STaSIS Debuts Performance-Enhanced Audis at SEMA 2010

STaSIS Debuts Performance-Enhanced Audis at SEMA 2010

Link to oneighturbo.com

STaSIS Debuts Performance-Enhanced Audis at SEMA 2010

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 05:24 AM PDT

STaSIS Engineering will showcase its latest race-bred high-performance Audis at the 2010 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show on November 2 through 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Debuting at SEMA in the Audi of America booth will be the 710-hp supercharged STaSIS Signature Series R8 V10 Spyder. The STaSIS Signature Series S5 cabriolet and Q5 SUV will be introduced in the STaSIS booth, appearing alongside the STaSIS Signature Series S4. These vehicles feature the same performance-enhancing brake, suspension, and driveline products as the entire STaSIS line for sedans and sports cars. Sold at Audi dealers nationwide, the STaSIS portfolio also includes a STaSIS version of Audi’s popular A4 that improves performance by nearly 25 percent, as well as performance-enhancing parts for TT, S5, S4, A6, A5, and A3 models, all with a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty.

“Customers have several options to personalize their Audi vehicles, from factory-installed to dealer-installed options,” says Jeff Kuhlman, Chief Communications Officer of Audi of America. “STaSIS exhibits an exciting third option, an aftermarket solution for the all-new R8 Spyder. This represents a high level of content that is a technically sound complement to an already fantastic supercar.”

“STaSIS was built on a history of racing excellence and no-compromise performance solutions,” said Paul Lambert, president of STaSIS. “SEMA gives us an opportunity to showcase our passion—delivering racing technologies to enthusiasts so they can experience the excitement of exotic car ownership in their daily driver.”

STaSIS R8 V10 Spyder
A STaSIS supercharged R8 V10 Spyder delivers an incredible 710 hp and 523 lb-ft of torque, and rockets from 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. A throaty exhaust, lightweight high-performance brakes and upgraded wheels and tires round out the Signature Series package. STaSIS offers the only supercharger kit available in the world with a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty. Visitors to SEMA will get to see a one-of-a-kind R8 V10 created especially for the show.

STaSIS S5 Cabriolet
The STaSIS Signature Series S5 cabriolet enhances performance from 333 to 410 hp and adds 26 lb-ft of torque. An upgraded exhaust, a high-performance suspension, and six-piston Alcon monobloc calipers improve performance, agility, and stopping power.

STaSIS Q5
The STaSIS Signature Series Q5 includes options that boosts factory performance to 310 hp. Add heightened acceleration, handling, and braking power to the Q5’s rugged usability and you get a tough and aggressive, yet refined vehicle that is unique in the sports utility market.

STaSIS S4
Improving power by nearly 80 hp over the factory sedan, the STaSIS S4 includes an aggressive suspension and a customer-tunable quad-outlet exhaust in addition to Alcon brakes and upgraded wheels and tires. Like all STaSIS models, the STaSIS S4 balances performance with comfort and reliability, backed by a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty.

STaSIS Warranty
STaSIS products purchased and installed by a certified Audi dealer are covered by a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty integrated seamlessly with the standard factory warranty. The STaSIS warranty is the only factory-level warranty in the industry.

For more information, visit us online at www.stasisengineering.com or from November 2 through 5 at SEMA in Las Vegas (booth 11151), next to Audi of America in the North Hall (booth 11245).

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The creation of the Audi e-tron Spyder

Posted: 21 Oct 2010 01:08 PM PDT

oneighturbo-Audi-etron-Spyder-P100060.jpg

It is a functional, rectangular building with a gray facade – a hall like thousands of others in the industrial parks dotting our cities. The only sign of any significant activity is a lone Bavarian flag fluttering on a wooden balcony that seems a bit out of place. This seeming wasteland is in reality a place where the future of the automobile is quite literally being made. Things are much livelier inside the hall. Two designers and four modelers are working on a large block of brown industrial plasticine. The result of their handiwork is pioneering for the design of one of Germany’s most successful carmakers. This is where the Audi e-tron Spyder, the latest show car from AUDI AG, is being created.

  • A team of designers, technicians and modelers created the show car for the Paris Motor Show in just five months
  • The high-performance sports car is one-of-a-kind and comprises a number of individually manufactured components

The faces are drawn with tension at this decisive moment. The modelers and designers are going through the data on screen together one more time. There is no time for lengthy consideration and discussions. Then the decisive click on the “Confirm” button. The mill mounted on two giant arms goes into motion. Fed with the vehicle data, the mill begins carving the designers’ design out of the clay. For the next 18 hours, one layer after another is cut away until the first side of the car stretched over a frame of steel, wood and rigid foam stands on the floor of the hall in three dimensions and in full size.

