New Audi Diet: Drives Great, Less Filling (At The Pump)

There’s just something about Audi. And I don’t mean that in a positive way.

I did some work for the German company way back in one of my previous lives, and I saw just enough of their setup in Auburns Hills, Mich., to wonder how in god’s name they could keep fooling people into paying premium prices for what are, for the most part, essentially up-level Volkwagens.

My time piloting a Q7 during the SUV’s launch didn’t help matters. I was shockingly underwhelmed by the build quality (yeah, I know, it was a pre-production model) and, performance-wise, it couldn’t outrun the fact that it was an SUV. I didn’t get a chance to take the Q7 further off road than a gravel parking lot, but how many Q7 owners ever will?

And I can tell you my feelings for the brand didn’t get any warmer/fuzzier this morning when I saw that Audi had become the “official luxury vehicle” of the New York Yankees. The fact that I consider this a perfect match is probably the best reflection of how I feel about Audi.

But all that being said, I absolutely have to give props to Audi for some of its other recent news: According to a story reported in Car and Driver, the company’s goal for its next-generation 2014 Audi S5 performance coupe is to cut 880 lbs. from the current iteration’s curb weight. Of course, with the 2010 S5 tipping the scales at something like 4,300 lbs., there was definitely room to maneuver. But still, we’re talking about a 20+ percent decrease in poundage — in Yankees terms, that’s nearly three C.C. Sabathias.

Some of the weight will be lost through an increase in the use of aluminum and other lightweight metals — something for which Audi is already well-known — and some will come from Audi’s decision to start developing lighter, stronger turbocharged engines.

For example, in a related recent story on CNET, Audi says that by the end of the year it will swap the V-8 that’s in that ’10 S5 Coupe with a supercharged V-6, with a goal of delivering the same performance in a more fuel-efficient package. And the 2014 model will likely use a turbocharged four cylinder powerplant.

Further, we can expect a similar approach to weight reduction will be highlighted throughout Audi’s future models.

The news is another stark contrast to what’s coming out of, say, General Motors. Which now is announcing that both the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible and Z28 programs have been placed on “hold.”

Again, it’s the difference between a company showing what it will do to survive and one trying to show what it will stop doing to survive. I think that’s what people in the business call “leadership.”