The Audi V8 (Typ 4C) is a four-door, full-size luxury sedan, designed, manufactured and marketed by Audi in Germany from 1988 to 1993, as the company's flagship. As the first car from Audi to use a V8 engine, it also was the first Audi to combine a quattro system with an automatic transmission. Early cars used 3.6-litre V8s, while later cars featured a 4.2-litre version of the engine. The Audi V8 was replaced by the Audi A8 in 1994, although the A8 was not marketed in North America until 1996.
The competition model of the Audi V8 won back-to-back Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft driver's titles in 1990 and 1991, with the championship winners being Hans-Joachim Stuck and Frank Biela respectively. A five-speed (later in production six-speed) manual transmission was also available.
The Audi V8 had a galvanized steel body, with a 10-year anti-perforation warranty (against corrosion). The Audi V8 was specifically designed to be a top of the range 'flagship' car and included a number of luxury features as standard equipment, including leather seating and Audi's quattro all wheel drive system The Audi V8 created a new elevated image for the company, providing a viable alternative to established competitors such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. although sales of completed vehicles continued in 1994. It was replaced by the Audi A8 in 1994.
Body style
The Audi V8 used an enlarged version of the bodyshell from the Typ 44 Audi 100 and 200 models, and was based on a stretched version of their Volkswagen Group C3 automobile platform, known either as the D1 or D11
In addition to the standard-length model, there was also a long wheelbase (LWB), ('Lang' in German) version of the V8 (refer to the infobox for differences in dimensions). It was assembled at Steyr-Daimler-Puch factory in Graz (see production figures). This tradition would continue with the A8, offered in "A8L" format
Powertrain
Powertrain The design set the pattern for future Audi-developed Volkswagen Group V8 engines. In addition to using an all-aluminum alloy cylinder block (when the established material was grey cast iron), the camshafts were driven using a hybrid method. A rubber/kevlar toothed timing belt, driven from the front of the crankshaft operated only the exhaust camshaft in each bank. The inlet camshafts were then operated via a simplex roller chain from the exhaust camshaft – the right bank, (cylinders 1–4) at the rear of the engine, and the left bank (cylinders 5–8) at the front of the engine, immediately behind the timing belt. This method reduced the complexity of the timing belt layout, and as a result, required fewer components, such as idler rollers and guides, and led to easier and less costly maintenance of the timing belt and associated components. The intervals for changing the timing belts varied; the 3.6 V8 (PT) required changing every , fully electronic engine control unit (ECU), with cylinder bank selective knock control,
Details and performance
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!Engine (code)<br />!!Displacement, Type<br />Valvetrain!!Fuel grade!!Max. Motive Power<br />at rpm (DIN 80/1269/EWG)<br /> There were also two manual transmission offerings – for the 3.6: a five-speed manual gearbox, or later for the 4.2, a six-speed manual. Both manual transmission variants used a single-plate clutch. The fronts also incorporated electronic brake pad wear sensors. The rears were by , and incorporated a cable-operated parking brake. A Bosch anti-lock braking system (ABS) was also standard.
Standard wheels were 'aero' style light alloy wheels fitted with 215/60 R15 steel-belted radial tyres. Optional multi-spoke BBS-sourced (with Audi centre-cap badge) alloy wheels were also available, in either , or sizes. In the 1990 DTM season all of the three teams claimed together the entire podium (1st, 2nd and 3rd places) at Hockenheimring race. Stuck won the title, and the following year, Audi added a second team to the mix, Audi Zentrum Reutlingen (AZR). SMS continued with Stuck and Jelinski, while AZR raced with Frank Biela and Hubert Haupt. Biela gave Audi another crown in 1991, but was unable to defend the title in 1992.
For the 1992 season, Audi had changed their engines to use a 180° flatplane crankshaft, which they said had been re-forged and bent from the original 90° crossplane part as used in production model. The DTM organisers found this highly modified crankshaft deviated from original homologated standard crankshaft, and therefore deemed it illegal. Audi subsequently withdrew from the championship.
Sales
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Production
|-
|1988
|
|-
|1989
|6,918
|-
|1990
|4,816
|-
|1992
|3,031
|}
References
External links
- Audi.com – official corporate website
- AudiV8.com fanclub site with technical info
- North American Consumer Guide review with image gallery
- Christoph Bauer: DRIVE IT! – Revolutionary for almost 30 years: Audi V8, DW-TV 21 August 2017 (YouTube)