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The mill receives a new load of data for the second half of the model. The designers work on two different vehicle sides in this early form-finding phase, which allows alternatives to be compared directly and makes decisions easier. Frank Lamberty, a designer at Audi, uses dark adhesive tapes to check the contours of the model carved by the mill. He carefully works until arriving at the perfect line. Again and again he steps back to view his work from a distance and compares it with the cross-section of familiar production models. A show car should also bear the Audi signature. When describing the form-finding of the Audi e-tron Spyder, Lamberty says, “We were constantly bouncing between two worlds like a ping-pong ball. On the one side was the elegant shape of speedboats. On the other was the radical world of naked bikes (motorcycles without full or partial fairings) or roadsters from the 1960s and 1970s. The Audi e-tron Spyder is the result of this inspiring convergence process and unites these two worlds.”

Three months before the start of the show, Lamberty and his team are working time-intensively on the clay model in the hall. That they are concentrating on the design of a show car is already a success in itself. To design a show car is the dream of many automobile designers and thus a coveted job. “The beauty of a show car is that the initial ideas are often implemented almost unchanged. We are largely free of technical constraints,” says Wolfram Luchner, a designer at Audi who played a major role in the creation of the exterior of the Audi e-tron Spyder.

A multi-staged internal competition decided who got to design the car. 17 designers entered the competition. “The ideas developed were bold and free of constraints. Some of them were even radical. The broad scope of the designs shows the great potential of our designers,” says Stefan Sielaff, Head of Audi Design. He initially chose four teams, who then had two weeks to flesh out their “directions,” or initial designs. In the next step, two designers built their designs as 3D data models. For the final choice between the last two designs, the teams projected their computer data on the big screens in the design studio. What just a few weeks ago were the initial strokes on paper was now displayed on the walls as a three-dimensionally tangible show car.

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A lot is at stake with the final decision. After all, the chosen design will be catching the eye of thousands of international visitors at the show in Paris.

A second portrayal method viewed under daylight helps to properly evaluate the colors and shapes. The designers build full-size silhouettes of their proposals and position these on a race track. The winning proposal is then chosen in daylight at a distance of approximately 100 meters – a radical and simultaneously emotion-packed design. An open sports car with a distinctive, prominently arched windshield that, like the visor of a helmet, describes speed in its purest form.

Cut off from the outside world, designers and technicians are now working together inside the hall, which is secured by an alarm system. Technical Development in Ingolstadt had initially developed the undercarriage of the Audi e-tron Spyder separately. The two teams are now working together on site on the clay model. They measure, discuss and talk about even slightly misaligned contours. Just a few centimeters can mean that the required hardware will no longer fit in the show car. The engineers define the most important structural design data during the first design phase. The exterior of the Audi e-tron Spyder has roughly 10 so-called hard points – specifications that the designer is not allowed to alter. Everything else is up for negotiation.

And because design does not always follow the rules of technical feasibility, these negotiations are not always easy. “The design freedom is what makes a show car so appealing,” says Luchner. “I always have the original design in my head. My objective is to implement this design with as few changes as possible.” The technicians, on the other hand, sometimes have to reign in the creativity of the designers. Although largely made from parts that only exist for this vehicle, the show car must still meet all of the technical requirements. It must be safe and drive in such a way that it can also be used by journalists for filming and photo shoots.

While four modelers apply the finishing touches to the door handles with knives, scrapers and planes, the designers and engineers have turned their attention to a wheel. Delicate struts of aluminum and carbon are reminiscent of a turbine; the delicacy of the material more of a fine piece of jewelry. Designers and technicians agree that here they together have succeeded in turning what initially seemed to be an impossible idea into reality. This could not have been done in a production model. Whereas the wheels of previous show cars comprised four to five pieces, the wheels of the Audi e-tron Spyder are made up of 66 individual parts.

“The designers were the driving force,” says Uwe Haller, who is responsible at Audi for coordinating the construction of concept vehicles. “It became clear to us pretty quickly that this wheel could not be manufactured out of one part, as is usually the case. The design for the wheels was so well received, however, that we did whatever was necessary to turn the proposal into reality. The result is a perfect fit for the Audi e-tron Spyder: sharp contours and visually precise lines combining carbon and aluminum.”

Six weeks before the show, the two halves of the model have been combined to yield a painted whole. The modelers’ work has paid off. At first glance the modeled clay looks no different than a functional automobile. Even the headlights and door handles have been carved out down to the last detail. Everything has to be just right, because the model serves as the basis for what is known as the design freeze. This is the first major milestone for the designers, a sort of advance premiere of the show car, with the excitement to match at the presentation. The Audi Board of Management makes the final form-finding decision, and the starting gun finally sounds: Construction of the final show car can begin.

