the VW Group exerts so much cost pressure that they have decided to offer their innovations to GM and Ford first: "They value our new approaches and engineering work, and are willing to pay for them." Interesting.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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