| Sitting inside an Audi there is a feeling that none
of our senses: touch, sight, sound and smell have been ignored. Instead
they are perfectly and pleasantly co-ordinated. In the top-end A8 for
instance, so much thought has gone into the use of materials, that the
wood is not just wood, but toned to the right level, and chrome is not
used simply in an ornate fashion, but as a functional object. Even the
control buttons seem perfect inside an Audi. Nargess Shahmanesh set out
to find out just how does the carmaker do it.
The interior of the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car has some pointers to future production models |
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The Le Mans quattro, Audi's new sexy and sporty concept car shown at
the Frankfurt Motor Show last month, may go into production, according
to a company spokesman. Melinda-June Jenkins, Audi senior designer in
colour and trim, says she hopes so. "If you ask all the people who
worked on the car, they would hope that it will become a production vehicle."
Peter Zieten, Head of Audi colour and trim interrupts adds that it has
not necessarily been decided yet and that the carmaker needs to examine
the economical implications of making such a car, before giving the go
ahead. "We like to create concept cars, but the important thing is
to create cars that we can make money from," he says.
The TT concept, launched a few years ago at the same show received such
an incredible reaction from the public that the carmaker showed no hesitation
in creating the car. The car, it seems set the benchmark for Audi show
cars. For the Le Mans, there will now be much discussion between the management,
adds Zieten.
This is a high-performance sports car, a vehicle that could be said to
have inherited the genes of the Audi R8, three-times winner of the Le
Mans 24-Hours race. 1.90 metres wide, only 4.37 metres long and 1.25 metres
high it reflects the proportions of a pure sports car. A wheelbase of
2.65 metres accommodates a spacious cockpit and there is a longitudinally
installed V10 'biturbo' engine with FSI direct fuel injection behind it.
The Le Mans has a driver-focused interior architecture. In fact this seems
to be the growing trend amongst carmakers. For instance Volkswagen's new
brave Concept R is very much a driver oriented machine, where everything
inside points towards the driver. The driver can be regarded as an integral
element of a cockpit bordered by the fascia, a high centre console and
the instrument panel above it, which is angled towards the driver.
Form follows function inside. The purist principle runs through to the
choice of materials that creates the functional atmosphere, although the
materials used in the show car aren't necessarily viable for the production
model. Instead some aspects are experimental for Audi. Zieten explains: "This is a new car for Audi and we have tried to create new materials."
The more traditional leather and wood has been replaced by new concepts.
The designers have looked to materials used in sports car to find new
materials, but have given it another interpretation. "For the production
version we will need a lot of time to test new materials for durability
and safety," he adds.
Jenkins adds that this has been an unusual experiment for Audi. "This
is the first show car to have been built without any leather. There are
special fabrics on the seats. The material used is what you see or know
from boat interior design, or from technical products." Zieten jokingly
calls it ordinary plastic, but Jenkins says it is more like high tech
fabrics. "These are materials that are often used in fashion, maybe
sports fashion, so it is unusual to put them in the car," she adds.
Various materials have been woven into each other and laminated to create
textures resembling rubber and industrial strength material. The result
is quite forwards looking without seeming 'space age' or too sci-fi, she
adds.
The dark, or 'technically coloured' shades used inside add a visual link
with motor sport. This also gives an impression of professional functionality
and ergonomic efficiency. Colour, after all plays on the psyche.
The metal parts inside the Le Mans are tinted grey to create an illusion
of not being too obviously aluminium. Again this creates, as Jenkins points
out, a less manufactured feel. This is a modern interpretation of luxury
for Audi, but this is very much something to be used in a niche sports
car like this. The footwells and footrests are fully painted to yield
a surface finish that is repeated inside the boot and the engine compartment
as well.
Individual areas are clearly distinguished by the use of different materials:
the fascia, for instance, uses a high-grade semi-transparent woven material
with a network structure; this is also to be found on the outside of the
seat shells. For precision operation and to make them pleasant to the
touch, the controls are of rubber and aluminium.
A non-slip material with the appearance of Neoprene is used for the shoulder
area of the seat shells. These are hinged in the lumbar region and have
the seat cushions upholstered with a sporty and futuristic high-tech weave.
There are well-positioned storage shelves in the cockpit and removable
pouches behind the seat shells, which can be folded forwards. The front
luggage compartment has a volume of 100 litres, enough to accommodate
the weekend baggage of the car's two occupants.
Though not yet a production car, the control panels on the Le Mans haven't
been ignored. All the main sources of information are directly in front
of the driver, where the instrument cluster is divided into three sections:
the rectangular centre section flows in a droplet pattern into the information
units at the left and right.
Whereas the revolution counter at the left, although operated digitally,
has a classic circular dial, the interior designers have pursued an entirely
new path for the right section of the instrument cluster. The large-format
digital display uses the TFT technique and can be switched between three
modes - analogue, track and MMI - by the driver.
When cruising, and in the analogue mode, the surface becomes a digital
speedometer with an analogue display and an additional clock display.