The outer skin of the show car is made of carbon fiber. Because the material can still be modified considerably more easily than steel or aluminum even at a late point in the process, it is ideal for the Audi e-tron Spyder, which must be created in a short period of time. The employees first mill the individual body parts as negative molds from a block of rigid foam. They then apply the carbon fiber fabric, let it harden, trim it, grind it and prime it. Everyone working here is aware of the importance of precision. They are making a one-of-a-kind vehicle. And not just the final show car is one-of-a-kind. Because there is only one of every component of this vehicle, replacing components in Paris is out of the question. The time pressure is enormous. The date of the show in Paris is steadily approaching. The show car is still just a collection of individual parts waiting to be assembled. It is hard to believe that the Audi e-tron Spyder will soon make its big appearance.

As many as ten employees at the same time work on the showpiece during the final weeks and at least as many again are involved in the background work. They are all experts for their respective components and know precisely what they have to do. In the end they join the pieces together with a precision down to the millimeter. The body is then crowned in silver in the paint shop. The Audi e-tron Spyder shines at the Paris Motor Show, as do the employees. They have done it. The idea of a hybrid-powered roadster has become a reality. It is on display in Paris: compact, elegant and open to the heavens.

- Audi AG

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Day Two: Eureka! Diesel Drives the Future

Posted: 21 Oct 2010 11:45 AM PDT

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks during the 'Eureka! Diesel Drives The Future' event, presented by Audi and Rentech on October 19, 2010 in Sacramento, California.

This week, Audi is conducting a 1,000-mile demonstration drive in California featuring two Audi A3 TDI® cars, the reigning 2010 Green Car of the Year®, fueled exclusively with synthetic RenDiesel® produced by Los Angeles-based Rentech Inc. Starting in Eureka, Calif., the journey’s aim is to spread the message that diesel technology has tremendous potential to make future inroads against the challenges of reducing fuel consumption and improving emissions. The trip will include a welcome reception from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the State Capitol and a high-level panel discussing diesel’s bright future at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. When it’s all completed, Audi will donate one of the A3 TDI cars to the museum for its alternative vehicles display. Throughout the Eureka! Diesel Drives the Future tour, we will provide impressions on the journey and the performance of the fuel in this award-winning Audi.

RenDiesel is the clear fuel on the right.

Day Two:

Ron Cogan, Editor and Publisher of the Green Car Journal
“Our press conference at the State Capitol wasn’t scheduled until 3:00 p.m., which meant this second day of our adventure started out a bit more relaxed than the first. The area at the east steps of the Capitol was set up with canopies, backdrop, mics, and podium early on in anticipation of the Governor’s arrival. It’s amazing how much advance work goes into an event like this…many, many hours of prep for a short press conference. But then, it is Governor Schwarzenegger.”

Todd Kaho, Green Car Journal
“Positioning the two A3 TDIs required a thorough security sweep of the cars before driving onto the grounds of the State Capitol, including being circled with a bomb-sniffing dog. Once cleared, guards retracted the heavy security bollards that protect against vehicle intrusion and we were able to pass by. That’s not your average experience. We drove the sidewalk to the east steps of the Capitol and positioned the cars next to the podium.”

Ron Cogan
“There’s a lot of anticipation that accompanies this kind of high-profile activity. Everyone is well-aware of the sequence of events coming and the role they play. There’s a good deal of waiting but the time seems to pass quickly. Then…Governor Schwarzenegger emerged from the Capitol building with his entourage, which included Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, who hails from Green Car Journal’s home base on California’s Central Coast.”

Bradley Stertz, Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hunt Ramsbottom attend the 'Eureka! Diesel Drives The Future' event, presented by Audi and Rentech on October 19, 2010 in Sacramento, California.

Todd Kaho
“The press conference went well, with talking points hitting on the advantages of clean diesel and how alternative fuels – like Rentech’s RenDiesel – can make a real difference not only with lower greenhouse gas emissions, but energy security. The Governor seemed impressed with the A3 TDI’s 42 mpg highway efficiency, sharing that his kids have Audis and how this helps them be efficient with their allowance when fueling their cars.”

Ron Cogan
“Fueled up and ready to go, we left the Capitol and headed southbound from Sacramento toward San Luis Obispo, our overnight waypoint and fueling stop It was a long drive that began late in the day, so we started out in afternoon Sacramento traffic with a segue into night driving through California’s Central Valley. No photo ops on the drive this time around. We made up for that with great rock on satellite Classic Vinyl. You’ve just got to love Sirius satellite radio.”

Todd Kaho
“This route was a mix of congested stop-and-start rush hour traffic and higher speed driving on I-5 at this interstate’s 70 mph speed limit. Then it was a 54 mile transition on two-lane highway so we could connect with the 101 freeway south in Paso Robles. San Luis Obispo is about a half-hour drive from this point. We arrived just before midnight. Even with this mixed bag of driving conditions, we averaged 43.0 mpg. That’s 1 mpg better than EPA estimated highway fuel economy for the A3 TDI…and we did this on synthetic RenDiesel!

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