AUTON Friday, April 16, 1993 - North Shore News - 3 Audi show stopper gives glimpse into future Exotic AVUS Quattro’s all-aluminum body harbinger of lighter things to OVERDRIVE THE FIRST thing you notice about this ultra- performance concept vehicle is not what it has, but rather what it does not have: a fancy paint job. The all-wheel-drive gull-winged Audi AVUS Quattro is completely devoid of any paint at all, for that matter. You wouldn't have any problem seeing yourself up close, though, because this aggressive- looking slick coupe has a carefully polished hand-beaten aluminum skin that is just as shiny and bright as a chrome bumper off a 1960 Chevy. The AVUS’ mirror- like finish, the extreme cab-for- ward design, and huge bulging wheel-wells shaped around unbelievable 20-inch tires, all con- tributed to making this car the wildest and most attractive con- cept car at the Tokyo Motor Show a year and a half ago. The specification of the AVUS Quattro reads more like a racing car than a sports car: 6.0-fitre 60-valve §12-cylinder engine with 509 horsepower, six-speed transmission, double-wishbone lateral (side) forces, sports seats made from keviar, suspension throughout with aedve rear steering aineclimism, and lightning fast acceleration (0) to (OG kph in a merce three seconds). Audi hit two home runs that year, actually, in Ovo different auto shows, While the AVUS stole the shaw in Tokyo in late October af 1991, the fess exotic, closer-to-realit Audi Quattro Spyder concept car also drew crowds at the Frankfurt Auto Show about a month earlier in Germany. Although there is some resemblance in styling themes be- tween the two cars, the V6- powered Spyder is less dramatic, partly because it has a ‘oormal™ paint job — if you can call wild orange normal -- and partly because its wheels don't protrude out of the body like Arnold Schwarzenegger's muscles as with the AVUS, But these cars are significant in two important ways which will af- fect the future of concept vehicles, as well as the direction of Audi and its parent company, Volkswagen, The first significant point will become clearer when the all-new Audi V8 model is introduced sometime next year (in Europe first). The significance of the new Audi V8 is the fact that its body will be all aluminum, just like the AVUS and Spyder Quattro con- cept cars, The use of aluminum in automobile bodies will no doubt increase over the years as the de- mand increases for lighter bodies and more emphasis is placed on recyclable materials. Aluminum fits both bills. Unlike steel bodies, however, aluminum components ware technically more difficult to weld and repair, requiring more carefully selected, designed, and tuned manufacturing equipment. See Aluminum page 36 2) AUDI'S AVUS includes electronically and hydraulically controlied rear-wheel steering, anti-lock brakes that take into account the hydraulically assisted swiveling doors. “4 POWER TUNE _*& SPECIAL x | 4 Cyl. TUNE UP.............. $39.99 Fits 6&8 Gyl. TUNE UP ... OIL& LUBE ...... 1... $49.99 Parts Leese 846.99 cans. «* WITH FULL TUNE-UP AIR CARE PASS GUARANTEED. POWER TUNE & BRAKES AUTO CENTRE 2 | Cail for an ay POWER TUNE Appointment 986-6777 behind Capilano Mail and Photos submitted THE SPECS on the AVUS Quattro read more like a racing car than a sports car: 6.0-litre, 60-valve, 12-cylinder engine with 509-horsepower, six-speed transmission, double-wishbone suspension throughout with active rear steering mechanism, and lightning fast acceleration (0 to 100 km/h in a mere three seconds).