For a more racing car ride the driver can use the track mode to display
a plan of the circuit. Information obtained by GPS is used to show the
next bend and to compute the lap time.
The principal data on the engine's operating condition, for instance oil
pressure and temperature, can be obtained in the MMI mode. For road use,
this is where the route guidance pictograms supplied by the navigation
system in the TFT display are shown.
The system is controlled from the MMI terminal, which is located on the
centre console - an operating concept that has already proved convincing
in the Audi A8 production car.
The small-diameter sports steering wheel also resembles a racing-car design.
Here again the use of leather has been avoided and has been replaced with
an entirely new material, without losing the sporty feel of the drive.
The A8 is the top of the range model for Audi, but here Zieten explains,
they need to carry on using traditional luxury materials like wood, leather
and chrome. "The shape of the A8," explains Jenkins, "is
very modern in comparison to its rivals at Mercedes-Benz and BMW."
Therefore she thinks that the car needs to use material that the luxury
driver is used to, perhaps to counteract this, or not to alienate them.
"Inside the A8 you have top quality wood, you have soft and durable
leather on the seats, this is what the A8 driver wants," says Jenkins.
"On the other hand the TT, or the Pike Peak (originally show at the
Detroit show) can bring in aspects that are new to the automotive area,"
she adds. Perhaps customers for these vehicles demand new concepts interior
wise including colour and trim. "This is another direction,"
adds Zieten. In a sports car there are more possibilities to introduce
a modern interpretation. "But here the customer will probably want
leather seats in it in the end," adds Jenkins sarcastically, pointing
at the Le Mans. "It has to do with the perception of luxury,"
she adds.
Show cars are always fast to make, says Jenkins. In fact it took only
eleven months between the initial design sketches to what was display
at Frankfurt. Finding the fabrics seemed to be the most exciting part
for the team.
"It's not like we can just find a material and put it into the show
car," she adds. For this project the team were encouraged to be very
experimental and to get inspiration visited many non-automotive events
such as fashion shows and the Milan Furniture Show in particular, where
many trends can be spotted.
The team then gathers all these new materials and manipulates them for
inspiration for show cars. Then it is time to convince the managerial
people. Show cars are normally under the decision of the chairman, they
have little to do with the marketing people. "It isn't often that
they would say: 'no problem'. We have to convince them of our ideas,"
says Jenkins. The marketing team is not yet involved at this stage, they
explain. There is around five years developing time following such introductions.
It seems that in this case the Le Mans project was a big success for the
Audi design team. Jenkins explains that the general mood was incredible
the night the concept car was launched. "It was as if he (Dr Martin
Winterkorn, chairman of the board of management at Audi AG) was on cloud
nine," she adds. He even chose to drive the car himself around the
racecourse, which may have proved a little, risky as it had been driven
only twice before the show. This is what sets Audi a little aside from
the others in that its show cars are real cars, not just shiny and painted
clay models.
There are around 150 people working at Audi design studio with around
40 in interior design and just ten people in colour and trim. Normally
a group is put together for show cars, a brief is put forward and the
designers compete for the winning concept. Jenkins says in design you
have two types of characters, one who likes to participate in the design
of production cars, and the other who is destined to make show cars. "One
of us has to get involved in show cars," adds Jenkins.
The interior and colour and trim group answers directly to Gerhard Pfefferle,
head of design at Audi AG. He in turn passes things by Walter de'Silva,
the man behind the Audi AG group brand that includes Lamborghini, Audi
and Seat. Finally all information goes to Winterkorn and then to main
chief Dr. Bernd Piechestrieder. "First we have to show our concepts
or proposals to Mr Pfefferle and Mr de'Silva to convince them of the idea
to use say different material. Then we prepare the presentation for Dr
Winterkorn," says Zieten. "He takes something like 5 seconds
to let us know if the colour for instance is right or wrong." But
he is the boss after all.
Murat Gunak, new head of the Volkswagen group and de'Silva discuss matters
to do with the general direction of the two brand groups that make VAG.
"But on our level," explains Zieten, "we don't have any
idea as to what goes on at VW. This is on purpose as it is important for
us not to get disrupted. We don't want to steel ideas or to be compared."
Instead he explains Audi's competition, or benchmark, is BMW and Mercedes
Benz. "We are always looking for new material, for new ideas and
for suppliers which can develop for us new concepts and materials. Everyone
in Europe is searching for this new supplier and so it is treated like
a secret," he adds.
"In a sense," adds Jenkins, "the wall between VW and Audi
could said to be higher than the one between us and BMW." Audi is
the sportier and perhaps the more adventurous VW brand and as a result
it has to and is encouraged to push itself to the limit and this includes
in terms of colour and trim. "We are the innovative ones," she
adds. There is much movement within the VW group and naturally they take
some of themselves with them. Jenkins points to the new R Concept at the
Volkswagen stand at Frankfurt and says that you can see that there was
and Audi designer working on this show car. "For us it is obvious,"
she adds.
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