Audi Aluminum A5 Coupe Prototype Released

Audi has just presented a brand new concept that perfectly emphasizes the company's efforts in the development of lightweight vehicles: the A5 coupe prototype. The newly-introduced model comprises several weight-reduction technologies, all of them especially aimed at improving fuel economy, cutting CO2 emissions and enhancing handling.

The lightweight materials are cutting the weight by around 100 kilos as compared to the standard model, Audi said in a release. The steel construction has been replaced by advanced aluminum and carbon fiber, with the Audi Space Frame (ASF) playing a key role in Audi's efforts to cut the vehicle's weight.

"Use of the ASF principle reduces the weight of a car body by at least 40 per cent compared with conventional steel construction, and this shows in a kerb weight of 1,310kg for the aluminium A5 prototype, versus a total of 1,420kg for the equivalent steel-bodied series production model," the company said.

The prototype is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that develops 211 PS and achieves a power-to-weight ratio of 161 PS per tonne.

"The new A5 Coupe’s lightweight design not only enables a smaller engine to supplement a larger one with no impact on performance and gains in economy and emissions, but also has a knock-on effect on ancillaries such as the brakes and transmission, which can also be reduced in size and weight," the company added.

According to various sources, the prototype might actually stay out of production, with the German automaker just trying to demonstrate its potential and effort into cutting weight and thus achieving better performance and emissions figures.